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Hills Like White Elephants And The Story Of An Hour Literary Analysis

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The mid 1800s to early 1900s was the mark of change for women in society. In the stories Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway and The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, the authors write about conflicts revolving around women’s development. These pieces of work express themes including independence, relationships, and society. The authors discuss controversial things during that era like abortion and marriage. If analyzed closely, the author’s purpose of writing these stories is not only to tell us about marriage and abortion, but also a changing world where women are becoming independent. The role of women years ago was to get married, give birth and take care of the husband: in The Story of an Hour we see a women overjoyed because …show more content…

The conflict is about an operation which the reader’s find out to be an abortion; back then abortions were illegal and dangerous. The American wanted to make the girl feel like it was her decision and she did not have to go through with it if she did not want to, but audience can tell he wanted her to get the abortion. Jig starts to see how ignorant and selfish the American is when he says, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural” (Hemingway 121). He tells her this as if he’s the woman and knows how their bodies function. Jig is the woman and would most likely have more knowledge on the operation. Instead of defending herself she’s uses a tactic described in the following quote, “But in the first movement she does not dignify his self-serving ignorance with a response. If this may be called sarcasm through silence, she continues throughout this movement to employ vocal sarcasm, as in her rejoinder that she too has known people who have had abortions ‘And afterward they were all so happy’” (Renner 30). She uses this sarcasm as a way to not directly tell the American that she knows what happens during an abortion and how she feels on the subject matter. The internal conflict within her continues to grow as the American blames their unhappiness on the child growing within

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739 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout their conversation, you can decipher a tone where the conversation sheds light on his feelings towards the procedure and her feelings. He says “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It’s not really an operation at all” (Hemingway 124), in an effort to persuade her to in fact have the abortion. She, on the other hand, seems silent at first, but then questions how their life will be better after this procedure. Her uncertainty shows in her responses, and in other findings “… the sensuous beauty of a love relation that is quickly deteriorating, now that she has become conscious of her lover’s selfishness” (Maynard 273).

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1245 Words | 5 Pages

Compare narrative point of view between “The Story of an Hour” and “Hills Like White Elephants” There are two stories that we have read with our instructor in class both of them agreed on the same point of view. Women should be treated well and care of their emotions. They are humans that the most sensitive in the world. The culture and society was giving rules that the woman have to stayed at the house and just be house maids without any thinking of working outside the house. The other thing, the old culture and society looks that the man have to be over the woman and obey the man with whatever he asks for even if he told something bad to do, the woman have to accept and not refuse.

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1554 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout the short story (1), “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway is speaking about a seemingly unwanted pregnancy and a woman’s uneasiness with going through an abortion. However, Hemingway never explicitly says in this work of fiction (2) that it is about abortion or that the woman, Jig, is uncomfortable with it, but uses symbolism (3) to present this to the audience. At the time “Hills like White Elephants” was published, in 1927, abortion was illegal in most places and a very taboo subject that wasn’t to be openly discussed in public. Thus, Hemingway relied greatly upon the use of symbolism to get his message across for this reason as well as the third person narrator (4) that did not give insight into the character’s thoughts within this piece of literature (5) . He uses symbols such as the train station, white hills, the baggage, and the drinks to point towards the underlying internal conflict (6) of Jig’s decision that is being heavily influenced by the American man, who wants Jig to get the abortion.

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490 Words | 2 Pages

In her essay, Sallie Tisdale describes some of the clients she had and the conversations she had before and after their abortions. The first client she mentions is an eighteen year old woman. Despite being so young, this is her fourth time being pregnant (Tisdale 414). Immediately, the audience notices the awful

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699 Words | 3 Pages

The American’s immediate fear is him having to marry Jig to “make an honest woman of her”, if she has the baby (Hannum). So the American starts talking about his love for Jig and claiming that the abortion is “perfectly simple,” just “to let the air in.” But Jig

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853 Words | 4 Pages

The man is manipulating her through his words to get his girl to go through with the operation. First, he brings up the operation and goes on to say that “It’s really an awfully simple operation”(42) hinting at the fact that it is easily done and not a big deal at all. Secondly, the man uses the idea of happiness to win her over in this decision, “That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy”(50) he is manipulating her into thinking that this operation will revive their happiness they once shared in this relationship. Thirdly, he tries to normalize the operation to make her feel like it’s a common thing, no big deal, he tells her she doesn’t “have to be afraid.

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While abortion and having a child are two very serious topics, the man does not appear to be taking the situation sincerely, whereas the girl is more concerned. The man clearly does not want the girl to carry through the pregnancy, “we’ll be fine afterward, just like we were before” (Hemingway 361). The girl is silent at first and does

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1004 Words | 5 Pages

In both The Story of an Hour and Hills Like White Elephants, the authors Kate Chopin and Ernest Hemingway describe women and the desire to express themselves and be free and how men influence their decision making. Women strive for a sense of freedom and independence and have the yearning to convey themselves freely. In Kate Chopin’s and Ernest Hemmingway’s stories, the authors suggest the two female main characters in their stories feel suppressed for liberty. Louise Mallard in The Story of an Hour is sick and very lonely. She is

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697 Words | 3 Pages

the play Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, is about a dominant man named Stanley who has a wife named Stella. In American society, the female’s path to success is not through man. The American Dream for a women does not require that she becomes the submissive wife of a dominant man. Stanley’s character throughout this book is about drinking, gambling, bowling, and sex. Stella throughout the book had choices whether she wanted to leave Stanley, but decides to stay because of the baby they had.

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If analyzed in a more generic view, the short story can be used to show how a male and female stereotypically understand a subject. The American speaks more literal and materialistic as Jig is seen to speak in a more figurative and abstract manner. Ernest Hemingway’s use of symbolism gives the reader a more visual effect to the conflict between the man and the girl as well as the idea of their inner thoughts. The white rounded hills, the beads on the curtain hanging from the bar’s doorframe, and the cool shade and blazing light all represent different aspects of the two choices that the American and the girl have to decide on, just like the railroad tracks on either side of the

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632 Words | 3 Pages

Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour” is set in the late 1800s – a time when women were considered inferior to men. Women had traditional roles as wives and mothers. In this 19th century patriarchal society, Chopin shows us Louise Mallard, the main character, who does not comply with the female gender norms of the Victorian period. When Louise learns about the death of her husband, her reaction and the reaction of her sister and the doctor tell us a great deal about gender stereotyping during this time. Louise Mallard is described to us as “firm” and “fair.

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884 Words | 4 Pages

Women's roles have changed throughout time. Both The Chrysanthemums, written by John Steinback, and The Story of an Hour, by Kate Choppin, are stories that use both direct and indirect characterization on women and their roles in their time. Throughout The Chrysanthemums, there are examples of our protagonist Elisa Allen struggling as a woman in the 1930s Great Depression society. In The Story of an Hour, it focuses on the fact that the protagonist, Mrs. Louise Mallard, feels oppressed and stripped of her freedom as a person. In addition, these two women grew from their pain, but were still seeking for more.

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According to Smiley, “The dialogue contains the essence of the story's power; for to read Jig's and the American conversation is to recognize the powerless frustration of parallel interchanges” (2). The girl's character passes changes throughout the story. It appears that “Hemingway works out the story's conflict, which revolves around the development of his female character” (Renner 28). The girl gains power and frees herself from the following the American man. In the beginning of the story, the girl take the initiative to speak which leads to the discussion: “'what should we drink?'

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727 Words | 3 Pages

Growing up as a woman has been quite difficult in this generation, however, growing up around thirty years ago must have been more difficult. Back in the 1900’s, women had different social norms to deal with in society. Women had to stay at home, be housewives, do the laundry, and cook while men went out and worked to obtain money for their family. In Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, she tells the struggles that women went through back in the 1990 's and the social norms that women had to go through. Chopin addresses many instances of symbolism to portray the feeling Mrs. Mallard has about her own thoughts and experiences with or without a man in her life.

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791 Words | 4 Pages

This shows a balance between gender roles, as well as the embracing progressive changes within culture and society. In the story “The Story of an Hour,” by Kate Chopin, a third-person omniscient narrator, relates how Mrs. Louise Mallard, the protagonist, experiences the euphoria of freedom rather than the grief of loneliness after hearing about her husband’s death. Later, when Mrs. Mallard discovers that her husband, Mr. Brently Mallard, still lives, she realizes that all her aspiration for freedom has gone. The shock and disappointment kills Mrs. Mallard.

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