Essay On The Importance Of Setting In Hills Like White Elephants

Setting plays an important role within stories and other literary works. Writers usually choose specific settings to help the reader better understand the main theme in a literary piece. The setting can affect what the characters can and cannot do and can often dictate the outcome of the story. The setting of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway has symbolic value that is used to suggest something about the characters and the meaning of the stories. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” is set in the late 1800s in a colonial mansion. During the late 1800s, women were not treated with the upmost respect. During this time period, men were in charge of the household and often dictated what his significant other did. The narrator in the story is diagnosed with an illness by her husband and physician, John (Gilman 542). The narrator is now put to bed rest until she is no longer ill. Her new bedroom is located at the top of the house and it instantly makes her feel negative emotions (Gilman 543). The narrator’s bedroom plays an important role in her recovery process. She is commanded to stay in bed all day; therefore, she has a large amount of time to study the details that surrounds her in the room. She soon starts to resent the yellow wallpaper that is present in the room. …show more content…
The time period that they are in greatly prevented them from going to their full potential. The men in their time period held them back from making their choices and having their own thoughts. It wasn’t until their breaking point that they were able to break from their theoretical constraints. By the end of each story, the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and the girl in “Hills Like White Elephants” accepts there is nothing wrong with them and they don’t need a man to tell them what is best for