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Kailyn Reamy
Professor Susan Lago
ENG 1500: Experiences in Literature
25 February 2014
Gender Inequality: An Ongoing Issue
Gender inequality still exists today. It exists in professional environments, social
environments, and in personal environments. Women have come a long way since the early
twentieth century, and although men and women may have equal rights on paper, is that really
true in society? In the short stories Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway and The
Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, men exert their power over women both subtly and
obviously. Although both of these works were written close to a century ago, the issues they
present about gender inequality are as relevant, if not more relevant today. The gender struggle
and the power relationships between men and women are still an issue today, as discussed by
Hemingway in Hills Like White Elephants and by Chopin in The Story of an Hour.
The Gender Focus of the Critical Approaches for Interpreting Literature, as described in
Literature and the Writing Process, is how sex roles, sexual identity, and relationships
between the sexes affect the way that a work is written and read and how the images of women
and men [are] presented in literature, [including] pointing out negative portrayals of women that
might otherwise go unnoticed (Coleman, Day, Funk, and McMahan 1088). This critical lens
lets readers interpret texts that might appear different, through the same light. In this case, both
works describe the relationship between a man and a woman, and the struggles they face. This
lens helps readers focus on the similarities between two works from the gender perspective.
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In the short story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, written in 1927, a
young couple is taking a train ride in Spain. The story consists of mostly dialogue between the
two people, called Jig and the American. They have a pleasant conversation as the story
continues on, but the actual meaning behind what they are saying and how they are acting is
different from how it appears on the outside. When looked at with the naked eye, this story
appears to be a regular conversation between a man and a woman in a perfectly healthy
relationship. The two drink beer and discuss what they see around them. However, when looked
at through the gender lens, this story becomes a sad, slow argument between two people with
differing opinions. The American has a sort of power over Jig that makes his opinion more
valuable. He tries to make it seem like Jig is coming to a decision by herself, when really he
impacts her greatly. Jig tries to subtly bring up the argument that they have probably had before
by describing white elephants (9,31). A white elephant is a metaphor for something that is
useless or troublesome, and Jig uses this metaphor to try to ease the American into the
conversation once again. When Jig brings this up, the American pushes it away and discusses
other things instead. It is on his terms that he brings it up once again.
Throughout the story, the two discuss an operation that Jig is supposed to have. It
becomes clear that the operation they are discussing is an abortion, and they each have a
different opinion on the subject. The American is adamant and insisting towards Jig. He has a
powerful hold on her decision-making. The power relationship between the two characters here
is aggressive versus passive. The Americans aggressive personality is what keeps him in control
of the decision. However, he does have feelings towards Jig, and tries to make it seem to her like
she has the control. The American uses phrases like its really a simple operation, Jig, its
really not anything, and but I know its perfectly simple to convince Jig to do what he is
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asking (41, 43, 55). He even throws in that he loves her and that they can be happy again once
she gets the operation. He uses just the right type of language to not only convince her to do it,
but to make it think that it was her choice and that shes doing it for all the right reasons.
During this time, women had been granted the right to vote by the nineteenth amendment
to the Constitution. However, men were still treated as the higher and more powerful gender. In
this case, the American is able to use his persuasive words and thoughts to convince Jig to abort
her child, even though it is clear that she doesnt want to (36). Jig does not want to lose the
American as her partner, and is willing to do whatever he wants to keep their relationship, even
if it means aborting the child she is carrying. Because women feel powerless under the men in
their lives, they tend to live their lives in the shadow of a man. This is still evident today, as
many relationships, both personal and professional, work like this. Men are able to exert their
power over women because thats what history has taught them, and women are submissive to
the power of man because thats what history has taught them.
In the short story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin, written in 1894, a womans
feelings about her husband and his death are told by a narrator. The story discusses how Mrs.
Mallard, a woman with heart trouble, learns of her husbands death, and how she reacts to it. As
described in the story, there is definitely a power relationship between Mrs. Mallard and her
husband, although we never meet him. In paragraphs 4-7 of the story, there is a lot of detailed
imagery describing the time shortly after Mrs. Mallard learns of her husbands death. She could
see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring
life, and there were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met
and piled one above the other in the west facing her window, the story reads (5, 6). This was
used to show the life that she had opening up before her, and to introduce the reader to a time
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that would be happy for Mrs. Mallard, not sad. It was used to show the reader that even after a
difficult time, some happiness would come through, like a spring day. After crying for a long
time, something comes to her.
Finally, after the imagery comes to an end, we see the happiness Mrs. Mallard is
expressing finally shows through. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped
her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: free, free, free! (11). The
reader can finally understand that Mrs. Mallard, although sad to learn of the death of her
husband, is happy she can finally be free. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long
procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely (13). She then goes on to
discuss how she will finally be able to live for herself and that there would be no one to tell her
what to do any longer. Here, Mrs. Mallard clearly tells the reader that there is a power
relationship between her and her husband. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that
blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will
upon a fellow-creature (14). In their lives, Mr. Mallard had all the power over his wife, forcing
her decisions and what she would think and feel. Now, she is happy she is able to live just for
herself.
As the story comes to an end and Mrs. Mallard descends the stairs with her sister, the
front door opens and her husband appears, alive and well. There had been a mistake, and Mr.
Mallard had not even known there was an accident. Within moments, Mrs. Mallard had let out a
scream, and was dead soon after. The doctors said, that she had died of heart disease- of joy that
kills (23). Mrs. Mallard was so happy that she would be able to live free, that when she saw her
perfectly alive husband, she was thrown into a state of disbelief. She thought that she would get
to live without him, but it turned out that the only way to escape him was to die without him.
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Mrs. Mallards heart trouble was that it was broken and she wanted to be away from the man
that had broken it.
Through the gender lens, this short story describes a very common power relationship
between a married couple and the struggles they face privately. A woman, so deeply broken and
hurt by a man, is happy that she can escape his wrath when she learns of his death. She was
excited to live her life for her only, and not have to deal with a man who had broken her. Some
might look at this as a negative portrayal of Mrs. Mallard that would otherwise go unnoticed.
However, Mrs. Mallard was so set on being able to be without her husband, that her broken heart
could not take any more, and she died. This particular struggle is still widely around today.
Although it may not take the form of heart disease, the phenomenon of women hurt emotionally
by their partners is still something that people go through, in the same ways that they have for
hundreds of years.
Both of these short stories depict a woman that is being held under a mans power. They
struggle to become free, and ultimately, it costs them. For Jig, it means having to give up her
baby, even though she doesnt really want to. For Mrs. Mallard, it costs her her life. The power
relationships in these two couples ultimately remain the same; a man consuming the power and
the woman absorbing it. These two stories clearly portray the gender inequality that is still alive
today.





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Works Cited
McMahan, Elizabeth, et al. Literature and the Writing Process. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.