Many of Hemingway’s stories focus on conflicted relationships and the roles that men and women play in it. Stories such as “The End of Something”, “Cat in the Rain”, and “Hills like White Elephants” all share those characteristics. In various short stories, Hemingway depicts the theme of masculine yet juvenile men’s desire for control while also manifesting the female characters’ wish to settle down. Over time, many critics have debated whether Hemingway was a misogynist or if any of his male characters were. In Ferrero’s “Nikki Adams and the Limits of Gender Criticism”, he converses the “accusations of misogyny” in Hemingway’s stories, focusing on Nick Adams (18). From the awkward yet cruel boy in “The End of Something” to the “stoic, clear-headed,
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While Nick and Marjorie are visiting Horton Bay, Nick decides to break up with her. This comes as a surprise because the couple has been together for a long time. They even have a spot where they call theirs; Marjorie asserts, “‘there’s our old ruin, Nick…’” pointing at their mill (“The End” 79). The mill is now completed destroyed and deserted. Much in the nature of the demolished mill, their relationship is at the pinnacle of its …show more content…
If they were to have a baby, it would act as an anchor that constricts him from his carefree lifestyle. Despite the fact that he presents these masculine traits by wanting to dominate the relationship, he is much more like a juvenile because he does not want to settle down. The man’s characteristics are furthermore illustrated in Rankin’s “Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants” where he states that the man has “self-centered and insecure motivation for pursuing the abortion” (235). The man even oversimplifies the abortion by calling it “an awfully simple operation” (“Hills” 213), and he does not realize the drastic consequences of the procedure. As they begin to get serious about the topic, the girl pleads for the man to stop. In the end, they are still together and she claims to be fine. This shows that even though they are together, she can never reveal her true feelings around him. Her wavering characteristics and his blatantly self-seeking ways make for a failing relationship
While Nick and Marjorie are visiting Horton Bay, Nick decides to break up with her. This comes as a surprise because the couple has been together for a long time. They even have a spot where they call theirs; Marjorie asserts, “‘there’s our old ruin, Nick…’” pointing at their mill (“The End” 79). The mill is now completed destroyed and deserted. Much in the nature of the demolished mill, their relationship is at the pinnacle of its …show more content…
If they were to have a baby, it would act as an anchor that constricts him from his carefree lifestyle. Despite the fact that he presents these masculine traits by wanting to dominate the relationship, he is much more like a juvenile because he does not want to settle down. The man’s characteristics are furthermore illustrated in Rankin’s “Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants” where he states that the man has “self-centered and insecure motivation for pursuing the abortion” (235). The man even oversimplifies the abortion by calling it “an awfully simple operation” (“Hills” 213), and he does not realize the drastic consequences of the procedure. As they begin to get serious about the topic, the girl pleads for the man to stop. In the end, they are still together and she claims to be fine. This shows that even though they are together, she can never reveal her true feelings around him. Her wavering characteristics and his blatantly self-seeking ways make for a failing relationship