Introduction
“Hills Like White Elephants” and “The Birthmark” share very similar ideas; both stories have profound meaning. To understand this, the reader must reflect on it several times and analyze all the factors introduced by the authors. The main similarity among these works is that their characters share the same motive: to achieve their goal. Jig and Aylmer are the two main characters in the stories provided, and they want to eliminate unwanted things from their lives. Though the same motivation guides these stories’ personalities, they have different goals.
Hills Like White Elephants
The story “Hills Like White Elephants” describes a problem often encountered in modern life. The man in this work is an avid traveler who does not want to commit himself to anything and only wants to travel. His girlfriend, Jig, is tired of it; she wants a quiet family life to have a child, but, realizing that her beloved does not want it, she is ready to give up “quiet happiness” for him. The man saw the child as a value he did not want to raise because of the cost, while Jig’s girlfriend saw the child as necessary in her down-to-earth life of drinking and meaningless travel.
The story’s plot develops so that the word “abortion” is never uttered. Only the word “white elephants” is used, emphasizing different aspects of its meaning in different contexts. The most significant psychological anguish is caused by Jig’s decision to terminate the life of her unborn child. Unconsciously, the girl realizes she is saying goodbye to a supreme value. The girl’s desire for a child is closely intertwined with her desire for contentment and a balanced family life. Abortion, in the eyes of the heroine, means the death of her last chance and the continuation of a meaningless life.
The man perceives the pregnancy as a problem that disrupts the order of his life, and it is necessary to get rid of it as soon as possible. On the other hand, the girl constantly refers to the image of “white elephants.” She likely associates them with something alive but not real (Weeks 75).
During the conversation, the girl tries to reassure herself by telling the man they will be happy after the operation. She tries to deceive herself and set herself up for the upcoming operation, and the man begins to question whether he is doing the right thing by forcing Jig to have an unwanted abortion. She does not want this surgery and does not want to make the decision herself, so she keeps looking back at him.
There is hope in her heart that their decision might change together. Looking at the hills, she sees white as a vast void, and her companion irritably contradicts her that the hills cannot look like elephants. Jig’s motivation is to maintain her relationship with her man. She cares more about her partner’s feelings and wants to please him.
The Birthmark
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” is similar to the first character motif. Describing the artistic time to explain the characters’ subsequent actions and motives is essential. The author describes the society of the time and its values: “it was not unusual for the love of science to rival the love of a woman in its depth and absorbing energy” (Hawthorne 175).
One can see how the antithesis “Man-Nature” is set from the very beginning of the work. Since childhood, Georgiana, Aylmer’s wife, has had an unusual birthmark on her left cheek. To describe the “fantastic” possibility of its appearance, the author takes the reader back to the birth of the admirers of this beautiful woman speaks of. The girl’s life before marriage can also be called her past because Aylmer, at that time, was not drawn to the existence of that very mole. Their marriage is a threshold, crossing which the husband begins to see in his wife the one flaw that keeps him awake.
Time also plays a significant role when the elixir takes effect. As Georgiana slowly deteriorates, Aylmer witnesses the unfortunate mole vanish before his very eyes. The scientist achieves his wife’s perfection at the exact moment, in proportion to which she gradually vanishes.
Furthermore, the key from the point of view of artistic time is the concluding words of the short story: “The momentary circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of time, and, living once for all in eternity, to find the perfect future in the present. (Hawthorne 192). The hero was so caught up in pursuing perfection that he lost the connection between the ideal future and the real present. He failed to understand that perfection and eternity are revealed within reality and time, not outside them. Thus, Aylmer aimed to pursue something perfect but lost the present.
Conclusion
Thus, the characters in these stories have the same goal of eliminating something. However, Jig wants to do something other than this, but only tries to please his partner. She does not want to get rid of the baby and return to her usual way of life. Aylmer, for his part, wants to achieve perfection by eliminating a flaw in his wife. However, after achieving his goal, he loses his most precious possession: his wife. It is the same with Jig; if she gives up her child, the girl will lose something that can lead her to the life she longs for.
Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Birthmark: 1843. Infomotions, Incorporated, 1843.
Weeks, Lewis E., Jr. “Hemingway Hills: Symbolism in ‘Hills like White Elephants.’” Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980) 75-77.