The different symbols in “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway are used to convey the different opinions, feelings and emotions of the characters and meaning of the story at hand. The symbolic devices and setting are used to effectively communicate the conflicts and obstacles that the two individuals are having.…
Earnest Hemmingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants is one that is unique for its…
In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway surprisingly engages the reader with ambiguous dialogue and character detail necessitating use of extensive symbolism within the setting to encourage the readers active participation. The glaring lack of key details concerning the characters, an American man and a girl named Jig, and their disjointed conversation provide little real substance to comprehend the conflict at hand. In trying to determine what operation is being discussed this statement provides little clue, “I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in” (Hemingway 592). If anything this ambiguous statement promotes further confusion. So it is necessary for the reader…
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…
In the early 1920’s, editors ignored Hemmingway’s story “Hills Like White Elephants” because, they felt it was not what the public wanted. Not until the 1990’s did it become one of Ernest Hemmingway’s most anthologized short stories. “Hills Like White Elephants” has a single storyline and it takes place in a single day. The male character “Man” appears to mirror Hemmingway’s own life with his not so wise way of handling difficult situations with the opposite sex, while the female character who is referred to as “Girl” appears to be seen as weak and unsure. This Hemmingway story creatively and subtlety gives many implications and his two characters unfold these implications through…
Earnest Hemingway writes “Hills Like White Elephants” in such a metaphoric way, that it takes a few times to read it and figure out what the topic of discussion is between the guy…
The most distinguishable ‘vision’ of America can be translated as the ‘American Dream’. Both Fitzgerald and Miller explored the ideas around this same vision at two different times in american history to examine the success of society and looking into detail of how valid the ‘American Dream’ is. The term itself was first used by James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book, The Epic of America. The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ is the epitome of the hypocrisy behind the American Dream. Sarah Churchwell sees The Great Gatsby as a "cautionary tale of the decadent…
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…
The characters are presented in a vague way, there names are not even mentioned when they are introduced in the story by the narrator. They are introduced as “the American” and “the girl.” They are on a train station, which is a stopping point between Barcelona and Madrid. This is where travelers make the decision which direction to go, which parallels how the main characters have to make the decision on having an abortion or having a baby. When they are on the train the girl is looking out the window and she points out that the hills look like white elephants. The subject changes and she keeps bringing up the white elephants. White elephants are considered an idiom for unwanted…
The point of view is how the action is presented to the reader (Clugston,2010). Although “Hills like White Elephants” is primarily a conversation between the American man and his girlfriend, neither of the speakers truly communicates with the other, highlighting the rift between the…
“Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story that begins with a man and his girlfriend waiting for a train in Spain. They drink alcoholic beverages and speak about an unnamed operation. As one reads further into the story, it becomes evident that the operation being discussed is an abortion. The man is trying his best to persuade his lover to abort their unborn child, but she is uncertain about what she ought to do.…
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.…
The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” was written by Ernest Hemingway. The author seems to be a minimalist where he does not provide explanation about the very issue why the couple is unhappy and annoyed with each other. To have a more deeper understanding on the literature, I have looked up a translated version of it and according to a Japanese translation of the very story, it said that the problem was about her pregnancy and that the man wants her to have an abortion. It was then understandable that why the author might have left that information out of the story because, having an abortion is not something you would talk in public which in this story’s case, they happened to be in some kind of bar. I believe…
Scores during basketball games tend to reach high numbers, but the first recorded game ended in a 1-0 score. Basketball is a game of skill, finesse, and accuracy. The goal of basketball is to score more points than your opponent by shooting a ball into a hoop to receive points. Games are played inside a gymnasium using a round ball and two iron hoops that are 90 feet away from each other and both 10 feet above the ground. The basketball season starts at the end of fall and finishes in the beginning of spring. Dr. James Naismith, a physical education teacher, invented the game of basketball on December 21, 1891, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Basketball, as we know it today, originated from a simple gym class game using a soccer ball and two peach baskets.…