Misconception of Women's Role in Relationships

Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" touches on an issue as ageless as time: communication problems in a relationship. He tells his story through conversations between the two main characters, the American and the girl. Conflict is created through dialogue as these characters face what most readers believe to be the obstacle of an unexpected pregnancy. Their plight is further complicated by their inability to convey their differing opinions to each other. Symbolism and the title's meaning are other effective means of communicating conflict.

Every time the man or the woman try to change the subject and avoid talking about the abortion, they end up saying something that refers to or alludes to the baby or the abortion. The woman suggests that the hills look like white elephants (324), which the man fails to acknowledge. The lack of clear communication between the two causes tension and arguments at every turn. When the woman agrees sarcastically that the man has never seen white elephants, he says, "Just because you say I wouldn't have doesn't prove anything" (324). The woman is clearly annoyed at the insensitivity of the man's negative feelings toward her pregnancy. For her, the baby is a priceless treasure, but for him it is a worthless fetus.

In both essays, two common themes revealed are the dominance of man and to find the perfect female spouse to satisfy their male spouses need. Ideas that are being presented are girls need to stay girly and attractive and males cannot sustain friendship with females. Each author elaborates on what the ideal male or female is. The author Paul Theroux talks more about how society sees as a man in his essay “Being a Man” and uses metaphors and hyperboles to get through readers. While the author Judy Brady explains what the ideal female is viewed as in her essay “I Want a Wife” and uses satire and domestic ideology.

During life, birth, and death, a family is one of the few natures of life that are present throughout. Often times, the value of family is taken for granted, and people tend to disregard the importance it carries. Due to the power present in the nature of a man, often times it is challenging for women to establish a firm independence, in distinction of the common norms inaugurated in society and in family. In both A Thousand Splendid Suns and Pride and Prejudice, men are the dominant figures in all households, as they have control over their financial status, who their children marry, where they live, and create means in which the females of the family must follow. The inferiority that women face leads to an inquiry of an immense pride

Women are portrayed as needy, whiny, and downright annoying, a burdensome background noise that distracts one's attention from more important matters -like football games, for example. This particular trope is also harmful to men painting them as lazy, uncaring, and somewhat football obsessed slobs that would rather sleep in a garage for a week than help their wives do the laundry. While this trope is degrading to both genders in two opposite ways, it comes together to normalize unhealthy relationships, one where responsibilities are not shared, feelings are not validated nor heard out, and ignoring the needs of one's partner is commonplace. This goes hand in hand with the "marriage is the end of a man's freedom" trope. Which again, harms genders in two separate ways teaching girls to believe that they are nothing more than a heavy deadlock around the necks of the men they love, and teaching boys that cherishing the relationship they are in is not manly. People organize their knowledge about the world around them by sorting and simplifying information then creating representations of the reality displaying its most typical elements and properties. This is responsible for defining the essence of our worldview and has a significant influence on social

The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, is about a man trying to convince his girlfriend to have an abortion. The couple sits in a train station waiting for their trip to Barcelona, and are staring outside at the scenery—the line of hills “like white elephants”, as the girl, Jig, remarks. They sit and drink and they try to keep conversation light and to enjoy themselves. As the story progresses, however, cause for their underlying tenseness boils to the surface.

Despite revealing the inequality in society for women, Margaret tries to put an end to the inequality between men and women by describing marriages where both partners are mutually respected. For example, she feels that the ideal marriage is “one of mutual esteem, mutual dependence. Their talk is of business, their affection shows itself by practical kindness” (739). Fuller believes that “mutual esteem” and “mutual dependence” lead to a relationship of equality between a man and woman. She also believes that the couple must not only have mutuality but “affection” in order to maintain equality. In addition, she feels marriages of mutuality and mutuality and affection “meet mind to mind, and a mutual trust is excited, which can buckler them against a million” (742). The author uses this passage to show that

In Hemmingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” It can be quite evident to look at a relationship and know why a couple may be having problems, it is made clear and that the mans passive aggressive attitude towards Jig makes her feel as if she only wants to get an abortion because the man wants her to. While sitting at the table with their drinks, the man says, “If you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple” (Page 275). This is the Americans way of trying to psychologically get into Jigs head and make her feel like she needs to get the abortion, while doing it in a way that seems sympathetic. The man lacks empathy for Jig and everything she has to go through, it is also brought to the reader’s attention

“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway tells a short story about an American man and a girl waiting for a train to arrive in Spain. While they wait, they sit down and have a few drinks. The man persists to talk about a problem they both need to figure out a solution to, but the woman is desperate to avoid committing to a resolution. The theme consists of an incessant miscommunication between the two. The author uses irony, point of view, and symbolism heavily in this story to accentuate this detail and hint at what the man so badly wants to get rid of and what decisions the woman is conflicted over.

In Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway tells a simple story about a couple who is arguing about an abortion. Through the woman’s dialogue, the readers grasp that she does not want to get the operation done, even though she never states that directly. As the man tries to convince her, she, obviously, becomes more and more frustrated with him. For example the woman says, “I feel fine. There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine”(478). From this dialogue, the reader can acknowledge that the woman by no means is going to give into the man’s persuasion and, ultimately, the final decision will be hers. However, the man does not seem to care that the operation could potentially harm the woman. For example, he describes the abortion, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It’s not really an operation at all”(476). The reader grasps that the man is selfish, does not put himself in the woman’s shoes, and

Relationships can be difficult, but a lot of couples work through the difficultly by supporting and helping each other. In the short story “Hills like White Elephants”, written by Ernest Hemingway, an unnamed American and a young woman, named Jig, are waiting for a train to arrive. Set in the mid-1920s, the couple are sitting at a bar drinking beers, and awaiting to travel to their next destination. Talking vaguely with each other, Jig describes the hills as “white elephants”, meaning an unwanted gift. During the story, the couple discuss an ‘operation’ that the man wants the girl to have, but she doesn’t to want to, symbolizing wanting to keep their unborn child. In this story, “Hills like White Elephant”, the theme is the ending of a relationship, by the of lack of communication, selfishness and choices.

For a long time, men and women have been dealing with the controversy of gender roles. In modern day, the battle for gender equality has been more known. In the story “Guys Suffer from Oppressive Gender Roles Too”, the author Julie Zeilinger explains how males are held to a more macho standard, but do have prevalent emotions. If we were to let go of these rigid rules about what is manly, there would be no standard for any gender. If that was reality, men shouldn’t have to feel humiliated about staying home, and if their companion makes more money than they do. Zeilinger talks about how males detach themselves from some emotions, and live a “life nub to a true range of human emotion” so they can meet this masculinity standard. However if males

This ultimately reverts back to the traditional gender roles, where the man is the provider and the woman is the homemaker. However in Bartels’ article he identifies his struggles, “I’m amazed at how willing my wife is to push my buttons sometimes” (61). Bartels implies that she is the only one who pushes buttons. He states, “But she’s not the only one who in the family who has bad days” (61). Bartels talks about coming home after a long work day and cooking a nice dinner, and receiving no recognition for the efforts he has made. He feels as though all of his efforts are simply going to waste. Both authors would agree that their efforts to build a better relationship are not appreciated and this portrays unrealistic expectations for their individual relationships.

The complexity of decision making is the process in making tough decisions regarding to real world situations. Communication is the connection and the main key between people, so without communication there is nothing. “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway is about a conversation between an American and a girl, which is being held at a train station while waiting for a train to Madrid. The girl starts to compare the hills nearby to white elephants. Not in a direct way, the couple discuss an “operation” that the American wants the woman to have. In reality, this “operation” is an abortion. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Ernest Hemingway utilizes symbolism and characterization to reveal the complexity of decision making and communication to illustrate that in a relationship one must communicate effectively to avoid separation or being forced to do something one doesn’t want to.

Traditionally, a white elephant is a useless possession that is more times than not, unwanted. In today's world we see white elephant gift exchanges where people will exchange unwanted gifts to one another, usually popular among work colleagues or family gatherings. In “Hills like White Elephants” the white elephant is the baby that Jig is unexpectedly carrying. Even though the couple is in love neither the man nor the girl can decide what to do with the child the are expecting. The baby would indeed be a gift, but it would also be a burden, this can be discovered when the man states that “We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before” (Hemingway 476). The man obviously believes that if they decide to keep the baby then it will prevent them from doing things they want to continue doing, and that is clear because he continues to badger Jig about the situation they are in that it made Jig beg the man to stop, she pleads, “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” (478). By this it is clear that Jig is truly concerned about the situation that affects her life and just wants to stop talking about everything. It is clear that the american man does not want to have the baby, “the man has therefore treated Jig’s pregnancy like a burden or an illness” (Rankin 236). Throughout the short story the man has obviously been for the abortion and does not