Marital and romantic relationships in "To Room Nineteen" and "Hills Like White Elephants

Hemingway & Lessing

Compare and Contrast: Martial and Romantic Relationships

Ernest Hemingway and Doris Lessing each examine marital and romantic relationships their short stories Hills Like White Elephants and To Room Nineteen respectively. Hemingway's story is set in a bar in Northern Spain near a train station and centers around a conversation between a man and a woman as they wait for a train to Madrid one afternoon ostensibly so the woman can get an abortion. Lessing's story takes place over the course of a number of years and examines the evolution of the relationship between a Matthew and Susan Rawlings, an English couple who married in their late twenties and had four children during the course of the union.

Hemmingway does not name the man in his story and refers to the "girl" as Jig. The content of their character is revealed chiefly through their dialogue. The conflict between them is driven by the fact that the man wants to abort the pregnancy while the woman does not. The man believes that obtaining the abortion will make everything fine, "Just like before" (Hemmingway 402). However, it is obvious to the reader that Jig does not believe this will be the case.

Lessing's story is also driven by conflict between the couples only in this case the unhappiness was created by the birth of children. Both Susan and Matthew had successful careers went they married, however with the arrival of their children Susan was forced to stay at home to raise them, thus surrendering the identity she had forged for herself through her professional life in an advertising firm. Matthew, on the other hand, held a position as a subeditor on a large London newspaper, a position that he was "content" with. Lessing describes their life "…like a snake biting its tail. Matthew's job for the sake of Susan, children house and garden…Susan's practical intelligence for the sake of Matthew, children, house and garden" (Lessing 526).

Both stories portray couples that are enmeshed in unsatisfactory relationships and are looking elsewhere to find happiness. Hemmingway's male character is reluctant to forfeit his freedom to raise a child. He believes that the pregnancy is "…the only thing that bothers us. The only thing that makes us unhappy" (Hemmingway 402). Jig agrees to his coercion not because she believes the abortion will make them a happy couple once more, but because he bullies her into submission. When she asks "doesn't it mean anything to you? We could get along," he responds "…I don't want anybody but you…" inferring that she should be happy with only him and should not want anyone else either (Hemmingway 403).