Tempted by the Kittypet Life - Summary Essay

I feel like I remember this event happening in The Prophecies Begin very vividly. I especially remember one of Cloudpaw's denmates reaction after Fireheart's announcement when Cloudpaw was taken: "Despite what he does, he would never…" or something close to that.

Reading Tempted by the Kittypet Life, though, I could certainly see how Cloudtail thought eating kittypet food was okay and may have even been helping the Clan. Explaining why is a vital part of teaching.

The problem is, experiences like Cloudtail's don't happen regularly. As a result, for some parts of the warrior code, the characters may not have explanations for 'why'. 

I think Cloudtail relaying his story to his Clanmates was one of the most important things he could do. This was a 'why' for rejecting kittypet life that could teach others the importance of the warrior code.

Moreover, it was in the form of a story. Stories are remembered. If you tell someone simple facts, they're liable to forget, but if you tell them in the form of a story, they are far more likely to retain it.

The central theme in Tempted by the Kittypet Life is rules. Every society has rules to follow, but it can be difficult for young people to understand why they have to follow them unless it's explained. Otherwise, people often learn by breaking the rules. Cloudtail complains that 'Fireheart never stopped to explain why [he] had to follow [the] rules' (Pg 117), and he 'figured [he] should just follow the smart parts' (Pg 117). He learnt through experience why 'the warrior code said [Clan cats] shouldn't let [themselves] live like kittypets' (Pg 118). This experience taught him the rules' were there for a reason' (Pg 119).

The main characters in the short story are the protagonist and the antagonist. The protagonist is Cloudtail, who tells the story of Tempted by the KIttypet Life from a first-person perspective to the reader, and we follow him throughout. The main antagonist is the twoleg female who tempted Cloudtail with food and later captured him and took him away from ThunderClan. There are a few other cats mentioned or named in the short story. Yet, they are only incidental or minor characters. These are all the main characters found in Tempted by the Kittypet Life.

The main situations are summarised here. Cloudtail decides to only follow what he deems the 'smart parts' of the warrior code. He ran off from a scolding from Fireheart and chose to explore Twolegplace. He followed a twoleg female, and she fed him. He started slipping off to eat kittypet food every day and was eventually let inside the twolegs nest. The twolegs captured Cloudtail and took him away. Ravenpaw ran into Cloudtail near the twoleg's new nest, and Fireheart rescued him. Cloudtail told his story to his Clanmates, now understanding the rules were there for a reason.

Thank you for reading. What did you think of Cloudtail's actions? Were they justified at all? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this, please share it using the sidebar link.

Alice B Hutley

Become a Patron!