Paper #2

Asriel King

Professor Brady

English 102

April 28, 2015

Life That Gets in the Way of Living

            Everybody goes through hardships and struggles. Most people wish there were more hours in the day, and that they could spend more time with their families. Often there are things in life that get in the way of how a person wishes they could actually live there life. This is exhibited in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. The hardships in which the characters in both stories went through were caused by internal and external forces.

In “The Yellow Wallpaper” the main character is going through hardship due to the overbearing precautions of her husband. This is one of the external hardships in which the main character has to go through. Her husband John, had subdued her to the “rest cure,” because of mental illness.  As stated in the passage “He is very careful and loving, and hardly lets me stir without special direction” (Gilman 309). Although he is still loving towards her, he won’t let her move without he’s direction. This is a part of the struggle in her life. This is one of the things in life that is hindering her from living the way she would like. Nobody would like to stay in bed all day and not do anything, literal just stare at the walls. The only relief she has is her writing and she even has to do that in secret

Along with her external struggle there is also an internal struggle. Her internal struggle is the mental illness itself. Although the “rest cure” is supposed to help her it is actually making her worst. As stated in the passage “It is getting to be a great effort for me to think straight” (Gilman 313). This internal struggle must be like an anchor, like a weight holding her back. Imagine trying to live everyday life with an anchor tied to your ankle? It would be very difficult. Just like any women she wants to be a good wife, but this mental illness is getting in the way of that. As she said in the passage “I mean to be a help to John, such a real rest and comfort and here I am a comparative burden already!” This mental illness is preventing her from being the wife she truly wishes she could be, its preventing her from living the way she wish she could live.

Another battle she has to go through partially internally and partially externally is her husband’s unrecognition of the degree of her illness. Though he’s treating her for an illness he doesn’t believe that she is really sick, the passage states “You see he [John] does not believe I am sick!” (Gilman 307). Also as stated in the passage “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (Gilman 309). Having to deal with an illness is hard enough but someone degrading the illness makes it that much more difficult. If he doesn’t believe she’s really sick, then he may not give her the care she truly needs.

Things must be hard for John as well. As the main character stated “He loves me very dearly, and hates to have me sick” (Gilman 313). Often when a member of a family gets sick the whole family is affected. It’s not like he put her in a hospital and went on with his life. Him being a physician he had a good idea of how to help her. John knew of the “rest cure” and took her to a home away from home and put her to bed. Her sickness counteracted their lives. It took them away from their home and comfort. It put them into a difficult situation. Mostly like that’s not the life he wished to be living at the moment, he most likely wanted to be somewhere having a good time with his wife, not treating her for her mental sickness.

Just like in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, in the “Hills Like White Elephants” the hardship in which the characters experience are caused by external and internal forces. The main character, Jig, internal hardship is caused by an internal conflict and external sources. Jig’s internal conflict is center around whether she should get an abortion. Even though the passage never states this, it is quite obvious that this is what Jig and her partner are talking about. It is also obvious that Jig is only willing to get the abortion to make her partner happy. This is proven when she states “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me.” (Hemingway 116) No women ever imagines herself in a situation in which they would need to get an abortion. An abortion is one of those things a person could never take back but so is becoming a mother. To get the abortion or not are both life changing decisions that both could alters ones thinking and make life that much harder to live.

One of the main external hardship the couple faces is the fact that in this time period abortion were illegal. This story was written in the mid-1900s and abortions weren’t legalized until 1973. Another external hardship Jig had to go through was her partner’s downgrade of the operation. He stated in the beginning of the passage that “It’s really an awfully simple operation.” (Hemingway 116). The fact the operation was illegal in this time period, there were a lot of danger associated with it. Some women didn’t even make it out alive. This shows that the guy is somewhat preoccupied with the thought of not wanting to be a father, he’s not even taking the dangers into account.

Both stories remind me of quote by Eminem. The quote states “The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.” Jig was in a happy relationship full of life and fun until she found out she was pregnant. The main character in “The Yellow Paper” just had a beautiful baby, and was starting her family life, when she was stricken with mental illness. Both characters had no idea what the future held and that there happiness at the moment was only temporary. Life consists of hardships, and things that will prevent people from living the way they wish they could.

As shown above in both “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, there are things in life that get in the way of living. This could be cause be internal or external hardships. Often the people around the person going through the hardship is also effect. There are always certain things that get in the way of the life a person wishes they could live, but there always becomes a point in time when a person needs to stop wishing and makes it happen.

Work Cited

BrainyQuote. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_life.html>.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper.

Heminway, Ernest. Hills Like White Elephants.