Cansu Huyuk
English 102
Professor Mignano-Brady
April 24th, 2018
Silence, Fear and False Happiness Through Male Dominance
Robert Heinlein, an intriguing American science fiction writer, once stated “Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own”. In many parts of the world, women are dominated in their marriage, isolated from normality, and are excluded from expressing their rights to their significant other. Excluding one from everyday social activities or forcing unwanted decisions for your significant other due to gender is an act of oppression, shown by various male dominators. In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, the narrators husband, John, dehumanizes his wife by excluding her from her very own freedom, which ultimately causes her to face unwanted fear and forced happiness. In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, “the American man” as portrayed throughout the dialogue, tries to force an unwanted life making decision upon his significant other, Jig, creating false happiness. Both women in each short story face male dominance along with gender inequality portrayed by their significant other. Being in a forced relationship depicted through male dominance causes fear, resulting in silence as well as creating unrealistic happiness towards one self.
The American man and Jig from the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, portray a perfect visual of a couple that is fairly unhappy due to the persistent forcing of decision making the American man shows to his beloved. Jig wishes to settle down, give birth to their child, and not live the nomadic lifestyle they live. The American man however wishes to travel and explore the world without the burden of a baby in their life, which leads him to insist Jig to have an abortion. For example, "That's the only thing that bothers us. It's the only thing that's made us unhappy" (Hemingway 230). When the American man states that the baby is the only thing that is interfering with their relationship, it clearly shows that he himself is not ready for anything serious. Stating that the baby is making the couple unhappy, is an excuse to continue his selfish way of living a carefree life. An example of the American man silencing Jig is when he states, “I'll go with you and I'll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it's all perfectly natural" (Hemingway 230). Jig did not respond after that, her point of view was silenced as the man kept arguing that the procedure is barely a procedure. "It's really an awfully simple operation, Jig," the man said. "It's not really an operation at all" (Hemingway 230). The man argues that an abortion process is fairly simple and that they will regain their happiness again if Jig goes through with it. This results in the conclusion that the American man is the one who obtains the most power in the relationship, due to Jig not expressing her hidden sadness and depression of the situation.
Another example that shows how the American man is superior to the relationship, causing silencing within Jig is when the couple argues that they could have the world. Each individuals definition of having the whole world is completely opposite. “And we could have all this," she said. "And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible” (Hemingway 231). The dialogue continues with the American man stating, "We can have everything" (231). Jig responds with "No, we can't” (231). When the man states, "We can go everywhere" (231) it implies that his world is solely on traveling and roaming from different hotels in different countries. "No, we can't. It isn't ours any more” ( Jig 231). Hearing that the American wants to go everywhere, Jig is completely silenced, knowing that her world is destroyed by the man that is supposed to support her decision to raise their baby. Her thoughts and feelings are neglected by him, leaving her in horror to believe that her beloved deprived her from her very own freedom. An example of false happiness shown within the short story is simply when Jig states, “I feel fine," she said. "There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine” (Hemingway 232). Jig was oppressed by the American man to such an extreme, ultimately giving in to what he wants, the abortion. Jig will never be fine but to her parter, she is. Her simple statement of feeling fine is a perfect example of unrealistic happiness shown within an unstable relationship depicted through male dominance.
In the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, John who is the narrators husband also a physician, believes that his wife is suffering from severe depression and the only way to cure her is by extreme rest. However this extreme rest that John considers, silences the narrator creating no say for her very own freedom, instead she focuses on finding out the pattern of the yellow wallpaper in the room that she discovers in their summer home. The narrator has a feeling of entrapment due to the exclusion and neglect John shows towards her. For example, “John is a physician, and perhaps – (I would not say it to a living soul, of course, but this is dead paper and a great relief to my mind - ) perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster” (Gillman, 647). The narrator states that she will never tell a soul that John is the source for her delayed recovery, which is a sign of extreme fear due to only telling a piece of paper which is non living. Writing in her journal created a great escape for her mind, due to the brutality she encountered with her husband. “There comes John, and I must put this away, - he hates to have me write a word” (Gillman, 649). Not even writing is permitted for the narrator, this clearly states that John is isolating her from her very own thoughts.
An example of false happiness due to a forced relationship depicted through male domination portrayed by John in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, is when the narrator discusses crying when she thinks about John telling her that if she doesn’t get well soon, he’ll send her to Weir Mitchell, another physician but much more harsh. “I cry at nothing, and cry most of the time. Of course I don’t when John is here, or anybody else, but when I am alone” (Gillman, 650). When the narrator states that she doesn’t cry in front of John, this shows that she is oppressed to the point where she cannot be herself nor show emotions in her own marriage. John isolated her from company as well as her child and restrained her from any type of work. The high level of dominance shown throughout John and the narrators relationship affects the narrators mind deeply, creating her to believe that the isolation and oppression John shows is considered acceptable, which ultimately leads to unrealistic happiness.
In the movie “Enough” staring Jennifer Lopez, written by Nicholas Kazan, portrays a young working class waitress Slim (Jennifer Lopez) finding herself to be completely oppressed after marrying a rich contractor Mitch. Mitch and Slim get married and have a daughter named Gracie, soon Slim finds out about Mitch having an affair with another women. Mitch then becomes violent, slapping and punching her after stating she was going to leave him. Mitch then states “I'm a man. It's no contest” (Kazan 2002). Mitch’s actions and words clearly imply that he is in charge of the relationship, giving no option of freedom to Slim when she threatens to leave him. Mitch goes on making the decision that their marriage will continue even though he is having an affair with another women. Similar to John in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, both men show dominance in choices they make for their relationship, resulting in false happiness and silence for the women. Being in a forced relationship causes the feeling of entrapment which both women from “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Enough” felt, leading to a much more profound feeling of unrealistic happiness.
There are many women in today’s society that face a forced relationship depicted through male dominance which causes depression, self destruction, and illusions to the mind. All three women, Jig, Slim, and the narrator face an unrealistic relationship due to the men dominating their lives through entrapment and isolation. Decisions were controlled by the men, actions were controlled by the men. By having illusions, this triggers the mind to believe that the relationship is continuing in a healthy manner. Ultimately this leads to forced happiness, which can cause false sense of self. “Inner peace is the ultimate source of a happy life” (Dalai Lama). All three women did not have a relationship of peace. Being oppressed in a relationship due to male dominance will most certainly cause one to be silenced, believing that in moments of their relationship it is real, however it is false.
Works Cited:
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins, and Dale M. Bauer. The Yellow Wallpaper. Bedford Books, 1998.
“Hills Like White Elephants.” The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, by Ernest Hemingway, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1987.
Kazan, Nicholas. Enough. 2002.
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