Ernest Hemingway and David Foster Wallace’s short stories are very similar because they raise the same topic, use the setting of nature to convey mood, and tell similar stories. However, the characters of “Hills Like White Elephants” and “Good People” have different paths to making the decision. While both couples decide in favor of abortion at first, Jig and the American man are guided by their feelings and romantic relations, while Lane and Shari are pressured by their religious principles.
At first glance, Hemingway and Wallace’s stories have many similarities, since they tell about a couple facing the issue of unwanted pregnancy and abortion and use the setting to convey mood. In both cases, men are more worried about the likelihood of becoming a father, although girls also have many doubts. Both men also do not force their women to undergo the procedures, and the word “abortion” is not mentioned directly. Both couples decide to have an abortion after a tense and uncomfortable conversation at first, although the decision does not seem final. At the same time, in Hemingway’s story, the hot and dry plain and white hills are described to convey the tension of the situation (253). Wallace uses a more pleasant landscape, but a fallen tree in the water and “its ball of exposed roots going all directions” add gloom to the scene as well as the emptiness of the park (para. 1.). Consequently, the stories share common characteristics that make them very similar in many ways.
However, one can observe significant differences in the relationship of couples and circumstances that impact their decision. Lane and Shari are both religious people who have been in a relationship for a short time. They both feel guilty because they violated the prohibition on intimate relationships before marriage and decided to make the more serious sin of abortion in terms of religion (Wallace para.3). At the same time, Jig and the American man are guided by their feelings and happiness of free life to decide (Hemingway 255). At the same time, although Jig does not mind becoming a mother, she is afraid that such a decision will ruin her relationship with the man. For this reason, the choice for Lane and Sheri seems more complicated, since both options have more severe consequences for either career and the future or the fundamental principles of their life.
In addition, the difference between couples is the feeling of love that guides them. Jig agrees to the procedure to keep the relationship with the man the same, and they both openly talk about love for each other (Hemingway 255). At the same time, although readers do not know how this situation will affect the characters, they can conclude that Jig agrees for the sake of love. At the same time, Lane and Sheri are considering having an abortion because Lane does not love Sheri, and the girl cannot oblige him to stay with her because of the baby (Wallace para.5.). However, in Sheri’s final decision to keep the baby and Lane’s subsequent doubts, they demonstrate that refusal to abortion can be their way in the name of love (Wallace para.5 ). Thus, while love plays a central role in both situations, it leads the characters’ stories to different endings.
Thus, the analysis demonstrates that although the authors use the same theme for their stories, the characters’ development is significantly different due to the feelings and beliefs that guide them. Jig and American man make decisions based on their vision of happiness, while their religious principles influence lane and Sheri. At the same time, love has different effects on couples, although it is central to decision-making.
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Simon and Schuster, 1995.
Wallace, David Foster. “Good People.” The New Yorker, 2007, Web.