Hemingway's imprint on the Post Modern era.

What scholar does not know of the brilliance of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway brilliantly depicted the real flaws in people, of mind, body, and soul. Hemingway's composition of Hills Like White Elephants, exposes the idea's and weaknesses of one woman who longs to have the child she bears, but also wishes to keep the man she loves, who however wants her to abort the fetus. Hemingway wrote this piece in a time where the topic of abortion was merely a "hush hush" situation, never to be spoken of publicly. In the story, the woman compares the hills to white elephants; being an extended metaphor of a child who is expensive much like the Asian White Elephant in mythology. However, the American fails to see that although a child, much like a white elephant is expensive and time consuming, the reward of the white elephant is much greater. A white elephant may seem useless, as in the American dictionary depicts; however, to the Asian culture, the expense is nothing compared to the value of the gift itself. However, Hemingway brings up social and political issues that have been set for us today.
In the case of Roe vs Wade (1973), it was declared that a woman has a right to her privacy, this being the platform for Pro-choice advocates. However, the story is set when abortion was illegal. The woman's lover was planning on having her undergo an illegal abortion. Hemingway writes ""...You don't have to be afraid. I've known lots of people that have done it." ""So have I," said the girl. "And afterward they were all so happy." "Well," the man said, "if you don't want to you don't have to. I wouldn't have you do it if you didn't want to. But it's perfectly simple."" (Hemingway 115). This scene perfectly depicts the man's overwhelming power over the girl, and his imposing views on her pregnancy. The poor girl merely wants to please the man,even at the risk of ignoring her own desire's to have the baby. This is perhaps being a perfect example of the power that men had over women, and women's desire's to please, even at the risk of their own happiness. However, at some point, women must understand that they are human beings and have every right to be happy. Although the reader does not know the path Jug will choose, one can only hope that she chose the path to happiness, be it filled with  white elephants.