Comparing The Chrysanthemums And Hills Like White Elephants

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Patriarchy has a huge impact on the female role in stories. There are two stories that share an ideal. These two stories are “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway and “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck. The idea that is presented in these two short stories is male dominance. Both stories demonstrate what the male character does to show his dominance. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, a couple are seated outside of a station waiting for their train to arrive. Throughout the story, the American refers to his girlfriend as “Jig”, which is something used for measuring whiskey. “I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything…” The nickname shows that he only sees the girl as an object. The American is portrayed as a man who doesn’t care for his health, life, or future and is only focused on living in the moment and preserving what he thinks is good for him, therefore showing his dominance. In “The Chrysanthemums”, a women named “Elisa” is gardening and her husband is making a deal with two strangers. Elisa’s husband Henry just made a deal to sell some of livestock for a good amount of money and decides to celebrate his deal with his wife by taking her out for dinner and a movie. Throughout the story, a tinker passes by Elisa’s garden and stops and decides to talk to her. The tinker is trying to get …show more content…

In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Jig and her partner get into a heated argument about Jig getting an abortion and Jig is told that “it’s a simple operation” but she does not believe it to be so. Jig then tells her partner if he could just stop talking but he keeps repeating the same things over again, and she begins to feel agitated at this point. “But I don’t want you to,” he said, “I don’t care anything about it.” “I’ll scream,” the girl said.” (478, Hemingway). This shows that Jig is getting really annoyed of her partner trying to convince her that she has nothing to worry

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