"A Deserted Moment" Paper

What is abandonment? To abandon means: to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert.  There are numerous novels in literature that are prime examples of what abandonment was in its time period.  Calixta, in the short story The Storm, by Kate Chopin, is a great example to see abandonment in the Realism time period.  Calixta’s form of abandonment is one where one is unable to yield to natural impulses.  Another character from another time period – Modernist, has a different aspect of abandonment.  “The girl” as she referred to in the novel Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, displays abandonment of giving up  control of a major deciding factor on future life.  The question at hand is when people are in love or are content with the life they have, could abandonment bring out a weakness in them?  The fear of the unknown, and what lies ahead in the future will be depicted in the short stories of The Storm by Kate Chopin and Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway.

In the story The Storm, Calixta’s husband and son are in town while she is left alone at home.  A storm is rolling in quickly, while Calixta’s life takes a slight turn.  As quickly as the storm came in, Alcee, Calixta’s first love appeared.  “She had not seen him very often since her marriage, and never alone.” (Chopin 2)  In a way, Alcee is almost like a long lost love, which came at the time when her family abandoned her in the house during a terrible storm.  In this case, the arrival of Alcee is a sense of comfort for the woman enduring distress.

The time lost between the two adds an element of passion.  ““Do you remember – in Assumption, Calixta?” He asked in a low voice broken with passion.  Oh! She remembered; for in Assumption he had kissed her and kissed her…” (Chopin 4) How those words made Calixta go through a romantic flashback.  While her husband and son are out during a big storm, Calixta finds Alcee to be the one who is there in her time of need.  The abandonment by her family leaves her to fall for the man she once knew.  A great moment of weakness, which causes Calixta to give into her first love.  The environment plays a key role in what has already occurred.  Calixta is in a vulnerable state.  She had gotten lost in time with her past lover Alcee. 

The next novel, Hills Like White Elephants, the protagonist, “the girl” has to face a very enormous dilemma.  Sitting in Spain, at a train station, where the tracks lead to different endings, the girl is contemplating what her decision will be.  In the modernistic time period, abortions were not openly acceptable.  That topic was kept in secrecy.  Her lover “the American” is a key factor in what the decision will be.  The girl asks the American “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?”  (Hemingway 115).  She is looking for reassurance that the man she loves will not leave her.  Any girl going through a situation like this, takes the answer of their lover into consideration.             

The girl is stuck contemplating whether to have the child or not and how it will make a difference in her life.  Would keeping her unborn child lead to a life with the child’s father, or will it lead to a life of raising a child as a single mother?  With the realization of what the circumstances will be, the girl fears separating from the father of the baby, and that their love will be vanquished. 
“… No, it isn’t.  And once they take it away, you never get it back.” (Hemingway 116) From this mere excerpt, the girl could be inferring that once the child is rid of, their love will also falter, and that all they have gone through will be nothing more than just a memory.

In the case of both women, according to studies made by Joghn Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth; both women would be considered with Abandonment Anxiety. Abandonment anxiety is the fear of being abandoned in a relationship.  Abandonment anxiety was first thought of by the psychiatrists Bowlby and Ainsworth.  The University of Illinois, psychologist Chris Farley states “people whose fear of abandonment has resulted in co-dependence and fear that partners will leave may be reluctant to enter a long-term committed relationship, but once they enter one, they become deeply attached to the other person and will be excessively worried that the relationship may end.” (Brogaard). When it comes to Calixta, she becomes worried when her husband leaves.  She is left alone and vulnerable to another man.  The girl, in "Hills Like White Elephants" is very dependent on the American.  He is what her decision is based upon.  She does not want their relationship to end.

In the movie Titanic, the protagonist Rose, a high class young woman, falls in love with Jack, a man with no means to take care of anyone.  Throughout the movie, their love was kept a secret because Rose was already engaged to be wed with a man named Kal.  Just like Calixta in The Storm, both women had committed adultery.  In comparison to the girl in Hills Like White Elephants, Rose is left to make a life changing decision; whether or not to continue the romance with Jack, and end things with her fiancé.  When the ship begins to sink, she chose to part ways with Kal and be with her new lover.  Rose is abandoned when Jack suddenly dies in the freezing water. 

Being abandoned by someone that you love can strike fear in anyone.  In both the novels, The Storm and Hills Like White Elephants, the subject of abandonment is evident.  Although the women have different situations occurring, each knows what abandonment could and do feel like.  In the case of Titanic and the two novels, love is a huge factor.  One would do what they can to ensure that their partner is with them, and that the person would go through obstacles until their loved ones accept them.  The fear of the unknown comes to play because in the end, one never knows when the act of abandonment may take place.