In turn-of-the-century literature, many short stories focus on themes that encompass human nature and society. Two of the most prominent American writers of the turn of the century, Kate Chopin and Ernest Hemingway, are no exception to this rule. Both writers use impressive symbolism to strategically explain the flaws in human nature to emphasize their writing and evoke emotions in the reader. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" and Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants," the authors make statements about the weaknesses of human nature in the way loss of life is handled . Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayIn the short story “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin, the main character, Mrs. Mallard, learned that she suffers from both heart disease and that her husband died in a train accident. In order to keep Mrs. Mallard from becoming overworked, the news of her husband's death is delivered to her very gently, although there isn't really a gentle way to break the news of your loved one's death. After Mrs. Mallard is informed of the death, she locks herself in a room and begins the process of grieving for her lost lover. At this point in the story, Chopin gives an extremely raw look at the process by which Mrs. Mallard mourns the loss of her husband in the line where she writes: "Into it she sank, pressed by a physical exhaustion that haunted his body. and seemed to reach his soul. Anyone who has lost someone they truly cared about would relate to this line on an emotional level. Additionally, after Mrs. Mallard has time to digest the news, she feels a new sense of freedom that perpetuates throughout her body. Chopin describes this feeling as “this thing that was about to possess her”. As Mrs. Mallard begins to reflect on her new freedom away from her husband, she realizes what her life will be like and how she will have no restrictions on doing what she wants. After a while, Mrs. Mallard comes out of her room and sees that her husband is not dead and is very much alive. Mrs. Mallard then dies of a heart attack brought on by happiness. This is clearly a weakness in human nature in that Mrs. Mallard was simply mourning the loss of her other husband and is revitalized to become a new woman, but when her husband returns and is not dead, she dies happy that he is back. , even when she had just left her death. Additionally, in “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, the story takes place in Spain where a conversation takes place between an American and a girl whom Hemingway calls “Jig”. At first the two start joking about Jig thinking the hills look like white elephants, then they start talking more deeply about an operation. As the story progresses, it is not difficult to realize that American and Jig were discussing an abortion, although this is not explicitly stated in the story. This is demonstrated in the lines where Hemingway writes: "It really is a terribly simple operation, Jig" and "I think it's the best thing to do." » Throughout these lines, Jig hesitates to answer and is obviously hesitant to proceed with the operation. "Hills Like White Elephants" shows the fault of loss in that in the last line Jig says, "There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine. Obviously there's nothing wrong with me. Not so long ago, Jig was extremely reluctant to give in to American pressure in.