Question 2.
In reading the stories “Hills like White Elephants” and “The Unicorn in the Garden”, the authors Ernest Hemmingway and James Thurber have introduced strong symbolisms. The first aspect to strike when reading both these stories is how the characters themselves are symbolic of life and death. In “Hills Like white Elephants”, the girl Jig, symbolizes life. She is the one who wants to have a baby. She wants to break away from the life of staleness where all she and her husband ever do is “look at things and try new drinks”. Instead she wants to welcome life – a baby (which she symbolically mentions by telling her husband that all the greenery, river and mountains can be theirs, only if they keep the baby). Her husband, referred to in the story as the American, is symbolic of death or morbidity. He keeps telling her they don’t need the baby to be happy. They will be happy after the abortion like they were before pregnancy. His stand is quite clear that way. He does not want anyone else (the baby in this case) to come between him and Jig. He is, symbolically, against life.
On similar lines, the story “The Unicorn in the Garden” by James Thurber also brings two characters to life – the husband, who is symbolic of life and the wife, who is symbolic of morbidity / negativity. While the husband is open to imaginations and musings like a unicorn in the garden eating roses and lilies, all are further symbolic of purity and life, the wife is arrogant in denying all the symbols and simply believing the husband to be mad or “booby”.
Then again, both the stories use animals to signify the basic theme of conflict between its characters. White Elephants in the story by Hemmingway implies the unborn child, who is the main cause of friction between the two characters involved within the story. Similarly, the unicorn in the story by Thurber is symbolic of imagination. This again becomes the main cause of conflict between the husband and wife – two main protagonists of the story.
Apart from the similar character structure, the setting of the two stories too brings out much similarity. Both the stories are set in relationships which are undergoing turbulence or trouble. In both the stories, the characters do not see eye to eye and are complete contract to their counterpart (as has also been established above). In “Hills like White Elephants”, Jig is sarcastic when she mentions that all they do is look at things and try new drinks. She is also drawing sarcasm in saying that couples who had abortion were happy thereafter. This clearly signifies that Jig is not satisfied with the kind of life she is living. She wants to settle down, have the baby and enjoy deeper meaning in life. However, the American is clearly a contradiction to this all. In his ignorance, he is not able to understand what Jig wants. This leads the reader to believe that their relationship has been turbulent for quite some time.
On similar lines, the rude behavior as shown by the wife in “The Unicorn in the Garden,” it is quite evident that she does not think very highly of her husband. There seems to be a communication gap between the husband and the wife where the wife does not understand or is not willing to understand the themes and feelings that the husband experiences. This clearly shows the differences between the husband and wife. Then again, the action by wife to call the police and psychiatrist to take her husband away clearly shows that there is no feeling of love between them and the husband and wife are merely living together in a turbulent relationship.
Question 10.
In reading the story “the story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, what strikes most as a reader is the relationship that Mrs. Mallard shared with her husband. On hearing the news of her husband’s demise, one understands and can empathize with the immediate reaction she has as she cries vehemently. However, the after sense of the news, once it settles is what suddenly startles the reader. It suddenly strikes that Mrs. Mallard is rather feeling freedom, probably for the first time in her life, from the bindings of relationships. This aspect is very much highlighted when Mrs. Mallard thinks to herself that now there is no one to follow her to take care of her. It is now, finally, that she can start living for herself, making her own decisions, not having to be undermined by any male authority all the time. This aspect of the story, suddenly, brings to light the kind of relationship that Mrs. Mallard had with her husband.
In most certainty, the husband was an authoritative figure who made all the family and personal decisions on behalf of Mrs. Mallard. As is also mentioned within the story that Mrs. Mallard did love him “sometimes”, it is evident that the relationship between husband and wife had waned eventually (if it ever was strong in the first place) and they were simply living together for the sake of it.
Another aspect on relationships that the story brings to light is probably the weight of relationships on personal life. During the time when the story was written, women were mostly ruled upon by male authority. Women did not have any rights to make their own decision and choices. This is reflected in when Mrs. Mallard is rejoicing in the fact that she finally has no husband, father, brother or son to preside over her. She is finally free to make her own decisions and live her life the way she wants to live. The mention of the fact that only yesterday she was with a heavy heart contemplating how long her life had seemed, the change in her position has now made her to ask God for a long life so she can enjoy her present stance.
All this seems to come to a rude end when all the happiness and sense of freedom Mrs. Mallard experienced just now comes to an end on seeing her dead (not-dead-at-all) husband walk into the room through the front door. It is then and there that life ceases to exist for her and she dies.
Works Cited
Choplin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” The Story of an Hour and Other Stories. Volume 4. New York: Scout books. 2011. Print.
Hemmingway, Ernest. “The Hills Like White Elephants.” Men Without Women. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1927. Print.
Thurber, James. “The Unicorn in the Garden.” Fables of our Time. New York: Harper & Brothers. 1945. Print.
