The theme of abortion is predominant in the story titled, “Hills like white elephants.” The author, Ernest Hemingway, however has not mentioned the actual word ‘abortion’ throughout the entire short story but instead has used symbols and vague dialogues to convey his message to the readers. The reason why Hemingway probably refrained from using the actual term was because of the fact that in early 20 th century, abortion was tabooed subject and thus couldn’t be discussed openly in public. Still the author wanted the readers to know about male and female perspective on this issue and thus chose to highlight the theme with effective use of symbolism and ambiguous dialogues. It is important top understand that Ernest Hemingway has not tried to show which opinion was right and which was flawed, he appears to be concerned only with the way males and females view this issue.
The opinions of two characters on the controversial issue of abortion reveal the differences in male-female psyches. This may not hold true for every person but there are grains of truth which it appears are based more on psychological study of human minds and attitudes than casual observations. The female character to be a timid feminist who though knows what’s right for her, still fails to convince her husband that abortion is not the ideal solution to the unstable relationship. The male however is a typical chauvinist who cannot read her wife’s mind and is using all psychological tactics to blackmail her into doing what he thinks would lead to their mutual happiness. There are many ways in which the male and female opinions in this story can be interpreted but one thing is clear. The woman views pregnancy as something beautiful while the husband sees it as a burden..
The Essay on Abortion Pro-Choice Opinion
One of the basic questions every society mustface is which areas of behavior to leave to private choice and which to regulate in the interest of public good. It has been already been decided by the Supreme Court in Roe v.s. Wade that "the fundamental right to privacy protect6ed by the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment is broad enough to encompass a qualified right to abortion". Abortion is ...
