# The Philanthropist and the Happy Cat explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Saki.

## What happens

Jocantha Bessbury, feeling serenely happy and contented with her luxurious life, decides to play the 'Fairy Godmother' by buying a theatre ticket to give to a lonely work girl. She goes to a teashop but becomes distracted by a handsome young man named Bertie, who is absorbed in a book and ignores her attempts to attract his attention. Frustrated, she returns home, feeling discontented and bored, while her cat Attab, having killed a sparrow, remains perfectly content.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Moral Facade

Jocantha's philanthropic impulse is superficial, driven by self-satisfaction rather than genuine altruism, and she abandons it when her attention is captured by a handsome young man.

### Social Class and Status

The story contrasts Jocantha's luxurious, leisured life with the imagined struggles of working-class girls and clerks, highlighting class divides.

### Imagination vs. Reality

Jocantha's romanticized fantasy of being a 'Fairy Godmother' collides with the reality of Bertie's indifference, leading to her disillusionment.

## Character check-ins

### Jocantha Bessbury

The protagonist, a wealthy and initially contented woman who attempts a philanthropic gesture but ends up feeling dissatisfied.

### Gregory

Jocantha's husband, described as an excellent husband who returns home for a hurried lunch and later departs.

### Tobermory

Referenced as 'Attab', the large tabby-marked cat that symbolizes contentment through its predatory nature.

## Key lines

> I don’t suppose a more thoroughly contented personality is to be found in all Chelsea

Jocantha believes she is the happiest person in Chelsea.

_Reflects her initial self-satisfaction and complacency._

> He lies there, purring and dreaming, shifting his limbs now and then in an ecstasy of cushioned comfort. He seems the incarnation of everything soft and silky and velvety, without a sharp edge in his composition, a dreamer whose philosophy is sleep and let sleep; and then, as evening draws on, he goes out into the garden with a red glint in his eyes and slays a drowsy sparrow.

The cat appears peaceful and gentle, but at night it becomes a predator, killing a sparrow.

_Highlights the contrast between outward serenity and underlying ruthlessness, mirroring Jocantha's own nature._

> Jocantha went back to her house in Chelsea, which struck her for the first time as looking dull and over-furnished.

Returning home, Jocantha finds her once-pleasing house now seems boring and cluttered.

_Shows her shift from contentment to dissatisfaction after her failed philanthropic attempt._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_49_se/chapters/the-philanthropist-and-the-happy-cat
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_49_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_49_se/chapters