Maternal desire is the main issue in the film Aliens; for the heroine, it is loss and the subsequent regaining of the object of maternal desire that is significant. The considerable length of time spent in stasis, loss of job and primarily the loss of her daughter contribute toRipley's physical and emotional displacement. Her cat is the only thing familiar to her, and so fills in as object of this maternal desire in theopening scenes. Ripley's behaviour towards her cat introduces some of thematernal qualities the film seeks to present as essential; she comforts the cat in order to console herself, an act that Newt also exhibits to