The short stories, “Cat in the Rain” and “Hills Like White Elephants” are both written by Ernest Hemingway. Both of these stories present the adversity that women face when it comes to their relationships. According to Hemingway, men were less affectionate and were more concerned with themselves, meanwhile, women were trying to build a foundation for themselves with their significant other. Relationship, in general are hard, but based on the women characters in both stories, the women are completely unsatisfied with their lovers. The story “Cat in the Rain” is filled with symbolism and meaning. It is essentially about an American couple that stays at a hotel in Italy. While they stay at the hotel it is raining outside and the husband, George, is lying on the bed …show more content…
In “Cat in the Rain” the woman is very unhappy with her husband because he do not go out of his way for her and barely pays attention to what she says. He basically just shows her that he does not care but that might not be the case. For example, when she expresses her feelings to him and what she wants, he says “Oh, shut up and get something to read”(pg.57), even though it might be sarcasm, it basically shows that he does not want to hear what she has to say and he is annoyed by it. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, the girl seemed so cold and unhappy with herself because the American basically wanted her to get an abortion, and she became irritated from that. In a way, it seems as though he was kind of trying to support her with whatever she wanted to do but from her point of view, it seemed like he did not want to keep the baby, which was upsetting for her. For example when they were having a conversation about the abortion, the girl said, “if I do it, you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me”. This indicates that she will do whatever he wants in order for them to be
Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a short story that deals with the idea of conformity and the conflict caused by internal desire and pressure from another party. The short story is very subtle, and often uses these subtleties in combination with incredible amounts of symbolism interlaced throughout the narrative to cause the reader to look and think deeper into the motives, values and convictions of the conflict between the two protagonists respective desires. When two parties are at an impasse of desire, the conviction of their opposing beliefs become increasingly unshakeable. This results in dissension due to the severe lack of understanding between the parties involved and furthermore, they refuse to be held responsible
Renner, Stanley. "Moving To The Girl's Side Of "Hills Like White Elephants.." Hemingway Review 15.1 (1995): 27-41. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
In both stories, a couple lives through hardships. Both couples share elements of tension, disconnection and lack of communication. “A Temporary Matter” is told in a messy fashion because it throws the reader in the reading without any set-up or background information. Flashbacks are used by the author to fill in gaps about the narrative. Although the flashbacks serve its purpose by providing background information, it was not efficient.
Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. The main idea in this analysis is to prove that Jig and her partner are in the middle of a comedy and trajedy. Comedy in this case refers to marriage and sexual union rather than humor. Tragedy refers to the end of something such as the end of family or society. Henningfeld states that the decision Jig has to make about the abortion will take the couple in either a comedic direction or a tragic direction. The ending is inconclusive and the only thing the readers can interpret is that there is a huge struggle the couple is facing. Henningfeld states that many of Hemingway’s stories deal with
Life is a series of crossroads, major and minor, and each decision plays a key part in analysing the character of a person. In “Hills Like White Elephants” Ernest Hemingway tears back the curtains and exposes one of these moments in full ingenuousness. A man and a woman, named Jig, are at an impasse. They have to decide whether or not they are going to abort their child. The man wants no change in his life, and so he wants no child. The woman wants a change in lifestyle, but in order to keep the child she has to break the autonomous lifestyle that has surrounded her for her entire life. She, in essence, must change her identity in order to follow her aspirations. By juxtaposing the character’s perceived identity to the character’s hopes, Hemingway provides the reader with certain axioms of life. These axioms that Hemingway presents fit into the curriculum of Junior Year by relating to specific values and social conventions, by having literary merit and lastly by transcending time by influencing modern society’s media themes and motifs.
The two short stories “Hills like white elephants” by Ernest Hemingway’s and “The lady with the dog” by Anton Chekhov’s have many unspoken messages throughout the text. Both stories involve romantically involved partners with very emotional decisions. In Hemingway’s story the couple lacks communication and does not resolve this issue. However, In Chekhov’s story the main character finds love for the first time and doesn’t know how to start this new chapter in his life. Both authors use language and setting to communicate these unspoken desires from the two couples in each story.
“Hills Like White Elephants”, published in 1927, gives insight into a couple struggling with an unexpected pregnancy. The woman, Jig, is deciding if she should get an abortion or not. Throughout the story, the man pressures Jig constantly. Stating that, “it would be no big deal [to have the abortion] and that everything will go back to normal” (Hemingway 312). The woman, confused enough, soon realizes that if she does decide to keep the baby, the man will not support her. This short story has a strong impact, not only in the 1920’s, but also in today’s society. Although the story is purely fictional, Hemingway engulfs the readers by giving reference to real world things such as cities. The story deals with real life situations such as abortion,
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.
In fact, Hemingway takes this so far as to continually ironically describe Mr. and Mrs. Elliot as “very happy” in their story, though they are unable to have a child, Mrs. Elliot cries excessively, and they are all but separated (Hemingway 88). The husband and wife in “Cat in the Rain,” also do not have a good relationship. They are beyond distant from each other. The husband largely ignores his wife and prefers her boyish haircut. She, on the other hand, wishes to grow her hair out and have children. He doesn’t even seem to care very much about her - when tries to make an effort of keeping up conversation with her husband, going so far as to share her dreams and desires, he suggests she “get something to read,” (Hemingway 94). The implication is that the two are so at odds that it would be better had they married other people. This is further cemented with the character of the hotel-keeper. Where her husband ignores her, the hotel-keeper pays attention to the woman. He sends out a maid with an umbrella to help the woman look for the cat in the rain, and when she fails to do so, somehow locates the cat and sends it up to her room. Many couples get a pet as a stepping-stone to having a child, or even in place of one, and I believe this is what the cat is meant to symbolize. Though the husband is interested in neither a child or a cat like his wife is, the
Ernest Hemmingway uses time, place, and symbolism in "Hills like White Elephants" to intensify the central dilemma in a story about a man and a woman deciding on whether to go through with an abortion. Although a literal reading of the title may not seem to have any relation to the story, the title is rich in implications. Critics suggest that "Hills" refers to the shape of a woman's stomach when pregnant, and Webster's 21st Century Dictionary defines white elephant as: "[An] awkward, useless possession." The term is also defined in Webster's as an item that is worthless to some but priceless to others. According to Victor Lindsey, the child in the story is a white elephant in the view of the man, who is trying to convince the girl to get rid of it. Hemingway hints about how the man and the woman each feel about the unborn child, but he never tells us why they have such different views on the prospect of an abortion. The man in the story, referred to as "the American," claims that the abortion is necessary because it would save their relationship, whereas the woman, Jig, has doubts as to whether or not she should have an abortion at all.
In the short story by Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants," a couple is delayed at a train station en route to Madrid and is observed in conflict over the girl's impending abortion. In his writing, Hemingway does not offer any commentary through a specific character's point of view, nor, in the storytelling, does he offer his explicit opinions on how to feel or think about the issues that emerge. The narrative seems to be purely objective, somewhat like a newspaper or journal article, and in true Hemingway form the story ends abruptly, without the couple's conflict clearly being resolved. The ambiguity of the ending has been a subject of much debate; however, the impact of what is not said in words can be gleaned through the symbolism of their surroundings. Upon examination of the setting, the couple's final choice becomes instantly apparent.
The principal characters from the short stories, ‘’The Lady with the Dog’’ by Chekhov, and ‘’Hills like White Elephants’’ by Ernest Hemingway are dishonest with the one they love and with themselves, they hide their real feelings about the person they are with, they are living an untruthful relationship, and as a couple they lie to each other. In ‘’The Lady with The Dog’’, Dmitri Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna, they are both unhappily married to other characters, and after a while they engage in an affair, hiding their feeling to each other, just because they do not want to break up their marriages, they do not want more responsibility of what they have with each other. The same matter happens in the ‘’Hills Like White Elephants’’, The American
When I think about the person I want to become I think about a kind person who wants to make a difference in the world. I want to help and Inspire others and In general just make this world a more positive and loving place. The personal project was an opportunity to not only do something for myself but for others. By doing this I would be able to reach my goal of being the person I wish to become someday by helping others and spreading my positivity. I decided on feeding the homeless because with this I would be able to help others in need and hopefully inspire or make them happy. Feeding the homeless won 't necessarily change the world, but small acts of kindness like this might inspire other people to do them too and If everyone decided to
Moreover, Ernest Hemingway has succeeded very well in this story in showing that individualism of the people living with their own problem is in many case the cause of split and despair. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1]All further references are to this edition : Ernest Hemingway, "Cat in the Rain" . The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, ed. Jackson J. Berson (Dwham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1975). [2] John V. Hagopian, "Symmetry in 'Cat in the Rain'", College English, XXIV (December 1962).
In today's society, people have the assumptions that we have evolved far beyond past cultural notions and marital stereotypes. The reality to this is that we are not so superior and tend to take the easy way out in relationships. This is reflected through our atrocious divorce rate. The American wife in Ernest Hemingway's 'Cat in the Rain,' although controlled by her husband, George, is an obvious victim of marital neglect. While vacationing in Italy, the romance capital of the world, George's use of control and carelessness cause the wife to focus on a stray cat for fulfillment.