A.Ximenes 1 Andrea Ximenes Professor Polnac ENGL 1302 Synonym 44936 Section 017 14 February 2012 Analyzing “Hills Like White Elephants” Ernest Hemmingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is the story of a couple having a conversation at a Spanish train station. As they sit, waiting for their train, they have a few drinks and discuss an unnamed operation the young man, “the American”, wills for the young woman to have. From the text, one could conclude that this operation is an abortion. The American presses the issue, non-confrontationally, but in a way that might lead a young girl in love to follow. He promises the girl of how happy they will both be once is has been done, and just how “simple” it would be.
He is known for what he leaves out of his writing, not what he tells. He is vague in his writing and leaves much to interpretation. This leaves readers to sift through the text and decipher the symbolism in his stories. In his short story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway uses an abundance of symbolism to convey the concept that an American man and his girlfriend, Jig, are struggling in their decision for her to undergo an operation which, although never specified, is understood to be an abortion. The story opens with the American man and Jig sitting at a table outside of a train station in Spain.
This couple is at a critical point in their lives when they must decide whether or not to have an abortion. Certain themes arise from this story such as choices and consequences, doubt and ambiguity, and how men and women relate. The couple is unmarried and the girl has become pregnant, but the man wants her to have an abortion. The man is really selfish he is didn’t want to responsible to take care the baby and become family. Writer also uses many examples of symbolism in “Hills Like White Elephants”, including descriptions of the surrounding scenery, the hills themselves, and the station where the action takes place.
Corey R. Davis Professor Johnston English 102*32 2/10/12 Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis The literary fiction short story, “Hills Like White Elephants”, was written by Ernest Hemingway in 1927 out of the Men Without Women short story collection. The story is set at a train station in Ebro River in Spain. While a man called “the American” and the women called “Jig”, are waiting for the train to Madrid to arrive, they both order a few alcoholic beverages to speed the waiting time up. The woman looks off into the hill line and discovers that the hills are white in the sun and the country was brown. “They look like white elephants”, the women said to the man.
The American is talking about abortion and he is trying to convince Jig that an abortion is perfectly natural, however Jig feels unsure about getting an abortion. The couple has a difficult time communicating about this subject and as tension levels grow, Jig says that she feels fine and that everything is fine, leaving the reader to believe that she is going to go through with the operation. The story is told from a moral perspective, which can be seen from the way the landscape is worked into the dialogue and the narration. The language used at the beginning of the story is simple and straightforward, telling the reader that the place is the Valley of Ebro in Spain, and at a train station. The impression presented is that the characters are at a train station in the middle of a dry barren place, under the sun, with no shade or trees, which gives the reader the idea of the lack of life.
Raising a child alone isn't as taboo as it was back then. But, she could choose for herself whether she wanted to have an abortion, or if she decided to keep the baby she would have many resources available to her. But this isn’t the case in this story. The American's shows a lack of concern for what she wants. I also get the impression that Jig is insecure about her relationship because she asks, “And if I do it you’ll be happy and
Here the scenery could be seen as Jig’s creative and intelligent way of trying to overcome the communication difficulties faced by the couple towards the inevitable conversation of the abortion, because it represents a choice more than what they are actually seeing. Jig and the American start off in the first paragraph on the side of the railroad station where the land is barren and there is no sign of life. This symbolizes the way the American feels about the pregnancy, because he does not want to settle down and live a lifeless life when the baby is born. He feels as though they will be happy again when the operation takes place, as the pregnancy is ruining their relationship and any chance of them being able to live a careless life again. On the other side of the tracks the narrator describes the land to be full of lush, green vegetation with a river flowing through it.
'They look like white elephants,' she said.” (Hemingway, 1927) Hills like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway, is a short story published in 1927. The story starts off with a couple, defined as the American and the girl with him, walking into a bar attached to a train station. They are waiting for the express train from Barcelona to Madrid. Hemingway never specifically says in the story what the couple is discussing but there is a lot of symbolism within the story that suggest abortion is the topic. Hills Like White Elephants has some of my the most powerful symbolism in literary history.
This river represents life. (Hemingway, 1927) There are many different phrases in this story that are symbolically used to describe abortion and the choice that surrounds it. For example, while the couple drinks beer, Jig looks off at the line of hills and says: "They look like white elephants." “I’ve never seen one," the man said. "No you wouldn't have."
She never states this, but it is in her tone. It is clear that the man in the story is sure if what he wants; his own happiness. The tone of a story is the feeling the author is trying to portray. In “Hills Like White Elephants” the underlying tone is restlessness and impatience. The girl in the short story is undeniably nervous about having an abortion.