StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Desiree and Jig: Similarities and Differences - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The author of the paper "Desiree and Jig: Similarities and Differences" will begin with the statement that Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” and Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby,” are short stories that revolve round the relationships between men and women…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.5% of users find it useful
Desiree and Jig: Similarities and Differences
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Desiree and Jig: Similarities and Differences"

While Desiree and Jig both love their partners and yearn for the man’s understanding of their positions, they differ in their dependence on their partners. Hemingway’s and Chopin’s heroines both love their partners. It is evident that Jig and her partner share a long-term relationship and have spent substantial time together. The man testifies to their shared happiness when he says that Jig’s pregnancy is “the only thing thats made us unhappy” (Hemingway, 230).

Her partner’s love is so important to her that Jig is willing to have the abortion if it will make him “happy and things will be like they were and youll love me” (Hemingway, 231). She professes to care more for the man than for herself. In the case of Aubigny and Desiree, she readily concedes that “she loved him desperately” and tells her mother, “Oh, mamma, Im so happy; it frightens me” (Chopin, 3). Aubigny is like God to her.  The love which characterizes the relationship of the two women with their partners makes them long for their men’s understanding.

Jig is in favor of having the child, while her partner pushes her towards an abortion. She is aware that her pregnancy is a part of the larger picture of her relationship with her partner, and is linked with the possibility of their future happiness. She makes an impassioned appeal to him, “Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along” (Hemingway, 88). The man remains oblivious to her perspective. Likewise, Desiree also appeals to her husband. She denies his accusation of her black antecedents and reaches out to him for support.

She hopefully asks, “Do you want me to go? (Chopin, 5). Like Jig’s partner, Aubigny remains immune to Desiree’s plea for understanding. Both men reject the women’s stand. The men’s rejection engenders different reactions in the two women. Jig weighs their relationship and is aware that it is breaking apart: “Thats all we do, isnt it—look at things and try new drinks?” (Hemingway, 230). She is not taken in by the man’s glib assurances. She is aware of the irrevocable decision she is to make “And once they take it away, you never get it back” (Hemingway, 231).

Finally, although nothing is explicitly said, she makes her decision: she chooses to have the baby and the relationship is to end. Jig asserts her independence and moves on. On the other hand, Desiree is totally dependent on her husband for her emotional needs. His rejection makes her “miserable enough to die” (Chopin, 3). Desiree is a slave to her relationship. When Aubigby makes her a scapegoat for his racism, she loses her will to live. Jig, in “Hills Like White Mountains,” and Desiree, in “Desiree’s Baby,” are alike in the deep love they feel for their partners.

This love makes both the women willing to submit to their men and long to receive understanding from them. When this understanding is not forthcoming, Jig and Desiree experience the pain of rejection. However, they differ in their reactions to this repudiation of their love. Jig shakes of her relationship with her man makes an independent decision, and determinedly goes on with her life. In contrast, Desiree ends her own life, as she is unable to conceive of a life outside her relationship with her husband. 

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Compare and Contrast two stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Compare and Contrast two stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1607480-compare-and-contrast-two-stories
(Compare and Contrast Two Stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
Compare and Contrast Two Stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/literature/1607480-compare-and-contrast-two-stories.
“Compare and Contrast Two Stories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1607480-compare-and-contrast-two-stories.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Desiree and Jig: Similarities and Differences

Famous Detective Fiction

There are many differences and similarities in Holmes of Speckled Band and Marlowe of The Deep Sleep.... Characteristics, ways of solving crimes, diverse approaches show the gulf between them more than the similarities.... It is told that Conon Doyle was annoyed with the unprecedented and enduring popularity of Sherlock Holmes and thought that the great detective was obscuring his other works and deserved to be killed....
6 Pages (1500 words) Book Report/Review

Hebrew Prophets and India's Holy Men: Similarities and Differences

Due to these varieties the religion world is full of differences as well as similarities.... This analytical paper will seek to analyze these differences and… Geographical locations of the different religions also bring out the differences....
4 Pages (1000 words) Term Paper

The Two Stories Minutes of Glory and the Keeper of the Virgins

There is, however, instances in which two different writers explore the same themes despite the differences in their backgrounds.... The two stories are from writers with very different backgrounds yet their stories have many similarities.... This essay "The Two Stories Minutes of Glory and the Keeper of the Virgins" focuses on the theme is that of longing and desperation as explored in the two stories with very different backgrounds Minutes of Glory by Ngugi Wa Thingo and The Keeper of the Virgins by Hanan Al-Shaykh....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Predators in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Killer Inside Me

In this essay, the similarities and differences of the two predators in the novels are discussed broadly.... similarities They both have a past that causes them to behave in a malicious manner through committing murders.... Jekyll and Mr.... Hyde Robert Louise Stephenson talks about the existence of Dr....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Personality and Individual Differences

From the paper "Personality and Individual differences" it is clear that the taxonomic and predictive studies of individual differences describe feelings, organizations of thought and behaviors that go together with how one relates to other people and its effects.... hellip; Non-cognitive measures of individual differences can also predict important real-life criteria.... The argument is not clear because it requires an individual differences study....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Similarities and Differences between Baboon and Human Being

The paper, similarities and differences between Baboon and Human Being, describes the similarities between baboons and human beings based on social behavior, tool use, territoriality, hunting, meat-eating habits, male-female relations, presence or absence of an estrus cycle.... The resultant evolutionary primate species have unique similarities and differences in relation to human beings.... esides health-related stress similarities, baboons also have a strong tendency towards competition and aggression just like human beings....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

A Comparison of Paintings Madonna and Child by Lorenzo di Credi and Child in glory by Benvenuto Tisi

To begin with, it may be particularly important to examine the similarities which can be found in the two works of art.... The third aspect which should be taken into account while considering the similarities between the two pictures is the way the two characters look....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The State of the Global Market System

The paper "The State of the Global Market System" discusses that localized nature of the automotive industry comes from the rate at which nations see the exportation of their automobiles to other world neighbors.... Competition has become very fierce to produce the best possible product in the end… Automobiles have become a primary component for many homes, both nationally within the United States, as well as internationally....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us