"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Going into this short story, I had preconceived ideas and notions about it. I have seen the movie with Brad Pitt in it, so I already knew the premise of the story of how he is born old and his age and life is in reverse. However, I had never chosen to go deeper simply because I thought I knew what happened.

But because I read it and the class discussed it, I was able to see beyond the surface and beyond what the movie portrayed. While reading, I viewed it as a "carpe diem" story. I saw the hurt and sadness that surrounded him his whole life. He was almost always considered an outsider and looked down upon. Therefore, I saw the story as one that said to appreciate the life cycle we're given and to live life to the fullest because one day, you won't be able to.

However, yesterday's class really intrigued me in that this story was about how we treat the elderly or others who aren't quite the "social norm." In America, we do throw away those that aren't moving at our pace or engaging in life really quickly. As Professor DeBorde stated, "Just as his father shut Benjamin up in his room when he was an old man, we too, do the same with our elderly." We tend to hide behind the phrase, "out of sight, out of mind." These different people are to be cherished and appreciated since, after all, they are still human, just with more experience.

Another point a fellow student brought up is that when we put them in nursing homes or assisted living houses, those don't necessarily protect the elderly because there are cases all over the news about nursing home abuse. People take advantage of the elderly. It's just sad. No wonder people are fighting for Euthanasia. If that's how they are going to be treated when they become incoherent, then why stick around? It's so sad.

The elderly sometimes have the best stories and advice. They have lived such full, rich lives but because they cannot operate at a certain speed, we push them aside. I want our generation to take the time to get to know their grandparents and to really listen to what they have to say. Along with that, I think, if we walked and lived at their place, we'd enjoy and appreciate more what this world has to offer.

"Hills Like White Elephants"

A small tiny word that I noticed being used frequently is, “it.” When referring to the child that is inside Jig or the operation, both say “it.” For example, “Doesn't it mean anything to you?” or “It's really not anything.” Dictionary.com defines “it” saying, “ [it’s] used to represent an inanimate thing understood, previously mentioned, about to be mentioned, or present in the immediate context.” The phrase in the definition that stands out to me is “used to represent an inanimate thing”. Jig and her significant other never say what “it” is. They never mention a child, animal or object. Therefore, “it” is an allusion to the child that she is carrying and the abortion that the American is trying to convince her to have.

By referring to an unborn child and an operation as large of an abortion as “it”, it downplays the significance of the human and the operation. In a way, it shows that an abortion is not different from any other operation and that the unborn child is no different than an animal. There is no worth. After reading and coming to this conclusion, I was able to re-read, “Traveling through the Dark” in a different light. The driver knew that the doe was carrying a fawn and that he/she was alive but he did not try to save it. He aborted the baby fawn. They were following the saying, “out of sight, out of mind.”

The context in which this was written is when feminism was on the rise and the push for gender equality. Especially when it came to birth control and the right to control if we should have kids. Hemingway was writing this story in a time period where civil rights were being argued, debated, and fought over. Women were done with feeling oppressed by males and wanted to have full reign over their own lives. Such as taking birth control, voting, and what Hemingway wrote about: abortion. Although Jig decided to keep the baby, I think the substance of the story is about her doing what she wants to do or what the American wants her to do. Eventually, she ends up doing what she wants to do which is keep and raise the child. Also, throughout the story, metaphors are used when Jig talks about the hills, other side of the hills, and the curtain. But I believe the plot is significant when talking about the usage of “it.”

Since abortion and women’s rights was such a controversial subject, the usage of “it” allows the reader to draw their own conclusions as to what he could be writing about. The ambiguity makes the reader think below the surface as to what the text is saying. I believe by using “it”, women of that time period were able to relate to the situation. Abortion was something not talked about and the story is a good representation of how women and men acted during the 1920s. I believe if Hemingway had said baby or abortion, it would have taken away from the story. Then it would have been another fictional story and wouldn’t have stood out or made the impact that it did. Literature is about going deeper, further and beyond what is seen and by only saying “it”, Hemingway accomplishes that. "This story was not only intended for the pleasures of reading, but also though provocation" (Gardner).

Gardner, Brian. "Hills Like White Elephants--Literary Analysis." machete.
WordPress, 2007. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. hills-like-white-elephants-literary-analysis/>.

My Mark

I just went to a conference in Atlanta called Passion. While I was there, the speaker, Louie Giglio, asked the same question that Professor DeBorde asked us today: “What mark do you want to leave behind?” My answer is, I do not really know what mark I want to leave behind.

The basic “Christian” answer is that I want people to remember me as someone who followed after Christ whole-heartedly and who’s first priority was to love His people just as He has loved me. I would like everyone who I come in contact with to be affected in some way. And that when I pass, they can say, “She pushed me and challenged me in who I am and in my relationship with Christ.” I want to be the one who asked the hard questions but did it in a loving way.

I guess I want my mark to be one that continues long after I am gone. Just as Emily Dickinson’s poems are still being read by generations, I would like my life to have the same impact. In that, generations after me are thinking, questioning, pushing and living out their faith. Kind of like the domino effect.