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”…
The film seems to be critiquing men’s need for power over women and the male ego, but it does so by recreating those problems. The film is centered on two women in captivity for the pleasure of two men and finally one man, Caleb, orchestrates an entire plan to save the damsel in distress. The plot is extremely male centric with the protagonist and antagonist both being male. The female lead, Ava, is passively being watched and her one plan of escape is to depend on Caleb. The only deviation from traditional female representation is at the very end of the film, when Ava lets Kyoko die, kills Nathan, and leaves Caleb trapped in the house to eventually die. In some ways the ending is progressive, because Ava departs from the majority of female roles, which follow “pro-social goals including supporting and helping others” (Lauzen, “It’s A Man’s…
In the 1970’s, the fight for women’s suffrage was a major highlighted impact amongst the nation as women everywhere fought for their equality with men. Within this time, women were considered to be obligated to take of the family and the home without any gratitude. Judy Brady effectively points this out to the readers of Ms. Magazine in 1972, where she publishes an article that opens eyes across the nation. In her article, “Why I Want a wife,” Brady uses techniques such as pathos to discuss her duties as a wife and to show the unfairness and inequality that her position upholds.…
“The beginning of the feminist movement in the 1960s changed her attitude toward a self-destructive mindset that she later labeled a "post-Romantic collective delusion” (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).…
We can never free ourselves from the bondages of time, but the decisions we make along the way, can change our lives and the lives of others, forever.…
“Bartleby the Scrivener,” by Herman Melville, and “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, both present entirely different stories about an isolated employee, and an awkward conversation between a young couple, but as we delve deeper into each story, we are presented with the theme of choice and gender. Bartleby is presented with a number of choices and opportunities to leave his place of work, and the woman, Jig, faces the choice of whether to get an abortion or not. This theme of decision making shows how gender roles play into our freedom of choice and our opportunities. In Bartleby’s case, he is able to ultimately decide his fate due to the fact he is male, but Jig’s future decision will be consciously or subconsciously influenced…
It is his works, such as Hills like White Elephants, which subtly address modern issues that bring forth the question of morality and purpose to a general population (A Farewell to Arms, 3). It is his short, direct style, exemplified by his six word story “Baby shoes for sale, never worn.”, allows for a clear and deep expression of emotion (A Farewell to Arms, 4). His involvement of incorporating the reader through active reading breaks an emotional barrier set forth by usual text. This action allows for the reader to directly examine Hemingway’s characters, and thus reflect on their own behavior. Hemingway’s mastery of language, subsequent to his fluency in the Romantic languages, allows his works to be overall reflective of human behavior and relate to the reader in an emotional context (A Farewell To Arms,…
The rhetorical question “why don’t you make the men stronger?” leads to an answer based through a religious allusion. She uses patriarchal representation to prove that feminism can be seen negatively even the wisdom of Christian theology, as-well as using her own personal experiences with men to reflect on her answer. This religious allusion affirms that there are men who are weak in real life and therefore should be presented in literature realistically thus leading to a statement based on changing the unrealistic stereotypes of…
First of all, the oppression of women is an idea that the author want to press throughout the story, as you can catch the glimpse…
A feminist criticism is an approach to literature that seeks to correct or supplement what may be regarded as a predominantly male-dominated critical perspective with a feminist consciousness (Meyer 1658). The excerpt from A Secret Sorrow and “A Sorrowful Woman” are great from a feminist point of view. Both of these stories are about marriage and family, but their points of view are different. How would a feminist critic view the characters willingness to want a family or willingness to be separated from her family? How would a feminist critic analyze the time period of the two stories? What would a feminist critic say about the male leads? You are about to find out!…
The conflict of man vs. society is quickly revealed from the beginning of the novel. Through a recalled account of past life events, the reader is allowed to grasp an understanding of the life of Janie Crawford. Her life’s trials and tribulations have compelled her into the woman she is, a woman of self-determination who has abandoned the idea of the need for a male presence, as a result of three unsuccessful marriages. Coming into her own, Janie battles with society’s ignorant definition of gender roles and relations versus her personal views of self progression and independence. From her financially driven first marriage to the death of her last husband, she has taken on the flaws of others, specifically a man, to help her search for personal happiness, which has only hindered her progression. Janie once took on the same views as society but due to her personal experiences that allowed herself growth, she broke free of the biased, realizing that the development of an individual identity amounts way more than simply compromising for the like of others.…
Gail Collins argues, “The Feminine Mystique is a very specific cry of rage about the way intelligent, well-educated women were kept out of the mainstream of American professional life and regarded as little more than a set of reproductive organs in heels” (1). At a time when women were at their academic peak with the highest college attendance and graduation rates, one would assume that women would confidently take on more important roles in the workforce, especially following the Rosie the Riveter campaign that empowered female workers during World War II; however, women took on more domestic roles in higher percentages, forgetting the progress in women’s rights their mothers and grandmothers worked so hard to achieve. Louis Menand explains, “When Friedan was writing her book, the issue of gender equality was barely on the public’s radar screen. On the contrary: it was almost taken for granted that the proper goal for intelligent women was marriage” (2). A large contributor to this decision is the false sense of accomplishment women were promised in return for their spousal duties. Critic Catherine Judd explains, “Friedan notes that suburban housewives have been told by the media, by the medical community, and by educators that they…
Men are stronger, smarter, and they wield more opportunities. The men want a sense of control over their property, reputation, and people. “Under common law, an unmarried woman can own property, make a contract and sue or be sued. A married woman gives up her name and all her property to her husband” (Bloomsburg). A woman can do anything a man can until she marries one. The protagonist of this novel, Hester Prynne, breaks the stereotypes created by the society she lives in. Though the society exiles and punishes Hester by ways of humiliation and isolation, she endures these retributions with strength and acceptance. She embodies feminism as she withstands more than what a woman could usually tolerate in any society. Hester is the strongest character among her fellow men and…
In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway surprisingly engages the reader with ambiguous dialogue and character detail necessitating use of extensive symbolism within the setting to encourage the readers active participation. The glaring lack of key details concerning the characters, an American man and a girl named Jig, and their disjointed conversation provide little real substance to comprehend the conflict at hand. In trying to determine what operation is being discussed this statement provides little clue, “I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in” (Hemingway 592). If anything this ambiguous statement promotes further confusion. So it is necessary for the reader…
One such insight about the United States concerned the relationship between women and choice. During this new chapter of American history, women were making their voices known. Writers like Margaret Fuller, Ella Wheeler Wilcox, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman were some of the most prominent female writers during this time and were large contributors to this new wave of literature. They blended feminine perspective with a form of literature that became extremely popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century: Realism. Feminine realism was so marketable that even male authors produced such writings. One such male author was Theodore Dreiser with his short story “The Second Choice.” Much can be inferred from this story, but mainly that while money can buy women’s happiness and the freedom to choose, true mobility and choice is something only accessible to rich, white men.…