Reamy 1

Kailyn Reamy
Professor Susan Lago
ENG 1500: Experiences in Literature
6 May 2014
Gender Inequality: An Ongoing Issue
Gender inequality still exists today. It exists in professional environments, social
environments, and in personal environments. Women have come a long way since the early
twentieth century, and although men and women may have equal rights on paper, is that really
true in society? The power relationship struggle between men and women still exists today, as
discussed by Ernest Hemingway in Hills Like White Elephants and by Kate Chopin in The
Story of an Hour, and as examined through the gender critical lens for interpreting literature.
The Gender Focus of the Critical Approaches for Interpreting Literature, as described in
Literature and the Writing Process, is how sex roles, sexual identity, and relationships between
the sexes affect the way that a work is written and read and how the images of women and
men [are] presented in literature, [including] pointing out negative portrayals of women that
might otherwise go unnoticed (Coleman, Day, Funk, and McMahan 1088). This critical lens
lets readers interpret texts that might appear different, through the same light. In this case, both
works describe the relationship between a man and a woman, and the struggles they face. This
lens helps readers focus on the similarities between two works from the gender perspective.
In the short story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, written in 1927, a
young couple is taking a train ride in Spain (276). The story consists of mostly dialogue between
the two people, called Jig and the American (Hemingway 276-279). They have a pleasant
conversation as the story continues on, but the actual meaning behind what they are saying and
Reamy 2
how they are acting is different from how it appears on the outside. When looked at with the
naked eye, this story appears to be a regular conversation between a man and a woman in a
perfectly healthy relationship. The two drink beer and discuss what they see around them
(Hemingway 276, 277). However, when looked at through the gender lens, this story becomes a
sad, slow argument between two people with differing opinions. The American has a sort of
power over Jig that makes his opinion more valuable. He tries to make it seem like Jig is coming
to a decision by herself, when really he impacts her greatly. Jig tries to subtly bring up an
argument that they have probably had before by describing white elephants (276). A white
elephant is a metaphor for something that is useless or troublesome, and Jig uses this metaphor to
try to ease the American into the conversation once again. When Jig brings this up, the American
pushes it away and discusses other things instead. It is on his terms that he brings it up once
again (Hemingway 277).
Throughout the story, the two discuss an operation that Jig is supposed to have
(Hemingway 277). It becomes clear that the operation they are discussing is an abortion, and
they each have a different opinion on the subject. The American is adamant and insisting towards
Jig. He has a powerful hold on her decision-making. The power relationship between the two
characters here is aggressive versus passive. The Americans aggressive personality is what
keeps him in control of the decision. However, he does have feelings towards Jig, and tries to
make it seem to her like she has the control. The American uses phrases like its really a simple
operation, Jig, its really not anything, and but I know its perfectly simple to convince Jig
to do what he is asking (Hemingway 277). He even throws in that he loves her and that they can
be happy again once she gets the operation (Hemingway 277). He uses just the right type of
Reamy 3
language to not only convince her to do it, but to make it think that it was her choice and that
shes doing it for all the right reasons.
During this time, women had been granted the right to vote by the nineteenth amendment
to the Constitution. However, men were still treated as the higher and more powerful gender. In
this case, the American is able to use his persuasive words and thoughts to try to convince Jig to
abort her child, even though it is clear that she doesnt want to (Hemingway 277). Jig does not
want to lose the American as her partner, and is willing to do whatever he wants to keep their
relationship, even if it means aborting the child she is carrying. Because women feel powerless
under the men in their lives, they tend to live their lives in the shadow of a man. This is still
evident today, as many relationships, both personal and professional, work like this. Men are
able to exert their power over women because thats what history has taught them, and women
are submissive to the power of man because thats what history has taught them.
Similarly, in the short story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, written in 1894, a
womans feelings about her husband and his death are told by a narrator. The story discusses
how Mrs. Mallard, a woman with heart trouble, learns of her husbands death, and how she
reacts to it (Chopin 236-237). As described in the story, there is definitely a power relationship
between Mrs. Mallard and her husband, although the reader is never able to see it. In paragraphs
4-7 of the story, there is a lot of detailed imagery describing the time shortly after Mrs. Mallard
learns of her husbands death. She could see in the open square before her house the tops of
trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life, and there were patches of blue sky showing
here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing
her window, the story reads (Chopin 236). This was used to show the life that she had opening
up before her, and to introduce the reader to a time that would be happy for Mrs. Mallard, not
Reamy 4
sad. It was used to show the reader that even after a difficult time, some happiness would come
through, like a spring day. After crying for a long time, something comes to her.
Finally, after the imagery comes to an end, we see the happiness Mrs. Mallard is
expressing finally shows through. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped
her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free! (Chopin
236). The reader can finally understand that Mrs. Mallard, although sad to learn of the death of
her husband, is happy she can finally be free. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long
procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely (Chopin 237). She then goes on
to discuss how she will finally be able to live for herself and that there would be no one to tell
her what to do any longer. Here, Mrs. Mallard tells the reader that there is a power relationship
between her and her husband. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind
persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a
fellow-creature (Chopin 237). In their lives, Mr. Mallard had all the power over his wife,
forcing her decisions and what she would think and feel. Now, she is happy she is able to live
just for herself.
As the story comes to an end and Mrs. Mallard descends the stairs with her sister, the
front door opens and her husband appears, alive and well (Chopin 237). There had been a
mistake, and Mr. Mallard had not even known there was an accident (Chopin 237). Within
moments, Mrs. Mallard had let out a scream, and was dead soon after. The doctors said, that she
had died of heart disease- of joy that kills (Chopin 237). Mrs. Mallard was so happy that she
would be able to live free, that when she saw her perfectly alive husband, she was thrown into a
state of disbelief. She thought that she would get to live without him, but it turned out that the
Reamy 5
only way to escape him was to die without him. Mrs. Mallards heart trouble was that it was
broken and she wanted to be away from the man that had broken it.
Through the gender lens, this short story describes a very common power relationship
between a married couple and the struggles they face privately. Some might look at this as a
negative portrayal of Mrs. Mallard that would otherwise go unnoticed. However, Mrs. Mallard
was so set on being able to be without her husband, that her broken heart could not take any
more, and she died (Chopin 237). This particular struggle is still widely around today. Although
it may not take the form of heart disease, the phenomenon of women hurt emotionally by their
partners is still something that people go through, in the same ways that they have for hundreds
of years.
Both of these short stories depict a woman that is being held under a mans power. They
struggle to become free, and ultimately, it costs them. For Jig, it means having to give up her
baby, even though she doesnt really want to. For Mrs. Mallard, it takes her life. The power
relationships in these two couples ultimately remain the same; a man consuming the power and
the woman absorbing it. These two stories clearly portray the power relationship struggle that is
still alive today.







Reamy 6
Works Cited
Chopin, Kate. The Story of an Hour. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth
McMahan, Susan X. Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. Boston: Pearson, 2014. 236-
237. Print.
Hemingway, Ernest. Hills Like White Elephants. Literature and the Writing Process. Ed.
Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X. Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman. Boston: Pearson,
2014. 276-279. Print.
McMahan, Elizabeth, Susan X. Day, Robert Funk, and Linda Coleman, eds. Literature and the
Writing Process. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.