Similarities between Eveline and Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemmingway
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Similarities between “Eveline” and “Hills like White Elephants” In both “Eveline” by James Joyce and “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway, the characters are forced to make important life changing decisions. This is just one of the many similarities between stories. One thing that was obvious to me while reading each of these short stories was the presence of a dominant male antagonist in each story; The father in “Eveline” and the American in “Hills like White Elephants.” These two characters have many of the same traits and motives. Another thing these two stories have in common is the how the setting of each story affects the storyline directly. The authors portray these, along with many other concerts, in great…show more content… The pregnancy or baby can be seen as the “elephant” in the room. This couple is trying to decide whether or not to get an abortion. The antagonist in this short story is the male the main character (Jig) is taking to at a bar in a train station. In the story this male character is simply referred to as the American. The American does many things that make us believe he is mainly the decision maker in their relationship. He is in charge of their luggage as well as the destination of their travels. This implies a sense of control and dominance. The American is very supportive saying, “If you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to” (227). Despite the support he shows, throughout the story the reader can see that the decision of the women depends greatly on the American’s feelings and views.
The settings of these two short stories have a lot of impact of the characters and the plot. The setting of “Hills like White Elephants” is at a bar in a train station. This helps to highlight the fact that the relationship between the American man and the girl is at a crossroads. This crossroad is due to the severity of the dilemma they are faced with.
The couple must choose a path to take and deal with the consequences of that choice. In this time period abortions were rarely heard of. Because of the lack of knowledge of abortions in this time period, the decision becomes much harder for the couple to make. Jig is afraid of what