Power and the need for control can lead people to despicable things toward those around them, especially those they view as inferior. 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 partners poorly. However, each story has its differences in how and why these men treated their partners the way they did. In both stories, the men disrespect the woman in their lives and hurt her physically or emotionally. The reason behind the treatment of their women is male power or lack thereof. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayIn the story, Hemingway's main male character tried to downplay the situation and told the female character what she wanted to hear, probably for his own personal benefit. earn. The story, set in the 1920s, features a couple at a train station discussing the abortion they are about to have. It is obvious that the male character, an unnamed American, wants to have an abortion. He tells Jigs that what she's going to get is a "simple operation" and repeats that the operators "just let the air in" (Hemingway, 2). This is completely false and there is more to an abortion than what it claims to be. An abortion can have significant emotional and mental effects on a woman. Yet the man repeatedly tries to end the operation so that the woman can have the operation and he can move on with his life, proving that the man does not care much about the women's well-being. The man then tells Jigs that after the abortion, everything could go back to the way it was. He tells her that he loves her, that he cares for her and that he will continue to do so. He even tells her that “[they] can have it all” (Hemingway, 3). According to him, the abortion/baby is “the only thing that bothers [them]” and “makes them unhappy” (Hemingway, 2). The man tries to convince Jig to have an abortion by saying that abortion is the only thing stopping them from getting back to normal. However, the story implies that this man probably won't want to be with Jig anymore after she has an abortion, because their relationship wasn't serious. This means that he is only making empty promises to her, not for her emotional well-being but for his own gain. The man in “Hills Like White Elephants” shows a lack of sympathy towards the female character and emotional distress that 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 present “reasonably waiting for the train” (Hemingway, 4). By saying that everyone is "reasonable", he suggests that Jigs is unreasonable and, in some ways, dramatic. He invalidates his feelings. This once again proves that he clearly doesn't respect or care about Jigs' emotions regarding the current circumstances. In Hemingway's short story, the American is able to have all the power in the relationship due to factors such as age and wealth allowing him to treat Jigs this way. An obvious factor is the time setting. This story takes place in the 1920s, where men had more power than women. Another factor that could contribute to power dynamics is age. Throughout the story, the man is called “the man” while Jigs is called “the girl” (Hemingway, 1-4). This was doneon purpose because the waiter's name was a woman. This alludes to the fact that Jigs and the American have 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 over the relationship. Money is another aspect to consider. Near the beginning of the story, the man had told Jig that he knew other people who had abortions, and this man was able to take Jigs and himself to Spain to have an abortion. There were several tags on their luggage from "all the hotels...where they had spent [the] night [in]" (Hemingway, 4). All of this suggests that the men are rich, upper-class men and that money equals power. Due to this power, Jigs may not be able to speak as much as she wanted, allowing the man to have some level of control over her. Unlike "Hills like White Elephants", the male character in "Woman Hollering Creek". had physically assaulted his partner. The story of “Woman Hollering Creek” focuses on Cleofilas and her marriage to Juan Pedro. This shows her thought process as her marriage and her view of love crumbles as her husband begins to physically and emotionally abuse her. Early in their marriage, Juan Pedro had “slapped her once, then again and again” (Cisneros, 405). He continued to slap her “until her lip bled with the blood of an orchid” (Cisneros, 405). Juan Pedro had physically hurt his partner several times throughout their marriage. This physical violence as well as other aspects of their relationship had led Cleoflias to be emotionally hurt as she felt that the episodes in her life were “becoming sadder and sadder” (Cisneros, 405). Although both men in each story caused emotional injury to their partners, the man in Hemingway's story only directly caused emotional injury to Jig, while in this story Juan Pedro caused pain that is both physical and emotional. In "Woman Hollering Creek", Juan Pedro had caused Cleofila's emotional pain by cheating. After a difficult birth, Cleofilas arrived home and began to doubt and noticed that things were organized differently. Celofilas' “lipstick, body powder, and hairbrush” were all installed in a different way (Cisneros, 406). ). Arriving home was described as a “sweet, sweet homecoming” (Cisneros, 406). It was “sweet like the scent of face powder in the air, of jasmine, of sticky liquor” (Cisneros, 406). The combination of all these feminine smells with alcohol and differently organized feminine objects suggests that Juan Pedro might 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. this caused him to be physically and emotionally abusive. Men who went to the icehouse after work were described as “dogs chasing their tails before bed” (Cisneros, 405). They were “trying to find a path, an itinerary, a way out to finally obtain a little peace” (Cisnero, 405). These men, Juan Pedro, are sort of stuck in a rut. They achieve nothing in life or in employment, so we have the impression that the work they do is useless. They all tried to find a way back up from the bottom or an “exit” as the story went. This probably makes them frustrated, helpless and useless. This could lead them to try to gain some power and control over their personal lives. This is probably why at the end of the night, when they are drunk, "the.