Wants and needs are a huge part of all people's lives. However, many of these wants and needs are not possible for one to attain. This can be due to several things, from unrealistic goals to restrictive life situations. In both Hills Like White Elephants and Cat In the Rain by Ernest Hemingway, he illustrates the feelings associated with unattainable desires in two women's lives. Both of these women are, in essence, caged by the relationships that they have with their men, and this leads them to the misery of not being able to have what they want.
In Hills Like White Elephants, a couple sits at a train depot in Europe on their way to Madrid. Their conversation seems social and casual at first but quickly exposes an unspoken struggle between the two. "That's all we do, isn't it -- look at things and try new drinks?()" This statement by the unnamed girl shows a hint of discontent with the blasé lifestyle she and her companion live. The conversation soon turns to an "operation" that the gentleman appears to be persuading the girl into having. Phrases like "letting the air in" (Hills, 276) lead the reader to believe that they are talking about an abortion procedure. He tells her it is "the best thing to do" (Hills, 276). The man clearly wants her to have the abortion, forget about the child, and continue living the simple life they live together. However, she is quite obviously not satisfied with this and wants more, but for some reason, she refuses to stand up for herself in the face of this issue. She sarcastically states, "Oh, yes. But I don't care about me. And I'll do it and then everything will be fine"(Hills, 275).
It is fairly clear to the reader that the man and woman's ideas of a happy future are not the same. ...
... middle of paper ...
... family, and in the other, it is simply love, affection, and some feeling of importance. These women both seem to address their true feelings to their partners only with harsh or sarcastic remarks, and cannot express the true desires behind their basic wants, like the cat or the child. In the case of the couple at the depot, the woman copes by simply adjusting to and adopting the same desires as her partner, whether it makes her happy of not. In the case of the woman in the hotel, she simply looks to other things to give her the feelings that her partner cannot or will not. In either case, these women are not getting what they want out of their lives because of the people they have chosen to live them out with.
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. Hills Like White Elephants. New York: Scribner's, 1938
Hemingway, Ernest. In Our Time. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996
In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” the character Jig is submissive to her counterpart The American Man, who is encouraging her to have an abortion. While Jig is not sure what she wants, she does not wish to press the subject of the operation because The American Man is intent upon persuading her to go through with the procedure. Throughout this story Jig’s helplessness, indecisiveness, and her lack of education become apparent, although by the end of the story she becomes confident, decisive, and ultimately takes back control of her decisions and life.
Disillusion is defined as “the condition of being dissatisfied or defeated in expectation or hope” especially in the case of love (“Disillusion”). This is the case for the two protagonists in the written works “Woman Hollering Creek” by Sandra Cisneros and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. The two short stories share a similar theme of the protagonists’ suffering from disillusions, their resolutions are extremely different due to the epiphanies.
We notice, right from the beginning of his life, that Ernest Hemingway was confronted to two opposite ways of thinking, the Manly way, and the Woman way. This will be an important point in his writing and in his personal life, he will show a great interest in this opposition of thinking. In this short story, Hemingway uses simple words, which turn out to become a complex analysis of the male and female minds. With this style of writing, he will show us how different the two sexes’ minds work, by confronting them to each other in a way that we can easily capture their different ways of working. The scene in which the characters are set in is simple, and by the use of the simplicity of the words and of the setting, he is able to put us in-front of this dilemma, he will put us in front of a situation, and we will see it in both sexes point of view, which will lead us to the fundamental question, why are our minds so different?
The communication going on between the man and girl in the story, "Hills Like White Elephants,'; are not an honest one. The man seems to lead the conversation where as the girl is quiet. He brings up the subject of 'operation' which suggested abortion, but never mentions the word 'abortion' in the story to understate it. He tries to convince the girl to get the operation, but the girl seems bothered by this subject. However, he does not stop. Their relationship seems to be fine when the baby has not came in between them. We could see this where the guy says, "We'll be fine afterward. Just like we were before.'; The girl wants the relationship to become as before, but is in a huge dilemma whether to give birth to the baby or not. The man does not want the baby and has the choice of abortion in mind, not thinking of the other problems that would occur through operation such as the girl's health. Later on, the girl makes a melancholy remark that the hills look like white elephants. Probably the hills being a round shape reminded her of the baby. She walks toward the end of the station, and sees the beautiful nature. When she looks more toward the nature, one could see her small desire wanting the baby and thinks what may have been happened if she had the baby. The guy does not pay attention to that remark, because he is just concerned about making his point that he wants the operation done, not considering her side.
Women’s Escape into Misery Women’s need for male support and their husband’s constant degradation of them was a recurring theme in the book House on Mango Street. Many of Esperanza’s stories were about women’s dreams of marrying, the perfect husband and having the perfect family and home. Sally, Rafaela, and Minerva are women who gave me the impression of [damsel’s in distress].CLICHÉ, it’s ok though. It’s relevant They wished for a man to sweep them of their feet and rescue them from their present misery. These characters are inspiring and strong but they are unable to escape the repression of the surrounding environment. *Cisneros presents a rigid world in which they lived in, and left them no other hope but to get married. Esperanza, however, is a very tough girl who knows what she wants. She will keep dreaming and striving until she gets it. She says, "I am too strong for her [Mango Street] to keep me here" (110). Esperanza learned from all of these women that she was not going to be tied down. She said, "I have decided not to grow up tame like the others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain" (88). **Especially after seeing that Sally was suffering so much. Sally’s father is making her want to leave home by beating her. Sally "said her mother rubs lard on the places were it hurts" (93). There is not enough lard in the world to be able to cure the pain within Sally’s heart. Sally, "met a marshmallow salesman at a school bazaar" (101). Pretty soon " sally got married, she has her house now, her pillowcases and her plates" (101). Her marriage seems to free her from her father, but in reality she has now stepped into a world of misery. This was supposed to help her heal; " she says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape." (101). Unlike the other women Sally has no escape, no poetry, not even papaya coconut juice, not to mention, " he does not let her look out the window" (102). That is why "she sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission."(102). Rafaela’s situation also involves imprisonment in her own home. Cisneros introduced us to Rafaela, a young beautiful girl whose expectations from marriage were to obtain a sweet home to live in. Instead...
In “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ermest Hemingway, we are introduced to Jig and her lover. These two seem bothered by what has yet to come in conclusion to their blurry night after drinking. Unsure of her decision to terminate her pregnancy or not, Jig and her lover (who remained unnamed) seem to both be in a shocked state and are constantly at an emotional war with one another. She subjects herself to her lover and as uneasy as she seems, still agrees to go forward with the abortion. Soon, Jig learns to deal with her problems alone because the conclusion will remain static because what’s meant to be will prosper. In this story, Jig submits herself to the careless lover out of her lack of confidence within herself. We see these struggles through the tone, metaphorical usage as well as personification, allegory and the continuous dialogue between her and the lover.
She describes them by saying ”They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry “They look like white elephants,” she said” (Hemingway 223). The Expression “elephant in the room” can indicate a subject that someone is trying to avoid or something that no one wants to address. In this situation, the girl is trying to avoid the topic of her unborn child and whether or not she should have an abortion. She however realizes that the topic must be discussed in length due to that any decision can be life altering. Yet, later on she retracts her statement by saying, “They don 't really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees” (Hemingway 224). This quote shows how uncertain the girl is about the abortion, she even calls the hills lovely at one point. She even hints that perhaps she wants to keep the baby. Her perspective on the whole subject is impacted by the American. As the discussion seems to go on, she begins to avoid the unavoidable subject altogether. She is metaphorically comparing the hills and the
In Margaret Atwood’s short story, “Happy Endings,” the central theme of fiction provides several different kinds of marriages and relationships that ultimately result in the same ending. The “Happy Endings” shows that it’s difficult to have complete control over day-to-day events. No matter how hard society tries to achieve the perfect life, it does not always go as planned. It doesn’t matter if the characters are bored and depressed, confused and guilty, or virtuous and lucky; the gradual path of version A is not always in reach.
The American in “Hills like White Elephants” is constantly saying how simple of a procedure it is when in actuality he has no knowledge of abortions. He goes on to say that “she doesn’t have to be afraid because he knows lots of people that have done it (Hemingway 476) The taking of a life no matter how it is done is never as simple as saying other people have done it so don’t be scared. Even though the American says he just wants her to be happy. It is clear that the most important thing is not her safety or happiness but him being able to live his care free lifestyle burden free (Wyche). He is constantly pushing the conversation even when she ask him to stop. For him the thought of death is an escape from his responsibilities. Her indecisiveness is hindering his plans to travel and he says if she does have an abortion then he will be happy again and then she will be happy too. He is so simple minded and egotistical that he tells her what she needs to do to be happy and that that’s the only way. At this point the American has indirectly said I cannot love you and be happy if we have a child, but if she has this procedure then everything will be back to normal. In “A Clean, Well-lighted Place” the protagonist the young waiter has a similar outlook but in a different situation. The waiter is constantly saying that “he wishes the old man had just killed
This short story is filled with symbolism, some of which the reader may never find. The title itself can be analyzed a lot deeper. The “hills” refers to the shape of the female body during pregnancy and the “white elephants” symbolize a property requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit (merriam-webster.com). The story is about a man and a woman taking a train to get an abortion. The train is supposed to show change and movement, something this couple appears to need because their life is very routine.
The novel, The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway is an example of how an entire generation redefined gender roles after being affected by the war. The Lost Generation of the 1920’s underwent a great significance of change that not only affected their behaviors and appearances but also how they perceived gender identity. Lady Brett Ashley and Jake Barnes are two of the many characters in the novel that experience shattered gender roles because of the post war era. The characters in the novel live a lifestyle in which drugs and alcohol are used to shadow emotions and ideals of romanticism. Brett’s lack of emotional connection to her various lovers oppose Jake’s true love for her which reveals role reversal in gender and the redefinition of masculinity and femininity. The man is usually the one that is more emotionally detached but in this case Lady Brett Ashley has a masculine quality where as Jake has a feminine quality. Both men and female characters in the novel do not necessarily fit their gender roles in society due to the post war time period and their constant partying and drinking. By analyzing Brett, Jake, and the affects the war had on gender the reader obtains a more axiomatic understanding of how gender functions in the story by examining gender role reversal and homosexuality.
The Sun Also Rises may be one of the most factual novels of all time, it intensively mirrors the modern world. Written in the 1920’s by Ernest Hemingway using modernism style; it is based on the life of a war veteran name Jake Barnes, an American soldier whom during WWI was burdened with an injury, which unfortunately left him impotent. Frustrated with his injury, Barnes decided to migrate to Paris, where he filled in as an unremarkable writer. Barnes way of living changed completely, he became a slightly bearable alcoholic who spend his days drowsy after a night of drinking. Although his life was no longer the same as it used to be before the war, he never stopped trying to fit in. Barnes’ relocation to Paris was a hopeless excuse
Hills Like White Elephants displays the differences in the way a man and a woman view pregnancy and abortion. The woman looks at pregnancy as a beautiful aspect of life. In the story the woman’s pregnancy is implied through their conversation. She refers to the near by hills as elephants; "They look like white elephants" (464). She is comparing the hills to her own situation, pregnancy. "They’re lovely hills. They really don’t look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees" (465). Just as the hills have their distinct beauty to her, she views pregnancy in the same fashion making the reference to the hills having skin—an enlarged mound forming off of what was once flat. The man views pregnancy just the opposite. When the girl is talking about the white elephants and agrees that the man has never seen one, his response is, "I might have, just because you say I haven’t doesn’t prove anything" (464). This shows the defensive nature of the man, and when the woman implies the he is unable to differentiate between what is beautiful and what is not.
Ernest Hemingway's short story 'Hills Like White Elephants' is a story about a couple who are having some trouble in their relationship. The main characters in the story are an American man and a girl. The whole story is mostly a dialogue between the couple. They are trying to have a fine time, but there is a tension between them and some kind of operation needs to be done. The operation can easily be done and if it's going to happen it will be done on the girl. In the story it's not being said what the operation is. The second time I read it I understand that they are talking about an abortion. The man wants the girl to do the abortion while the girl is not sure.
Hills Like White Elephants is a short story written by Ernest Hemingway that follows the conversations of a young woman and her supposed loving boyfriend while they are stopped at a junction waiting on the next train. The story, without ever clearly stating it, is about the young woman’s external (and internal) struggle as to whether or not to have an abortion. She must consciously decide what the right thing to do in her situation is. With this as the premise, it is very clear to the reader that the main conflict in the story is one of man vs. self.