Malisa Basic JM13D
OPTION 2:
This option is an exercise in comparing and contrasting. Select two of the four stories we’ve read thus far (“Cathedral,” “The Birth-mark,” “Hills Like White Elephants,” and “The Story of an Hour”). Think about what these stories say about “happiness”–do they depict a uniform view of how people experience happiness? Why or why not? How?
You might even want to pick two specific characters to work with. For example, how does Jig’s experience of happiness differ from Georgiana’s?
Two of the short stories that left the greatest affect to me as a reader when referring to the similarities between the main characters of each story were Hills Like White Elephants and The Birthmark. In each story, the relationship between each couple is faced with the struggle of a certain situation that may potentially affect their relationships in a negative manner. In The Birthmark, the couple is faced with the issue that the scientist’s wife’s facial birthmark has made him concentrate on this ”imperfection” where he believes she would be perfect, if she did not have it. This causes him to find a method to remove the birthmark, which eventually kills his wife as she agrees and takes the drink given to her by him. In one way, he did achieve his desired goal, while losing another part of his life- his wife. In Hills Like White Elephants, the question whether or not the young girl should make the decisions to have an abortion creates apparent tension between her and the man. However, she decides to go on with the surgery and is reassured by her partner that everything would be fine, and she responds by telling him that she herself is ”fine.”
Some of the similarities I found in each story were quite obvious. Each story dealt with the dilemmas each couple was facing, and the tension between each couple had affected the decision made towards the end. In addition, the issues were directed to that of the woman gender in each relationship. What I mean by this, is that it was basically up to the woman to decide or make a decision in order to create a ”solution” for the problems each relationship was facing. However, in each story, though one problem may have been resolved, another emerged. this also raises the idea that relationships can never be perfect.
Though the wife of the scientist did make the decision to have her birthmark removed because of her husbands reaction to it, she died in conclusion. This shows that she was willing to remove something very much apart of who she was up to the day she decided to remove it, whereas her husband was not willing to accept it, and wanted to make her ”perfect.” In the other short story, the young girl decides to go on with the abortion. However, this resolution does not create an ideal relationship either because she did have doubts about making this decision and her last words were a clear sign of confusion, and uncertainty. In this story, we were not exposed to what happened to their relationship after word, hence it could lead up to many more issues within the relationship. Another basic similarity was the concept of death.
In each of these two stories, the idea of death is brought upon in different ways. In Hills Like White Elephants, this concept lurks because it is based on the topic of abortion while in The Birthmark, we are surprised with the term at the end of the story, not knowing it would occur while reading it at all. Though death was presented in a different way in each story, the impact of this event causes sorrow in each story. this is because the term death is associated with negativity, pain, sadness, etc.)
When focusing on the personality of each of these women, they do seem to have their own stand, but seem as if they both give in toward the end. In The Hills Like White Elephants, I was given to impression that though the girl did give her own stand, she was somewhat persuaded by the man that this was the right thing to do, rather than her believing it was. In the other short story, the woman does not approv of her husbands criticism and actually cries in defense. This is not a sign of weakness, however. For a woman to be able to accept something so blunt from her husband, in my opinion, shows strength. However, towards the end she does makes this decision in order to please her husband, which is what I also believed the young girl did for her spouse though it was not directly stated.
