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Gender roles in Literature
Gender roles in Literature
How is gender represented in literature
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Gender in “Hills Like White Elephants” Ernest Hemingway’s 1927 short story “Hills Like White Elements” explores the way a couple discuss an ‘operation’ (42) which the woman is to receive, which is implied to be abortion without actually mentioning the word itself. It is set at a table at a train station somewhere between Barcelona and Madrid in Spain. The couple consists of an American male and a ‘girl’ (5), whose name is later revealed to be Jig (42), which might imply that perhaps she is younger, but not a local of Spain since she asks the American to translate for her in the first few lines of their conversation (15). Jig resists the idea of aborting the child throughout the course of the story and the American tries to convince her by …show more content…
She suggests that male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication and that miscommunication results because of intolerance for the opposite gender marked language. While this is true, it could also seem to the audience that both characters have different wants and needs for their future, so perhaps the language isn’t a strong enough factor in the miscommunication. What is certain through the text is that the male American has much more dominance and certainty in his dialogue whereas the female Jig’s dialogue tends to stretch the conversation more rather than have a fixed standpoint. This can be seen through her mentioning the “white elephants” (9, Hemingway) or snapping about how they “look at things and try new drinks” (34). It is clear that Jig’s dialogue is driven by fantasy whereas the American’s dialogue is driven by facts and what is. Smiley does have a point when she suggest that women’s language focuses on emotions rather than facts and objects, but this could be since they are socially primed to be more emotionally open about their thoughts than are men. If male gender-marked language is more direct and less trivial than that of women it is due to culture, not
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.
“The Hills as White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, tells a story about a couple who are expecting a baby, but want to have an abortion. The setting of the story takes places at a bar situated across of a train station in Madrid, Spain. The couple sits by the bar, and order some drinks. They began discussing about whether or not having the abortion. While they wait for the train the man convince the girl. Within the two works there are many similarities but also differences between the central idea, conflict and the language devices.
Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises is an interesting piece of literature that has been analyzed and reviewed by many scholars throughout the years. Something that is often brought to attention are the gender roles. In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway makes a stronger woman and a more feminine man, this is something that had not yet been seen in literature. A few authors had made female and male characters in their novels that were different than the norm, but none to the extreme of Hemmingway. In Hemingway’s novel, his female character, Brett, does not care about obeying the societal gender role set forth for her during the time period she lives.
"Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, is a great example of women's role in the last century. The story is told in a simple form of dialogue between a man and a young woman nicknamed Jig. Although there is an important decision to be made, nothing of much importance is talked about. In the story, Jig does not have much influence in her relationship with the man, even when it comes to an abortion.
In the story Hills like White Elephants, there is an exceptionally heavy theme of alienation in regards to the girl, Jig, and the medical procedure she and the American are going to Madrid in order to have done. Though it is never explicitly stated, the reader can infer that the procedure the two are discussing Jig having done is an abortion; considering that the American says “We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before.” (Hemingway) The following dialogue only solidifies this assumption, because the couple continues to talk about how things were perfect before and that this will give them the chance to be happy and worry free again. What really solidifies the nature of the operation is that the man knows many people who have had it done and were so happy afterwards, and that they are leaving home in order to have it done, which shows that there is a certain amount of shame that comes with having the procedure done.
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.
In contrast, there is an alternative perspective (i.e. nurture) that has been gaining popularity. This
Misogyny is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the hatred and lack of respect of women. Hemingway appeared to have a misogynistic view of females, and that was evident in his writing. One of his novels, MEN WITHOUT WOMEN, contains quite a few female characters that are portrayed in a negative manner. Although these women were distinctly different, they all shared some common aspects. The following will explore the mistreatment of three of these women. I will analyze the similarities of each of these women, and I will attempt to bring to light how they are terribly treated. My claims will be backed up by thorough descriptions of the treatment of each woman,
Abortions were occasions that would be found in books and motion pictures that depicted young ladies in bad positions or ladies that had been pushed to the edge. For example, Ernest Hemingway’s Hills like White Elephants. The story focuses on a conversation between an American man and a girl at the Spanish train station while waiting for a train to Madrid. Throughout the story we read about two people talking about a certain operation that will eventually make things better for them. We get the clues that he is talking about abortion. The girl does not seem to want to have the procedure but the man pressures her about it. Although the American attempts to frame the fetus as the source of the couple’s discontent with life and one another, the tone and pattern of dialogue indicate that there may be deeper problems with the relationship than the purely circumstantial. Back then the procedure was extremely hazardous and accompanied numerous dangers. To choose to have an abortion was to choose to be degraded. Women were jailed for having abortions and discriminated against. In 1973, the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade changed the way abortion was viewed, and since then, controversy over the legitimacy of abortion continues to
Hemingway's characters in the story represent the stereotypical male and female in the real world, to some extent. The American is the typical masculine, testosterone-crazed male who just ...
Jig's smiles, or the times Hemingway tells us "The girl did not say anything" suggest that there is a much deeper story in the background. Critics like Hilary Justice have written many in-depth analyses of the meanings of Jig's smiles throughout the story (3). David Wyche devotes half a page to Hemingway's choice of prepositions (6), and every detail relating to the setting can be taken into consideration in the effort to understanding the meaning of the story.... ... middle of paper ...
In "Hills Like White Elephants," by Ernest Heminway it is easy to sympathize with the woman, to like and admire her more than the man in the short story. In the story the woman's name is "Jig," and the man is being called "the American." Throughout the story Hemingway makes it easier to sympathize with and easier to admire Jig by conveying her likeable traits throughout the conversation being held by her and the American, who is portrayed as very unlikeable.
Hemingway’s novel The Sun Also Rises has his male characters struggling with what it means to be a man in the post-war world. With this struggle one the major themes in the novel emits, masculine identity. Many of these “Lost Generation” men returned from that war in dissatisfaction with their life, the main characters of Hemingway’s novel are found among them. His main characters find themselves drifting, roaming around France and Spain, at a loss for something meaningful in their lives. The characters relate to each other in completely shallow ways, often ambiguously saying one thing, while meaning another. The Sun Also Rises first person narration offers few clues to the real meaning of his characters’ interactions with each other. The reader must instead collect evidence from the indirect hints that Hemingway gives through his narrator, Jake Barnes. The theme of masculinity, though prevalent in the novel, is masked in this way. Jake war wound, Jake and Robert Cohn’s relationship, and the bull-fighting scene show the theme of masculinity.
Traditional gender roles exist in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, but traditional distribution of power between the genders does not. In analyzing each character and their life, it’s easy to see how Marquez presented each in terms of his own view on gender constructs. Marquez portrays femininity and masculinity very differently. But why would Marquez choose to make such a clear distinction between the roles of each gender? Marquez sees women as spiritual and overpowered by traditional standards, and men doomed by their own obsessions. Men are wily and therefore vulnerable, whereas women are dignified and durable, and survive for much longer.
Achieving roles for women that are as equal as men, before and during the twentieth century, appeared to be inevitable in the United States. Women were limited to domesticity, performing duties that only serve their families as wives, mothers, and diligent daughters. Women were absorbed and accustomed to these standards, oblivious to their worth and capabilities that are above and beyond their set domestic duties. “Groups of women challenged this norm of the twentieth century and exceeded their limited roles as domestic servants by organizing movements whose sole purpose is to achieve equality within a male-dominated society” (Norton