Topic: discuss the role of setting as symbolic of the story in “Hills like White Elephant”…
While Michael Jordan was in the NBA in the old days they do have some difference. Michael has won more NBA titles than LeBron, Michael has won six NBA titles and LeBron has won three titles. Michael Jordan is also ahead of LeBron on the all time scoring list with 32,292 points and LeBron is behind him with 30,417 points. Jordan average more points LeBron while playing, but LeBron average more: rebounds, assists, and triples doubles.…
The setting of “Hills like White Elephants” contributes immensely to the meaning of the story. The train station shows that the characters are in the middle of making a decision. There are two different sectors of the valley- one representing hope and the other, desolation. Additionally, the simple distinction between the shadow of the station and the light of the sun shows what could be and what will most likely happen. All of these pieces of the setting help the reader understand the story and its characters even…
Hills Like White Elephant is a story that is narrated with very little detail. The subject of the couples argument is never given yet we are able to find out through the writing. This goes on with the whole story as we must dig deeper to see the hidden clues that Hemingway has left us with. Though this narration is very limited, we are able to analyze sections to strengthen the meaning of the…
Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” portrays the turmoil a couple endures when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, the choice to hold onto their current life or to begin a new life. Readers are allowed to intrude on a conversation between an American man and a girl, further conflict is presented through Hemingway’s use of symbolism. The man wants to go through with an abortion while the girl is unsure about which track she should take. Throughout the story, Hemmingway’s use of abundant details about the setting, rather than providing much detail about the characters, reveal a conflict between the man’s desire for the girl to have a “perfectly natural” (Hemingway 116) procedure and the decision to forgo an “awfully simple operation”…
Like most good stories, “Hills Like White Elephants” includes the initial situation, a conflict with complications, climax, suspense, and a conclusion. The initial situation begins with the view of the hills, in an exotic Spanish setting (somewhere in Spain at a train station), where a man and woman are having drinks at a bar. The conflict arises, after Jig states that the hills are like white elephants (591). This simile sparks the conflict (the third element) between the two over who has traveled more. This argument brings on the complication. The metaphor (the hills like pregnancy) and the two argue over an abortion. The girl eventually asks the man “would you please please please please please please please please stop talking” (593) which seems like a pretty climatic part of the story, especially once she announces that she will scream just afterwards. We are left with suspense when the man walks away with the luggage. There isn’t much time for suspense in the moment, but we wonder if she will still be there when he returns. Once he returns, there is little conversation to conclude the story. It is not a very dramatic or exciting ending, as we are somewhat left hanging about the whole things, which gives us room to come up with some questions to help us figure out the meanings in their…
A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession, but also it means a rare and sacred creature. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway uses an unborn child as a white elephant. This short story depicts a couple of an American man and young women at a train station somewhere in Spain. Hemingway tells the story from watching the couple from across the bar and listening to their troublesome conversation. Through overhearing the couple’s conversation Hemingway uses dialogue to explain the couple’s decision of an abortion operation. Hills Like White Elephants is a great example of Hemingway’s rare use of dialogue. Hemingway compresses dialogue in his stories by removing authorial guidance, forcing readers to interpret for themselves shades of meaning (Del Gizzo, Moddelmog 175). In the short story Hemingway also uses the setting to help the reader understand what the man and woman are feeling and thinking as they await their train. By providing details of the hills, bar, and landscape the reader can better understand the emotions and situation the couple are experiencing. The way that Hemingway creates the characters is a very interesting way because he lets the reader make their own opinions about the characters through their actions and words. In Hills Like White Elephants Hemingway uses compressed dialogue to let the reader interpret the story themselves while also using the setting and characters to help show the situation that the story portrays.…
When eavesdropping on a person’s conversation who is nearby, sometimes a person won’t get all the information on what they are talking about or find out how their conversation ended. Sometimes a person could infer the wrong things or not get the whole story. Also, since the people talking in the conversation might not tell the full story, the person listening might not get to know how the end of their conversation went, but if they are lucky, they might. The narrator in the short story “Hills Like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemingway, was not so lucky and didn’t find out the ending, or many details of what the couple was disgusting. The story just ended with the woman saying “There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m fine”…
The story "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway is a fascinating story about one couple having faced with an unexpected pregnancy. The theme of the story is about the couple's decision between life and death. The main character Jig and The American are in disagreements on weather to keep their baby, or have an abortion. The couple's lack of communication creates the conflict in the story. For example, Jigs says, "We can have all this..." "And everyday we make it more impossible" While this problem is going on, the couple is sitting at a train station in the middle of a valley. Each side of the valley represents either life or death. As Jig moves about in the story, she faces different sides of the valley, which helps to determine the decision she will make. With the many descriptions and symbolism throughout the story, the final decision seems as if Jig is keeping the baby.…
The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway is about an American man and a girl who goes by Jig. The two are waiting in a train station between Barcelona and Madrid. As the couple waits, they go and get some drinks while they designate an important decision; whether or not they should get an abortion. In the story an ‘abortion’ is never mentioned directly so it allows the readers thoughts to linger on symbolism. Courage is a theme that is revealed in the story through the two devices irony and symbolism. Jig is the courageous one in the story, not because she is pregnant with the child because she seems willing to keep it, thinking it will bring joy to her typical life.…
In both the poem my papas waltz and the short story hills like white elephants, alcohol is a repetitive motif that is present throughout the stories. Both stories have alcohol as a similarity and in both stories the consumption of alcohol allows the characters to remove themselves from reality and ignore the issue(s) at hand. In the short story hills like white elephants both the American and the Jig consume alcohol when they are engaging in conversation in an effort to circumvent each other and the issues that they have in their relationship. They both begin guzzling massive beers as soon as they enter the train station.…
1.) In "Hills Like White Elephants," how might a feminist critic view the relationship of the American and the girl? Would you agree with the evaluation? -A feminist critic might view the relationship of the American and the girl as unfair. They are in Spain and the man was given the name "The American" to symbolize that he is American, "the girl" is given to the girl to symbolize that she is neither American nor from Spain.…
Each story describes what freedom means to distinctive people. “Hills Like White Elephants” tells a story of a young couple facing a huge decision having to be made. This surgery that the American man wants Jig to get done seems to be an abortion.…
Close interpretation of the story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway leads the reader to an issue that has plagued society for decades. Understanding of the human condition is unveiled in the story line, the main setting, and through the character representation. The main characters in the story are an American man and a female named Jig. The conflict about abortions is an issue that still faces society today. Architectural and atmospheric symbolisms are used to set the mood and outline the human condition. The love bond between the man and Jig is strong; however, the more powerful bond between Jig and her unborn child is sacred.…
The main theme in “Hills Like White Elephants” is the subject of decision making, one that can change your life forever. In this piece, there is a conversation between a pregnant woman named Jig, and her partner, the American. They arrive at a bar near a train junction and order some beers, as they wait, Jig looks out over the hills and sees the clouds, she compares them to white elephants. This topic of conversation seems to arise because there seems to be a tension between the couple, which is later revealed as a decision, but the decision is never specified. The only thing we know is that there is a decision to be made, but the couple is torn up about it.…