Hills Like White Elephants (Ernest Hemingway) is about a woman and a man waiting for their train at a train station in Spain. Even though the reading was very vague you could kind of pick out that the two were arguing about uprooting and moving their lives to another place, possibly Madrid. The woman was second guessing herself thru out the entire reading. In my opinion, I believe she does stay with the man even thou she didn’t really want to. She would tell him that she would “do it” because she doesn’t care about her. More say that she cares about him. She kept telling him that they couldn’t have it all. It seems as if she was doubting that their relationship could ever be good again no matter what he tried. The man kept reassuring her that everything was going to be ok and she always had a way to shoot it back down. Even thou the reading was very vague you still could kind of get a sense of what was going on. From what I could get from this reading the man was trying very hard to try to get her to be happy again. She wanted to try for his sake and not hers. I have made an important choice to stay in a relationship with my two eldest children’s father many of times. But the finally, after eight years of the same situation, I made the choice to leave. About five years ago he was in prison for stupid offenses. But since it wasn’t the first time of him getting in trouble. He was sentences to one and a half years. This was getting old after me having to raise my two kids alone for almost eight years, enough was enough. I would visit him every week and made sure he had what he needed and never cared about what I needed. I put him before me. But towards the end of his sentence I started to think a lot. I was never going to go anywhere in life if I was with him. I wouldn’t be able to marry him, buy a house, he wouldn’t ever get a decent job because of his criminal record. He was nothing and I was slowly realizing that. The last call that I received from him was like this. I quickly answered the phone call from The Chester County prison, which was a phone number I already had programmed in my head, from millions of calls that I would receive from him. “Hey, how are the kids?” This was something he always asked but I knew it was only to ask and never that he really cared. “They’re fine, but there is something I really need to talk to you about.” I knew I couldn’t tell him face to face because he would have made a huge scene in the prison. He would act like his world was ending. Which honestly it probably was. “Alex, I’m so sorry but I cannot continue to do this anymore. It has taken me this long to finally come to agreement with myself that this is what I want and what I need.” He already knew exactly what I was talking about because this wasn’t the first time that I brought it up. “I told you that I’ve changed, I’m not the same person that I was,” he would say. I have heard that one before too. There was nothing changing my mind this time. My kids were getting older and they didn’t deserve to see this. I was putting my children first this time, not him. I quickly just hung up the phone and didn’t answer anymore. This probably wasn’t the best way to end the conversation, but I was also heartbroken. It was a decision that I made and had to live up to. I did send him a letter, explaining myself. It was a lot easier to let my heart out on paper.
5 Comments
2/18/2018 05:00:33 pm
Rosita I think it was very courageous of you to put yourself and your children first and try and move on with your life. I wish you the very best
Reply
Sabatino
2/19/2018 05:08:13 am
Thanks for sharing this post. Your argumentative response provides a clear position and developments of specific support. I appreciate how you point to the vague nature of the story. In class, we will explore this subtext to decode the meaning there.
Reply
Shane Z
2/21/2018 03:10:53 pm
I wholeheartedly agree that in the reading the man and then woman care for each other deeply, very well put and articulate.
Reply
Hi Rosita, I'm Ella from the Tuesday and Thursday morning class.
Reply
Molly Zahner
2/27/2018 12:20:26 pm
I love your blog. I agree with you about the Hemingway story and I had the exact same thought process when I first read the story. Your personal story was so touching and inspiring. I can tell you're an amazing mother to your kids :)
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Rosita CarbajalI will use this blog to write about my course requirements and what ever my heart desires. Archives
May 2018
Categories
All
|