The Theme Of Abortion InHills Like White Elephants?

“‘Its really a simple operation, Jig,’ the man said. ‘It’s not really an operation at all.’” (Hemingway 213). No, it’s not really an operation at all. It is a life altering decision that the man and women were faced with in the short story Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway. Abortion was the topic of conversation throughout this short story, however the word was never used. In place of the word abortion, the man and women use only the word operation. By using the word operation instead of abortion, many problems arise through the couples poor communication conveying the message that we should say what we mean and confront our problems.

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.

The final theme derived from this story is how men and women relate to each other. Most of Hemingway’s stories are masculine in nature, but “Hills Like White Elephants” shows the woman’s point of view as the more rational of the two (Short Stories for Students 158). The man is shown as being selfish and irresponsible by starting this relationship and then lacking the support Jig needs (Hamid 78). The American sees life as being very straightforward and rational, while Jig is considered to be romantic and living in an emotional world (Beacham 8). Clearly, these themes are still applicable in modern societies concerning this issue of abortion.

In the United States alone, over one million babies are aborted, making the counties abortion rate one of the highest among other countries. This means that one out of every four pregnancies end in abortion, one out of three American women will have an abortion by the time they are 45, and half of women seeking to abort a baby have already aborted one in the past (“U.S. Abortion Statistics.”). Since the 1930’s, the population growth in America has been the lowest because of abortion. Two generations of Americans have technically been murdered because the aborted children will not be able to have the families and lives of their own (Steven Ertelt.).

Brooks’ “The Mother” focuses on the burden a mother goes through when having an abortion and giving recognition to the unborn child. Gwendolyn Brooks achieves this by primarily using underlying emotions and providing imagery of what the aborted baby could have been like as the speaker’s child. The narrative voice of “The Mother” uses different point of views throughout the poem and the word choice, both of which are used to portray the burden of guilt of having the operation.

Its unabashed treatment of the “abortion debate” is passionate and memorable that defies most of the expectations for the genre. Though abortion has been safe and legal for decades now, the subject still remain a taboo in popular media. According to Lauren Rosewarne in her book

There are a few things that can be looked at in depth in this poem that help create that image: the style and structure, the mothers’ interpretation of womanhood, the word selection, and the relationship

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

The poem “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks is about the aftereffects and feelings that come from an abortion. The woman in the poem shows remorse over the children she aborted earlier in her life and regrets that she gave up the chance to be a mother to them. This poem, while about a woman who chose to have abortions, still carries with it a clear pro-life message.

The author, Alice Walker, wrote this poem for her mother because she was a very important role model. The speaker of this poem is an offspring/daughter of a woman who fought in the Woman’s Rights Campaign. The speaker talks about how women used to have to take care of their families, but now we are leading armies, and getting an education.

According to research women who have had an abortion were 37% more likely to experience depression, 110% more likely to abuse alcohol, 155% more likely to commit suicide and 220% more likely to abuse marijuana (Jaslow). Women who go through the experience of terminating a pregnancy often face some form of decline in their mental health. It is understandable after going through something that is so permanent and potentially traumatic to react in such a way that negatively affects a person’s state of mind. Whether the termination is involuntary or by choice, it will likely lead to a change in the mental state of the person involved. In the poem “The Mother” the author, Gwendolyn Brooks, shows what a mother who has

An American man and a girl, are waiting at a Spanish railway station for the train to take them to Madrid. They drink beer as they discuss the “simple operation” the American wants the girl to have completed. The man continues to urge the girl to have the operation, but also states she shouldn’t do it if she doesn’t want to. The girl clearly puts on a brave front, but is not convinced that she should have the operation like the man is suggesting. They speak to one another over beers but it seems as if neither of them is really communicating.

Abortion has been a source of considerable controversy throughout human history, however the word of abortion being brought up the different scenes of images. Hills like the white elephant is a Hemingway classic story, it's seems to be of realistic illusions. In modern society abortion continues to be legal, while people still debate over the ethical and legal ability. There are many arguments for the opposing side of the procedure. The innocent child doesn’t have to be responsible for the parent’s mistake. Abortion of your own child is a real homicide, it's not a matter of choices, it's a matter of life and how we value life. To me, abortion is a constant argument in so many ways.

The poet addresses only males demonstrating the male dominated society in which the poem is written. The intentions of the poet are to bring awareness to the cruel treatment of children, and in hopes of doing so she addresses those who are in positions of authority; presumably males. The role of the mother in the poem exemplifies the differences between the roles of females and males in society. The children are seeking comfort and "are leaning their young heads against their mothers/ And that cannot stop their tears"(3-4). Rather than approaching their fathers, the children automatically run to their nurturing mothers when they need comfort for females are associated with the private sphere of society. In the poem Browning suggests that even the comfort of a mother is not enough to surpass the merciless treatment of children for the role of females in society is not valued in comparison to the authoritative role of males.

Being a mother is one of the best gifts from a life. A mother gives her children unconditional love without expecting anything in return. Being a mother means more than having given birth to a child. It is an invisible connection between mother and child; it is a blessing, a relationship that never ends and the love that never dies. However, for some women, motherhood might be challenging in ways they did not expect, forcing them to choose between having an abortion and keeping the child. The debate over abortion is an ardent and polarizing issue as there are those who believe that all humans including those unborn should have a right to life, and on the other side of the spectrum are those who believe it should a woman's right to choose whether she wants an abortion or not. This topic relates to Gwendolyn Brooks's poem, "The Mother", where the author describes the painful thoughts, heartbreak, and awful feelings that a woman experiences after having an abortion. Brooks lays out a helpful framework for understanding the difficult situation of facing unplanned pregnancy. In "The Mother", a woman recollects her inner conflicts as she laments over the guilt of having had an abortion and the future she never gave her would be child. Brooks's poem provides insight into the research which reveals how abortion affects women morally, psychologically, and religiously.