Preview

A Femanist View of Hills Like White Elephants

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
807 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Femanist View of Hills Like White Elephants
A Feminist View of , “Hills Like White Elephants”
Noelle Taylor
South University Online To be a women in Hemingway 's story “Hills Like White Elephants” meant not be a typical women of the time period. It was more like being a womean of today.In the time we live it 's still not the “norm” to have an abortion,but it is safer than it was then. She was stereotypical for the time (meaning she was the lesser sex who would do anything for her man)but there was more to it. She was being faced with making a life altering decision. Moderen women are still forced at times to make the same type ofdecisions. One that would change her and the relationship of the man she was in love with. As the story starts we see a young couple. At first glance it is a stereotypical gender couple. The man is in charge. He does the ordering for them He makes the decisions as to what and how much they will drink. She allows him to be in charge (letting him be the stronger one the male). She even ask him “What should we drink?” (Hemingway, 2012, p.4) She lets him be in control. Like most women of the time period (1920 's -1930 's) Jig wants to to please her man. She is willing to do this at any cost. Jig would even have an abortion if that 's what it will take to please him. “And if I do it you 'll be happy and things will be like they were and you 'll love me?” (Hemingway ,2012, p.55) Abortions were not a simple operation during that time period as the man would have her believe. “It 's really an awfully simple operation, Jig” the man said, “Its not really an operation at all” (Hemingway, 2012, p.40) Truth is they were illegal at that time and could be complicated. He however goes on through out the story to convince her to have it. “I know you wouldn 't mind it jig. It 's really not anything. It 's just to let the air in.” (Hemingway, 2012, p.40) Jig like most women of that time period and even today wanted to keep her relationship alive. To her it meant doing anything she had to



References: Hemingway, E. (2011). Hills like white elephants. In D.L. Pike and A.M. Acosta 's (Eds.) Literature: A world of writing stories, poems, plays, and essays [VitalSource digital version] (pp. 444-445). Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions. |

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Although most of the features of "Hills Like White Elephants" have been well discussed and understood, so that Paul Smith, in his 1989 survey of opinion on the story, can wonder if there is anything left to say about it (209), what has not been satisfactorily resolved is the question of the ending. In view of the fact that Hemingway leaves virtually everything, even what is at issue between the girl and the American, for the reader to "figure" out, meanwhile unobtrusively supplying what is needed to understand the story's structure and conflict, it seems logical to assume that he also expected the reader to be able to answer the question left by the story's ending: What are the couple going to do about the girl's pregnancy? Yet the ending…

    • 175 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sometimes it takes a life-changing moment to awaken a person in a relationship the realities of those around them, Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephant,” showcase techniques that express the relationship among the man and the girl who were in a short-flawed altercation about the girl going under an abortion operation.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Earnest Hemingway writes “Hills Like White Elephants” in such a metaphoric way, that it takes a few times to read it and figure out what the topic of discussion is between the guy…

    • 987 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    A lot of the readers can relate to this because everyone goes through that stage of not feeling wanted. For Jig she was referring to her baby that was not wanted. Personally, Jig wanted the baby. Notice when she said “They’re lovely hills, (Hemingway, 1927)”, meaning that Jig was trying to get off the subject. The America man was trying to persuade her to abort it. Noticing that, when he said, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig, (Hemingway, 1927).” Then, he continued, “It’s not really an operation at all, (Hemingway, 1927)” Anyone could clearly see that he was talking about aborting the baby because he kept repeating sentences like “I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s nothing. It’s not as painful, as you think, (Hemingway, 1927)”. In the end, Jig doesn’t want to abort the baby, but does anyway because it seemed like she just wanted the situation to end and also the manipulation by her man who keeps saying that if you get rid of the baby everything will go back as it…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ernest Hemingway does not even mention about the word ‘abortion’. He simply uses symbolism to enforce the idea to the reader that this couple is talking about getting an abortion. He uses the way of metaphor of fate in the couple’s conversation; by saying ‘awfully simple’, or ‘operation’. It gets the reader thinking, ‘What operation is the couple talking about?’ But the dialogue can be the background knowledge to the reader. If words are not being said, the settle of the dialogue…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” portrays the turmoil a couple endures when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, the choice to hold onto their current life or to begin a new life. Readers are allowed to intrude on a conversation between an American man and a girl, further conflict is presented through Hemingway’s use of symbolism. The man wants to go through with an abortion while the girl is unsure about which track she should take. Throughout the story, Hemmingway’s use of abundant details about the setting, rather than providing much detail about the characters, reveal a conflict between the man’s desire for the girl to have a “perfectly natural” (Hemingway 116) procedure and the decision to forgo an “awfully simple operation”…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Does she decide to save the unborn life within her? Or does she follow the wishes of the American? Hemingway doesn’t leave us with a straightforward answer to this question. The decision that Jig makes remains a secret. Some literary analysts believe that Jig goes ahead with the operation. Others believe that Jig leaves the man to raise their child by herself. Howard Hannum suggests that Jig doesn’t choose simply one or the other: “She has decided to have the abortion but not in order to resume her life with the American. And this is not so much a question of her having the courage to leave him, after the abortion, as it is a clear case of her being unable to tolerate him—of her having left him in her wake.” Is Hannum correct? Are there any more possible routes that Jig can take? How does Jig resolve this moral…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession, but also it means a rare and sacred creature. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway uses an unborn child as a white elephant. This short story depicts a couple of an American man and young women at a train station somewhere in Spain. Hemingway tells the story from watching the couple from across the bar and listening to their troublesome conversation. Through overhearing the couple’s conversation Hemingway uses dialogue to explain the couple’s decision of an abortion operation. Hills Like White Elephants is a great example of Hemingway’s rare use of dialogue. Hemingway compresses dialogue in his stories by removing authorial guidance, forcing readers to interpret for themselves shades of meaning (Del Gizzo, Moddelmog 175). In the short story Hemingway also uses the setting to help the reader understand what the man and woman are feeling and thinking as they await their train. By providing details of the hills, bar, and landscape the reader can better understand the emotions and situation the couple are experiencing. The way that Hemingway creates the characters is a very interesting way because he lets the reader make their own opinions about the characters through their actions and words. In Hills Like White Elephants Hemingway uses compressed dialogue to let the reader interpret the story themselves while also using the setting and characters to help show the situation that the story portrays.…

    • 1376 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jig asks her lover if he will worry about the procedure, and he responds by saying he considers the treatment simplistic, and then Jig states, “Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me.” This statement further asserts the idea that Jig is looking to appease her male counterpart and put her own feelings aside in order to remain with her lover. Jig doesn’t want to lose her current relationship, because her internalized gender stereotypes tell her that women need to be supported by a male figure. Additionally, Jig is continuously being pressured to make her decision by overbearing lover. The man states early on in the story states that, “[They’ll] be fine afterwards. Just like [they] were before,” and then finally claims that the only problem that exists between them is this decision on whether Jig should have an abortion or not. Jig is faced with the decision to either not receive the treatment, which could end in the destruction of her romantic relationship, or to go through with treatment, but regret her decision for the rest of her life. Due to the external pressure to please her lover, like a “good” women would do, Jig receptively states, “I’ll do it,” and soon begins to contemplate this decision. Even though the reader is never…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Hills Like White Elephants”, a short story by Ernest Hemingway, presents many interesting insights into relationships between men and women from the era when it was written. During the 1920’s, an era referred to as the Roarin’ Twenties, women were slowly progressing out from their stereotypical household roles to lives of entertainment and partying. In this short story, Hemingway's characters reveal the lingering differences in stature between men and women in this period. Hemingway, in this story, provides detailed descriptions and well thought out dialogue between his two main characters, an American man and a girl called Jig. The dialogue in the “Hills Like White Elephants”, allows the reader to understand the interactions between men and women…

    • 1326 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “Hill Like White Elephants” written by Ernest Hemingway, revolves around a couple sitting and conversing at a train station. The two have ordered a couple of beers and continue to make small talk. Their conversation seems casual at first but then turns tense when the American exposes the unspoken trouble between them. They begin to talk about whether or not Jig, the woman should have an “operation”. It never clearly says what the operation is, but from various clues the reader can conclude that the operation that they are talking about is abortion. The American begins trying to convince the Jig to have an abortion. He cunningly try’s to comfort Jig by telling her that decision is totally up to her, but then tells her that he believes that the operation would be the best thing for the both of them. Jig can’t seem to decide, but seems reluctant to go through with the operation.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This essay will use new criticism to evaluate “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway in the areas of characters, symbolism, and conflict. I will mainly focus on two of the three characters. There will be many opportunities to comment on symbolism. Consideration will also be paid to the ongoing conflict between the American and the girl, sometimes referred to as Jig.…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cited: Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants." Discovering Literature; Stories, Poems, Plays. 2nd ed. Ed. Hans P. Guth and Gabrielle Rico. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice hall, 1998. 22-25.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jig The Woman

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The girl , Jig, is portrayed as someone that’s powerless and can’t speak up for herself. When Jig mentioned the hills looking like white elephants the guy mentioned “I’ve never seen one” and since the girl agreed with him he rudely replies “ Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything”. The guy probably likes to have the upper hand and doesn’t like to be corrected by a woman. The woman didn’t say anything to defend herself after the guy treated her like if she was an object with no voice or power. By the way he acted towards the woman’s comment we can tell that he likes to be the boss of the relationship. As the story went on he didn’t even apologize to Jig for being so ruthless. For this reason, we can tell that women were thought to be less than the men. The girl didn’t know what else to say to try to make the man happy so she just decided to say “ They don’t really look like…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Hemingway

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages

    During the early twentieth century and World War I, men and women in the United States were treated very differently. Each gender had their stereotypes and was not to stray from them. Men were to do masculine things and women were to do feminine things. It was very odd to find someone of either gender slip away from the stereotypes of their particular gender because they would be looked upon as “different” and “different” wasn’t usually accepted in the society. This is something Ernest Hemingway struggled with in his lifetime: the absolute masculinity men were to follow during their life. Marc Hewson wrote that since Hemingway struggled to stay with the masculine stereotype, instead of showing it in his real, personal life, he wrote about it.…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays