Don't be afraid to be confused, everyone is ~ "Hills like White Elephants" and "Interpreter of Maladies"

 Sometimes certain readings are not for everyone

Discussions about not liking particular literature and my thoughts on the short stories "Hills like White Elephants" and "Interpreter of Maladies"

Its okay to be confused

As readers we are typically forced, or encouraged, to read certain literature that may not be our favorite, is not interesting, or plainly confusing. I have stated this before, but I am a person who really likes specific genres and storylines of books, not wanting to venture out too much unless I have an exception. I really love fiction, specifically fantasy or dystopian fantasy with maybe elements of romance or kingdoms. Whenever I read novels for my school class I never really connected deeply with the writings as I do with my own choices since I feel I am forced to bond in some sort of way with the writing, but sometimes I cannot stand the pieces of writing. You are not the only one if you want to chuck the book across the room or scratch your head at what the reading is trying to talk about! But in all seriousness, it is okay to be confused and not enjoy a certain writing. Before I changed my reading techniques if I didn't like a piece, I would try my best to like it since then I would enjoy it more but that just made it worse for me. Over the years I have come to accept that the fact that I do not have to try to like every reading. Although it may not be enjoyable to read, at least I have become comfortable in learning more about the writing piece and then moving on. If I am ever confused about a piece, I take some extra time to analyze it and become a bit more familiar.

Even though sometimes putting in the extra work to understand a reading you don't like in the first place, a positive I like to take away from all of this is that I am expanding my knowledge of different genres and types of writing so in the future reading that I don't like will start to become easier to read.

Hills like White Elephants

The story was written by Ernest Hemingway in the early 1900's and talks about a conversation between a man and a woman about the possibility of an abortion along with conflicting gender roles. To be completely honest I found the story to be a bit boring and repetitive for my reading tastes. Although the story has an interesting setting and has a different story telling than other pieces I have read, it was not enjoying for me to read. I like certain readings that are shorter and take place in one setting, but I did not enjoy the way "Hills like White Elephants" was written, such as it being heavily dialogue and not really any descriptive details about the setting or actions of the characters. The only part that really caught my attention is how the female was talking back to the man and he continues to ignore her comments and further pushes his opinion as the right thing to do. Since I am a passionate person about women's equality, I found this part of the story as the only piece that really drew me into the story. Unfortunately, during this time period women were typically chastised and ignored of their opinions or feelings. The general focus of this piece was on how difficult or rivaling choices can result in negative comments and hurt relationships. Since this story takes place during a period of the oppression of women, the story reflects the women being upset she is not being listened to and by the end of the story she says "There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine" (Mays 317), clearly showing her give into the man by stopping to prove her feelings to him. Overall, this piece was not my favorite due to a few elements that I do not enjoy in my typical readings, but it was interesting to explore more about the relationship between the man and the woman on the topic of oppression.

Interpreter of Maladies

First of all, I will say this piece was very interesting and kind of disturbing at times for me. When comparing this story to "Hills like White Elephants" I think it was an easier read for me in these sense that it has dialogue spread out with description and a bit of humor but the content matter of the "Interpreter of Maladies" was weirder than "Hills like White Elephants". The funniest part was when the monkeys jumped on the vehicle and attacked the one son. Even though the funny parts of the story kept me entertained, I thought the story was too uncomfortable and comical for my taste. I think a portion of this comes from it being a shorter piece. As readers we jump right into the story and have to figure out the situation and the characters pretty early on. The awkwardness I felt mainly came from learning more about the communication and relationship between the characters Mr. Kapasi, the tour guide, and Mrs. Mina Das, the wife of Mr. Das. When the story talks about Mr. Kapasi's romantic thoughts about Mrs. Das and her not having feelings back to him since she is more concerned about her affair, it makes a dramatic turning point but an awkward scenery. Since we know the thoughts of Mr. Kapasi and situation of the Das family, as the reader I felt uncomfortable knowing the intimate thoughts Mr. Kapasi has for a married women along with Mrs. Das not telling her husband their one child is not theirs. Despite their being some unexpected turning points and silly monkeys, the overall story was not really a smooth or comfortable read for me.

Overall, both of these short stories are excellently written and the authors are talented. In no way is any type of reading necessarily "bad" or "wrong" but sometimes, like many things in life, people have their own tastes and opinions about certain types of things. Sometimes it can be hard to look at the positive elements of a type of reading or genre that is not your favorite, but at the same time we must give credit to authors who have been credited by official organizations and publishers.