Abortion InThe Mother, By Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

Most men side with the men, and most women side with women. In the short story Hills Like White Elephants, Ernest Hemingway explores a power dynamic through a situation that is still controversial today. While this short story explores the decision-making process between a girl and a man, the controversy arises: whose decision is it? This power struggle for a decision that, arguably, mainly affects the life of the girl. While the man may choose to wish to be a part of the child’s life, the pregnancy and abortion is solely affecting the girl, not the man. Hemingway strips the girl of any authority and knowledge by differing between girl and woman, yet by closely examining the interactions between the girl and the man, it is the girl remains authoritative over the decision of a possible abortion.

The empowerment and the continual push for equal status for women has become widely popular and successful in recent history. Women have stepped out of traditional roles of the housewife, the mother and the submissive doormat to more assertive natures. Many controversial issues surround women’s crusade of freedoms including the widely debated right to choose what she does with her body, referring to an abortion. In 1927 Ernest Hemingway wrote a short story titled, “Hills Like White Elephants” that expressed a feminist movement focusing on this issue. Through the character’s development and ability to come to her own decision despite her boyfriend’s constant pressure suggests a shift towards a powerful feminist theme in a society dominated by men. The story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” reflects how men and women are compared with power and dominance regarding their stereotypical behavior in relation to gender norms; however, this story portrays how a woman steps out of the expectations and takes a stance for what she wants.

The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, is about a man trying to convince his girlfriend to have an abortion. The couple sits in a train station waiting for their trip to Barcelona, and are staring outside at the scenery—the line of hills “like white elephants”, as the girl, Jig, remarks. They sit and drink and they try to keep conversation light and to enjoy themselves. As the story progresses, however, cause for their underlying tenseness boils to the surface.

When others recall personal experiences relating to this issue, "The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks touches up on the emotional topic of abortion. Accepting abortion and the consequence of it can be difficult for some people, while others are accustomed to it without it being a problem. Brooks allow us to see from a mothers view of abortion and show a mother's reaction to this type of situation. It brings forth a political debate topic, but cannot really be used to divide for a pro and against side. The emotional complexity leads the reader to really think about the inner turmoil of a woman going through the situation. Abortion is a complicated experience for all involved. For instance, in October Baby, a girl named Hannah goes through countless

It is never easy to foresee the outcome of choices made, especially as they relate to relationships. For women, the false dichotomy they create for themselves between being forced to abort a seemingly unwanted child or keep the baby and loose their partner, is not an easy choice to reason through. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, Jig feels that she is presented with only two options: abort the baby and keep the boyfriend or keep the baby and loose the boyfriend. Yet while this decision seems in surmountable, the resolution reveals that the true nature of the conflict was not really about the child in as much as her partner. In examining this premise, first we will see that Jig always wanted to keep the baby and just did

The topic of abortion is still a hot-button issue, nearly one hundred years after Hemingway wrote this story. People tend to be very fixated on their own opinion and unwelcoming of new ideas when abortion is mentioned. The conflicting nature of this debate is highlighted by the author with the use of symbols like white elephants, traditionally

There have always been many heated discussions about women’s positions in society. Many believe that males are the dominant species and that women must obey their commands, this can be also referred to as the notion of patriarchy. It is morally wrong when one has to think of taking the life of a baby to make a man happy. The short story introduces, a girl named Jig and her older American lover that sit at a train station in a Spanish valley, varying from different emotions throughout their conversation to whether or not they should continue to Barcelona in order to abort their unborn baby. The American, views this operation as a resolution to their hardships, and attempts to persuade Jig that it is the correct thing to do. In a society where

Abortion is a very sensitive controversial topic. Wallace’s “Good People” and Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” provide a bird’s eye view of the how abortion was viewed from different time periods. The two short stories show that decisions about abortion are very different. The characters in the stories and the time era had influence on the couples’ relationship and the final decisions of their unborn child.

In a world in which abortion is considered either a woman's right or a sin against God, the poem "The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks gives a voice to a mother lamenting her aborted children through three stanzas in which a warning is given to mothers, an admission of guilt is made, and an apology to the dead is given. The poet-speaker, the mother, as part of her memory addresses the children that she "got that [she] did not get" (2). The shift in voice from stanza to stanza allows Brooks to capture the grief associated with an abortion by not condemning her actions, nor excusing them; she merely grieves for what might have been. The narrator's longing and regret over the children she will never have is highlighted by the change in tone

An individual’s first impression of something is often limited by that individual's prior understanding or view. After being exposed to another perspective that first impression often evolves, like looking through a lens. This phenomenon can be observed in literature. Ernest Hemingway's “Hills Like White Elephants” tells of a man and a woman waiting at a Spanish railway station. While having drinks, they discuss the option of her having an abortion. Brooks' "The Mother" discusses the mental effects of abortion and how a woman may feel after having one. At first glance, Hemingway’s story simply shows that abortions can hurt and put strain on relationships, but by understanding the pain that a woman goes through in “Brooks’ piece, we can better understand the discussion that the man and woman are having in Hemingway’s story and why communication in a relationship is so critical.

In the relationship portrayed through the symbolic dialog and setting of "Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway uses his short story to discuss a theme of choice, the choice being weather to get an abortion or not. We are presented with a picture of an American man who enjoys his life style and a girl named Jig who loves the man, at a cross roads between a fruitful valley and dry barren white hills. What seems as a couple’s debate on whether or not to get a “procedure” done is really a one sided discussion of reason of why it should be. By presenting this to his audience Hemingway raises the idea that the decision of a couple on whether or not to abort their child is decided with more issues in mind than just the life of a baby. Though

Almost all humans being have the presence of guilt inside of them, whether people show it or not, it is there. Guilt can be so strong, it might even be able to defeat one’s will or word. Insecurity drives us to letting others influence us and take charge of making decisions for us to not face the consequences alone and have someone to put responsibility on to reproach them if we ever feel guiltiness. As the Roman playwright, Plautus, who once averred, “Nothing is more wretched than the mind of a man conscious of guilt” (Brainy). Plautus insinuates that a man who is fully aware of his wrong doings is tortured with regret and guilt. This idea can be applied to “The Mother,” an anti-abortion poem by Gwendolyn Brooks in which she expresses the emotional outpour of guilt by a mother who has aborted one or more times. With the same vision, Ernest Hemingway narrates the conversation of an American man and a woman at a Spanish train station while waiting for a train to Madrid, in his short story, “Hills Like White Elephants.” Here, both individuals discuss the decision of an abortion, constantly asking one another to make the final verdict to liberate themselves from any culpability or responsibility. Brook and Hemingway portray the guilt people can feel before or after making decisions. Indeed, both authors tell and seem fully aware of their character’s emotions that anyone would think they are actually sharing anecdotes instead of other people’s experiences. Through the use of a strong sense of guilt in Brooks’ poem “The Mother,” the reader is better able to understand the trepidation the couple faces in taking responsibility for a difficult decision of an abortion in Hemingway’s, “Hills Like White Elephants.”

Abortion has been viewed as a crucial struggle between couples. Many view this situation as ending an innocent’s life before it begins, or as easily getting rid of problem before it even became one. In the short story “Hills like White Elephant”, the compensation of abortion can easily be seen between Jig and her American lover’s decision whether to keep the innocent’s life or not. Ernest Hemingway uses the fiction element plot, symbolism, and setting to illustrate the theme of abortion in “Hills like White Elephants.”

The empowerment and the persistent drive for equality for women have become vastly common and effective in modern history. Women have exceeded past archaic stereotypical roles of the housewife, the mother and the submissive doormat to more empowering trajectories. Many debatable issues surround women’s campaign of liberties including the broadly debated right to decide who has ultimate say in regards of getting an abortion. Ernest Hemingway wrote a story called, “Hills Like White Elephants” that conveyed the viewpoint of females centered around the topic . Well into character’s development the reader sees Jig’s ability to come to her own decision about the procedure and submit to the pressure of a culture controlled by men.

“Hills Like White Elephants” discusses the situation between a straight couple and the possibility of her recent upcoming operation and the struggle it is for one to make. Her decision on not having this child will be based on alcohol and her dependency on her boyfriend. This becomes apparent that she will as how she goes around it. Jig, the girlfriend will use alcohol as a form of a depressant while her American boyfriend, will help her decision by wanting her to have a abortion. Jig will follow him choice as she dependent on him in her life.