Literacy Criticism and Argumentative Research Paper

Literacy Criticism and Argumentative Research Paper

            The emotions that are related to strong attachment or affection are described as love. Defining love is made difficult due to the different emotions that it evokes. In retroscope, it can be used to stand for diverse feelings, from the fanatical yearning and intimacy of quixotic love to the platonic expressive intimacy of nonphysical and familial love to the deep dedication or oneness of spiritual love. It acts, as a leading launch pad for interpersonal interactions. It has been utilized as a common theme by artists who engage in creative art, owing to its psychological significance. Even though the theme of love is prevalent in the stories, “A Rose for Emily” and “Hills like White Elephants”, significant differences are experienced.

Love though an emotion, can affect people psychologically such that they engage in certain actions which to them seem moral but which end up being immoral based on societal analysis. The people when committing these actions may believe that happiness will culminate from these actions but they find out later that their actions were selfish and are not a symbol of the love that they are trying to fight for. In “A Rose for Emily”, the theme of love is brought out by the love that Emily had for Homer. Many people from her town were against this love because they felt that according to the standards that the Griersons had kept themselves in, Homer was bellow Emily’s standard. Every Sunday afternoon Emily and Homer went for buggy rides but it was imminent that their upcoming marriage would not push through. Due to the love that Emily had for Homer, she decided to kill him and keep him in her house after his refusal to marry her.

“Hills like White Elephants” is a story about an American who is travelling with his female companion. The female companion is pregnant and though the American loves her, he wants her to get rid of it so that normalcy could resume in their lives. In the story, The American professed a lot of love for Jig and felt that now that she was expecting a baby they would not be happy anymore yet, he still loved her. The remedy to this problem was to get rid of the pregnancy such that he would be saved from an added responsibility. His love for Jig surpassed the love for the baby thus; he deemed it fit for them to get rid of the pregnancy such that their love would not change. In both stories, Emily and the American take actions that they deemed to be enhancers of their love but at the end of the day, these actions brought out the psychological problems that they were facing due to love. According to both stories, there is a thin line between love and insanity. Both stories brought out the theme of love as a selfish act, yet morals say love should be selfless. Protecting ones whom you love is what love is good for, acting on edge thoughts, never shows Love.

Love might be perceived differently by two diverse people depending on their beliefs and perceptions. Some may love selflessly while other might love selfishly. This however depends on the people involved. In the story, “A Rose for Emily”, the love between Emily and Homer was one sided such that though they went for buggy driving as a routine of Sunday afternoon At the end of Homer never showed his love for Emily because of his refusal of marriage. Emily on the other hand was ready to get married to Homer because she loved him so much that is why she killed him so that she could not share him with anyone else. In the story, “Hills like White Elephants”, the love between Jig and the American is both sided in that Jig is ready to give up the baby for the American though she would have wanted to keep it. However, the American is ready to give up the idea of the abortion if Jig is not ready to undergo it. He is not forcing her, he is giving her the leeway to decide on what is good for her.

This brings out the selflessness of their love while it brings out the selfishness in the love that existed between Emily and Homer. If Homer loved Emily selflessly, she would not have resorted to killing him. This is because even after killing him the evidence unearthed from the room that contained the wedding apparel that was to be used in their wedding shows that she oftenly visited the room and lay down in the bed that contained the rotting body of Homer once in a while.

We see the theme of untamed love in both stories. In “A Rose for Emily”, it is brought out by the love that Emily had for her father this could not have been classified as romantic love but could be classified as familial love. Thus in the story, “A Rose for Emily”, the theme of love can be divided into the basis of both romantic love and familial love. In, “Hills like White Elephants”, the theme of love is brought out through romantic love. Familial love lacks in this story because the American did not feel any affection for his unborn child thus he ended up suggesting abortion to Jig so that they would only be happy with their romantic love. The Americans willingness to keep the baby was not based on the familial love he felt for the baby but was based on the romantic love that he had for Jig. The lack of Familial love in this story brings out the significant difference between the themes of love found in both stories.

Love has been utilized as a common theme by artists who engage in creative art, owing to its psychological significance. The theme of love is prevalent in the stories, “A Rose for Emily” and “Hills like White Elephants”. Though it has similarities, the most outstanding detail about it is the different types of love brought out in the story. In the story “Hills like White Elephants”, the selflessness of love is brought out whereas the selfishness of love is brought out majorly in the story “A Rose for Emily”. The theme of love in “A Rose for Emily” is based on romantic and familial love but in “Hills like White Elephants”, familial love does not exist but romantic love is prevalent. In both stories, the Emily and the American engage in actions that degrade love in the name of love. This brings out the fact that though the theme of love is prevalent in the stories, “A Rose for Emily” and “Hills like White Elephants”, significant differences are experienced.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Faulkner, William. William Faulkner: A rose for Emily. Columbus: Merrill, 1970. Print.

The story is about Emily who died as a spinster after she killed her boyfriend who had refused to marry her. It talks about the political changes that took place during in Jefferson during Emily’s time. It brings out the discoveries made after the death of Emily. The theme of love and death are covered immensely in the book. It depicts the bizarre actions that Emily engaged in for love.

Schriftenreihe, Akademische. An Analysis of Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants”. Ravensburg: GRIN Verlag, 2009. Print.

This book talks about the story of an American who wanted his female companion to abort their unborn baby. It brings out the fact that the woman on the other hand was not ready to undergo abortion. The book brings out the themes utilized in the story. The book researches on whom between the woman and the man asserts their authority at the end. The man later agrees to keep the baby.

Hemingway, Ernest. The complete short stories of Ernest Hemingway. Planegg: Simon & Schuster, 1998.Print.

This book encompasses a collection of all the stories written by Ernest Hemingway. It includes such stories as “Hills like White Elephants”. The first section of the book encompasses those stories published in 1938. The second section contains published books not included in collections. Part 3 contains those books that were never published.

Faulkner, William. Collected stories of William Faulkner. Gersau: Vintage International, 1995. Print.

The book encompasses all the stories written by William Faulkner. It encompasses such stories as “A Rose for Emily”. The stories are grouped into six groups. This book helps people to understand about the works of the author at different periods. It gives a different perspective of “A Rose for Emily”.

Morrison, Toni. Love. Säckingen: Knopf, 2003. Print.

The book tries to define the meaning of love. Different types of love are discussed in this book. It brings out the fact that love is one of the themes mostly used in creative art. It talks about the story of Bill Cosey.