“Hills Like White Elephants” written by Ernest Hemingway and “The Unwanted Child” by Mary Clearman Blew both carry a theme of male dominance. The girl’s role is diminished due to the actions of both genders. Within both “Hills Like White White Elephants” and “The Unwanted Child” the male takes on the dominant role when the women choose to be independent or remain inferior. “Hills Like White Elephants” tells a tale of a young girl who travels with an American, who impregnates her. Throughout the story, they continue to bicker back and forth about whether or not keeping the baby is the better option. The male shows dominance by constantly making the girl recognize that things are going to be much different. If they do have a child together, their …show more content…
In 1958, men were naturally looked at as dominant. Because of this, the woman, Mary, was told by her mother in law and grandmother in law that she should drop out of school and work to support the husband. The mother and grandma made it very clear that school was not a necessity, “Unlike my in laws, who have not hesitated to tell me I should go work as a typist or waitress to support my husband…” (Clearman 45). This quote shows that although Mary had been working and had just completed her first year of college, her efforts were not needed as long as she had her husband. In that era, having a child was exciting and thrilling. But, Mary did not want to have a child because it could possibly ruin her dream of having an education. When at the doctor’s office, the doctor congratulated Mary for being pregnant but when the eighth month came around the corner, she started to second guess her choice. When the doctor told her that if she did not want the baby he could give it away to someone who did, she replied, “I want it, I lied..” (Clearman 54). This quote states that she did not want to keep the child but because her family reassured her that having the baby is essential to being a better wife. Therefore the time period of the story influenced the societal perspective of pregnancy and a woman’s role in the household, as it further emphasized their inferiority to
Every time the man or the woman try to change the subject and avoid talking about the abortion, they end up saying something that refers to or alludes to the baby or the abortion. The woman suggests that the hills look like white elephants (324), which the man fails to acknowledge. The lack of clear communication between the two causes tension and arguments at every turn. When the woman agrees sarcastically that the man has never seen white elephants, he says, "Just because you say I wouldn't have doesn't prove anything" (324). The woman is clearly annoyed at the insensitivity of the man's negative feelings toward her pregnancy. For her, the baby is a priceless treasure, but for him it is a worthless fetus.
"Hills Like White Elephants" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" are both about couples dealing with a delicate situation in a time when the power of men over women is obvious. The characters in both stories show that the man has more control and authority than the woman. "Hills Like White Elephants" demonstrates this through the use of the setting, time restrictions, and poor communication exhibited by the couple. In "The Yellow
The short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, talk about a young couple and their relationship issue about abortion. Even though, the story happened in a short period of time, but it tells more than just a story. The woman named Jig, where the man only called as “ a man” or “ The American.” Although the relationship between them is complicated, but it is clearly that they are not married. However, they continued their relationship which came to result that Jig became pregnant. The couple love to travel and stop in many differents cities before moving on to the next. Their last stop was somewhere in Spain and that was the place where they had to make decisions either they continue their relationship with the child or
Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” was written before the 1950s and takes place at a train station in Spain. The definition of a white elephant is a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of. In the story the main character Jig is pregnant by the other main character the American. The American tries to persuade Jig to have an abortion, but Jig’s feelings are very conflicted. Hemingway uses theme, setting, persuasive writing, and verbal irony in the story, which all contribute to shaping different moods.
“Hills like White Elephants” is a cryptic short story that takes place in a remote train station in Spain. The characters consist of a man and a girl, the man also being referred to as the American. In the beginning the girl remarks on the beautiful scenery across the river of wheat fields and hills. “They look like white elephants,” she said, and around those the country is “brown and dry.” The man is disinterested with this remark and he is more interested for the girl to make a decision. It is never clearly stated what he wants her to make a decision on, but upon further analyzation it can be deduced that the decision is an abortion. The man is acutely persistent for her to make a decision before the train arrives or if not then, soon. The hills looking like white elephants come to symbolize a burden or an obstacle, this can be used to reference the girl’s unborn baby and the pair’s relationship as well.
Women and men have rarely ever been able to wholeheartedly agree upon something, especially something as significant as an unwanted pregnancy. “Hills Like White Elephants” centers around an unwanted pregnancy and how a young couple is talking about it and handing it. While the mention of pregnancy or abortion is never actually said, it can be inferred through their conversations and simple clues Hemingway includes such as, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig” (Hemingway) (Link). The man in this relationship, the American, continues to reassure the woman, Jig, that the “operation” is simple and tons of people have it done. He also continues to repeat “how simple” it is. Jig
The trails and tribulations of life can cause a person to go down a road they could have never imagined. Some people are able to rise above the issues that come their way and while others become consumed by their problems. In a male dominated society, the issues of women are often pushed to the side and they are left to deal with them alone. Therefore, some women become abused by their thoughts and problems due to the fact that they do not have the ability to tackle them alone. It becomes an internal and external battle for the scorned woman to please herself, husband (or father) and the society at the same time. In the short stories, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by
In the story, "Hills like White Elephants" written by Ernest Hemingway, the main character Jig faces a life changing event, abortion. The struggles with the complications of abortion concern and desire Jig to want to keep the baby. Bringing a new life into the world is a long time commitment and it is something Jig feels she can treasure forever. However, her companion attempted to persuade her in another direction, to proceed with the abortion. As naïve as he is, he feels his persuasion can overcome Jig's desires. Jig is a sarcastic yet reserved woman, who desires to bring a new life into the world, even if her companion does not approve; she knows what is best.
As humans, we tend to rely on others to guide us in choosing “right” decisions. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway tells a story of an American man with a girl, named Jig, having a conversation about whether or not Jig should undergo this “operation,” which we could assume is abortion. Jig looks to the man to tell her what she should do and what would happen afterwards, basically looking for a “right” decision. The girl is torn between listening to the man, who pushes her to have an abortion, or separating from the man, to instead, keep the baby. Hemingway uses setting and symbolism to interpret the girl’s struggle with abortion.
“Hills like White Elephants” is a story about a couple who is going to undergo an abortion together (which relates to the theme of death). While abortion is not said at first- the reader can tell it is being proclaimed. The story is filled with tension but the reader can tell that this couple loves each other. The tone of this story is hard to identify at first but it can defined as skeptical or confused. Due to the fact that these two young people are unsure about what they
Symbolically, “Hills like White Elephants” represents a choice. It is a life choice that can’t be undone once it is made. This choice is about whether or not Jig, the female character of the story, should get an abortion. It supports the theme because if Jig chooses to keep the baby she is defying the wishes of her male partner, who is simply referred to as “the man,” and taking a stand for women by doing so. However it is not entirely clear what choice she makes at the end of the story. Her only words being, “I feel fine…There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine” (216). The interpretation some people take for this is that she decided to keep the baby and chose to defy male domination.
It is important to take into consideration that in this day and age, women found themselves extensively restricted by societal norms that standardized their lines of work to underpaid jobs. Censuses completed in 1930 and 1940 state that roughly only 25% of women were employed and only a select handful of those who did held professional jobs ("Baughman et al. Vol. 4"). These statistics give us a general idea of how unlikely it is for a woman to be able to support herself without a husband. In The Women, these conditions cause Mary Haines to contemplate her decision to
Relationships can be difficult, but a lot of couples work through the difficultly by supporting and helping each other. In the short story “Hills like White Elephants”, written by Ernest Hemingway, an unnamed American and a young woman, named Jig, are waiting for a train to arrive. Set in the mid-1920s, the couple are sitting at a bar drinking beers, and awaiting to travel to their next destination. Talking vaguely with each other, Jig describes the hills as “white elephants”, meaning an unwanted gift. During the story, the couple discuss an ‘operation’ that the man wants the girl to have, but she doesn’t to want to, symbolizing wanting to keep their unborn child. In this story, “Hills like White Elephant”, the theme is the ending of a relationship, by the of lack of communication, selfishness and choices.
The narrator is very brief. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, a man and young girl are traveling together in Madrid, Spain. I can infer from their conversation through their words and through the embedded vocabulary that they are probably headed to an abortion center. The reason I think this is because they spend the entire short story contemplating the idea of an abortion. The decision they are making seems urgent and rushed. The girl looks out the window at the “hills like white elephants” as the man continues to be persistent, as if wanting an answer as soon as possible. This urgency allows me to infer that the only reason why the decision is so urgent is because they are actively heading to an abortion center in that moment.
Relationships can be difficult when two people have an opposing stance on a controversial topic such as abortion. Men, in their self-interest, perceive this option as an easy way out, in which they can have all the pleasure and none of the consequences. However, for a woman an abortion causes both physical and emotional pain which a man could never understand. Thus, making this one of the utmost difficult issues a girl may need to face in her life. In Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” there are two Americans traveling in Spain. The setting of the scene is a bar located near the train station where the man and the girl discuss this life altering operation, as they await the arrival of the train to Madrid. Throughout the story the man is persuasive, as he attempts to convince the girl to have the operation, while at the same time, the girl expresses her reluctance and remains unconvinced that an abortion is the answer to their problems. Abortion remains as controversial today as it was when Ernest Hemingway wrote “Hills Like White Elephants”. Although Hemingway never used the word abortion in his story, he found ways to evoke emotions of sympathy for the girl and disdain for the man through his creative use of symbolism, setting, and characters in the short story.