Power in 'Woman Hollering Creek' and 'Hills Like White Elephants'

 Power and a need for control can drive people despicable things to the people around them especially people who they consider lesser. The short stories “Hills like White Elephants” by Hemingway and “Woman Hollering Creek” by Cisneros provide examples of this as the men in the stories treat their female partner poorly. However, each story has its differences as to how and why these men treated their partners like they did. In both stories, the men lack respect for the woman in their lives and hurt them either physically or emotionally. The reason behind the treatment of their women is the men’s power or lack thereof.

In the story, Hemingway’s main male character tried to minimize the situation and told the female character what she wanted to hear, likely for his own personal gain. The story, set in the 1920’s, presents a couple in a train station discussing about the abortion they are on their way to get. It’s obvious that the male character, an American with no name, wants to get the abortion. He tells Jigs that what she is going to get is a “simple operation” and repeats the operators just “let the air in” (Hemingway, 2). This is completely false and an abortion is more than what he plays off to be. An abortion can effect a woman emotionally and mentally a great amount. Yet the man repeatedly tries to down the operation so that the woman can get the operation and he can move on with his life proving that the man doesn’t care much about the women’s well. The man then proceeds to tell Jigs that after the abortion everything could return to how it was before. He tells her that he loves her, cares for her, and will continue to do so. He even tells her that “ [they] can have everything” (Hemingway, 3). According to him, the abortion/baby is the “only thing that bothers [them]” and “made [them] unhappy” (Hemingway, 2). The man is trying convince Jig to have the abortion by saying that abortion is the only thing keeping them from going back to normal. However, the story hints that this man likely won’t want to be with Jig anymore after she get the abortion as their relationship wasn’t serious. This means that he is just telling her empty promises not for her emotional wellbeing but for his own gain.

The man in “Hills like White Elephants” shows a lack of sympathy towards the female character and emotional distress she is going through. After Jigs becomes more emotional about the whole situation, the man goes to get a drink at the bar. At the bar, he looks around and sees all the people there “waiting reasonably for the train” (Hemingway, 4). By saying that everyone else is being “reasonabl[e]”, he is suggesting that Jigs is being unreasonable and in some ways dramatic. He is invalidating her feelings.This again proves that he clearly doesn’t respect or care about Jigs' emotions about the current circumstance.

In Hemingway’s short story, the American man is able to have all the power in the relationship due to factors such as age and wealth allowing him to treat Jigs in that fashion. An obvious factor is the time setting. This story was set in the 1920’s where men had more power than women. Another factor that could contribute to the power dynamic is age. Throughout the story, the man is referred to as “the man” while Jigs is called “the girl” (Hemingway, 1-4). This was done purposely because the server was called a woman. This alludes that Jigs and the American man has a large age gap. This age gap may have made Jigs seem like the naive one in the relationship and allowed the man to have more control in the relationship. Money is another aspect that should be considered. Towards the beginning of the story, the man had told Jig he knew other people who had gotten abortions, and this man was able get Jigs and himself to Spain for an abortion. There were multiple labels on their luggage from “all the hotels...they had spent [the] night [in]” (Hemingway, 4). All this hints at the men being a wealthy upper class man and money equals power. Because of this power, it is possible Jigs couldn’t speak as much as she wanted to, allowing the man to have a certain level of control of her.

Unlike “Hills like White Elephants”, the male character of “Woman Hollering Creek” had physically abused his female partner. The story of “Woman Hollering Creek” focuses on Cleofilas and her marriage to Juan Pedro. It shows her thought process as her marriage and view of love falls apart as her husband begins to abuse her both physically and emotionally. Early in their marriage Juan Pedro had “slapped her once, and then again and again” (Cisneros, 405). He continued to slap her “until the lip bled an orchid of blood” (Cisneros,405). Juan Pedro had physically hurt his partner multiple times throughout their marriage. This physical abuse along with other aspects of their relationship had led Cleoflias to be emotionally hurt as she felt the episodes of her life just “got sadder and sadder” (Cisneros, 405). Though both men in each story had caused their partners to be emotionally hurt, the man in Hemingway’s story had only caused Jigs emotional hurt directly while in this Juan Pedro had caused both physical and emotional pain.

In “Woman Hollering Creek” Juan Pedro had caused Cleofilas emotional pain by cheating. After having a difficult labor, Cleofilas had arrived at her house and began to be filled with doubt and noticed that things were organized differently Celofilas’ “lipstick, and body talc, and hairbrush” where all set up in a different way (Cisneros, 406). Arriving home was described as “sweet sweet homecoming” (Cisneros, 406). It was as “sweet as the scent of face powder in the air, jasmine, sticky liquor” (Cisneros, 406). The combination of all these feminine smells with liquor and feminine objects organized differently hints that Juan Pedro could have brought another woman into the house while Cleofilas was giving birth in the hospital.

In Cisneros’ short story, it was Juan Pedro’s lack of power and control that caused him to be both physically and emotionally abusive. The men that went to the ice house after work were described as “dogs chasing their own tails before lying down” (Cisneros, 405). They were “trying to find a way, a route, an out- Finally- get some peace” (Cisnero, 405). These men, Juan Pedro, are stuck in a rut of sorts. They aren't getting anywhere in life or either job, so it feels like the work they are doing is pointless. They all tried to find a way to move up from the bottom or “an out” as the story had put it. This probably makes them feel frustrated, powerless, and useless. This might cause them to try to gain some power and control in their personal life. This is probably why at the end of the night when they are drunk “the fists try to speak” (Cisneros, 405). Winning a fight or perhaps fighting in general makes these men feel more in control of their lives. This also might be why Juan abuses Cleofilas. Another instance in the story that shows Juan Pedro’s frustration and lack of control of life is when he complains about their home. He would “ [kick] the refrigerator” then say “he hates [the] shitty house” and he is going to go “where he won’t be bothered” (Cisneros, 406). He also complains that if Cleofilas had “any brains in her head” she would understand that he wakes up early every morning to be able to provide for them. It is clear that Juan Pedro feels powerless because of his social standing and job in life. In order to make himself feel powerful and in control, he picks and abuses someone who he considers to be weaker than him. He may be at the bottom of the society hierarchy, but maybe he sees his wife as lower than him. This is different from “Hills like White Elephants” because the man in Hemingway’s story has power and it was his power that was making him treat his partner wrong. In this situation, it is Juan Pedro's lack of power and need to feel in control that causes him to hurt his partner.

In both stories power and control had caused two men to hurt the woman around them. Juan Pedro had hurt his wife to feel powerful, while the man in “Hills like White Elephants” had hurt and lacked sympathy for his partner because he was powerful. This says a lot about how much power can corrupt someone if you don’t even need the power to become corrupt. Those short stories were fiction, it doesn’t mean that power can’t corrupt the people who want it and again as well as the people around. We, as a society, have seen countless examples of people who gave power through wealth, connection,etc. and then believe that they can do whatever they want without getting caught. We see it with celebrities, politicians, the police, and more. There have been studies that show how power can corrupt a person. While the powerful people are corrupt at the top, there are powerless people who try to climb up to the top not caring who they step on just to feel some kind of power. Juan Pedro and the man in “Hills like White Elephant” represent two sides of power. The powerful and the powerless. The two stories show how power can corrupt both sides.