“Hills Like White Elephants” by Earnest Hemingway is a short story from 1927 that describes a couple drinking at a train station in Spain, and the story is relayed by an outside narrator. The third person narrator in this story gives the reader the events pieced together, told afterward, and translated to English. It is clear throughout the story that the girl (who is never named) does not speak Spanish, while her boyfriend does. When he first orders two beers, he does so in Spanish through stating “Dos cervezas,” which emphasizes that the gentleman is indeed speaking Spanish, but the narrator is translating the affairs for the reader (Hemingway 114). The narrator also tells the story with bare minimum amount of detail, focusing instead on the dialog between the two characters. Even in that sense, the dialog is merely the conversation back and forth, with little explanation or details. The narrator only will throw in a “she said” every few sentences, presumably to keep the reader on track with whom is speaking, but otherwise does not add any information. This allows the reader to interpret the true meanings behind the word, without the influence of the narrator. The narrator provides a great insight through looking back at the boyfriend and girlfriend’s actions, and the boyfriend himself gives even further insight to the story.
The man, or boyfriend, in the story embodies the traits of masculinity. He is focused on his desires and does his best to control the situation at hand. Throughout the story, the boyfriend and his girlfriend are discussing an operation, most likely an abortion, and the man is trying to convince his girlfriend to have one. The gentleman avoids the topic at hand when he does not want to talk about it, such a...
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...d hesitation through the girlfriend and the distance, pressure and strength of the boyfriend. The woman states twice that she “feels fine” although there seems to be a distance between the two now. Another example of why the author is intending to discuss communication is through the use of the title and description of “white elephant” such as an elephant in the room. The two dance around the subject that must be discussed, but are only able to by subtly approaching the subject and not thoroughly talking about it. The author, Ernest Hemingway, seems to use his journalistic background to demonstrate through lack of detail and constant dialog that two people can be in a discussion and yet not be saying anything.
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. Hills Like White Elephants. 1927. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2011. 113-17. Print.
Hemingway writes his works so that not everything is as it seems. It makes readers take a deeper insight about what he’s writing about. In the story ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ he writes about an operation. Now from the surface, it seems as if they are just going on a trip and when he brings up this operation, readers don’t understand that they are talking about an abortion. The story has to be read a few times, before readers really understand that the argument is about a pregnancy and how the man wants the abortion. This is how Hemingway wanted to write his story. By using his dialogue and symbolism, Hemingway plays everything out in a way that makes readers analyze the story.
The woman does not know if she wants to get an abortion because she is frightened by it. While the man insists on telling her to do so because he wants them to continue with their life and not have to think about a baby. Although he mentions she does not have to do it if she does not want to. The girl attempts to change the subject by talking about how the hills look like white elephants to try to get the man to think about something else other than her procedure.
Renner, Stanley. "Moving To The Girl's Side Of "Hills Like White Elephants.." Hemingway Review 15.1 (1995): 27-41. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Hemingway provides the reader with insight into this story, before it is even read, through the title. The girl in the story mentions the hills that can be seen from the train station and describes them as looking like white elephants. Jig is at a crossroads in her life, accompanied by her partner. She is pregnant and cannot decide whether to choose life for the baby, or to get an abortion. Throughout the story, she experiences persistent uncertainty over what she wants to do with her life. Whatever decision she makes will have a drastic impact in her later years as a woman. While seated at the bar inside the train station, the girl says, “The hills look like white elephants” (Hemingway). The hills that are spotted in the distance directly parallel the decision that Jig must make. Critic Kenneth Johnston was recorded stating, “A white elephant is a rare pale-gray variety of an Asian elephant held sacred by the Burmese and Siamese. The girl’s reverence for life is captured by this meaning of the phrase.” Johnston also says, “A white ...
‘Hills Like White Elephants’ is a short story authored by Ernest Hemingway about an American and a girl named Jig. In the story, the two are sitting in a train station waiting for the train to Madrid. While they wait, they have an intense ongoing debate on whether or not to abort Jig. At the end of the story, the train is about to arrive and the man carries luggage on the tracks as they prepare to leave. The end of the story does not clearly define the outcome of its decision. She said I feel good at the end of the story - happiness is a central theme of the story, but we wonder if she went through with the operation. The paper discusses the manner in which symbolism has been employed in the story to communicate about an abortion, the couple is considering to go through.
In the story, "Hills like White Elephants" the couple has to make a decision. Throughout the story one can gather a sense of nervousness and disappointment. In the first paragraph the setting introduces the tense atmosphere that will continue through the entire story. The couple is in limbo abou...
The story "Hills Like White Elephants" is a conversation between a young woman `Jig' and an American man waiting for a train at a station in Spain. The author never names the topic of their discussion but as their dialogue progresses; it becomes evident that Jig is pregnant. The man wants Jig to abort the unborn child but she is unconvinced and wants to become a mother. Hemingway has brilliantly written the story's dialogue which "captures the feel of a private conversation while at the same time communicating the necessary narrative background" (O'Brien 19). At the end of the story, it is unclear as to what decision has been made; however, Hemingway gives the reader several clues regarding what Jig feels, and what she wants to do. Jig's private thoughts are illuminated by Hemingway's description of the setting, the character, and the conflict. Stanley Renner suggests that, as a result of the couple's discussion, "Jig has become able to make a more clear-sighted estimation, and perhaps a better choice, of men" Wyche(59). The couple's inability to communicate effectively their true thoughts and emotions makes their dialogue very appealing. The story examines the gender differences and miscommunications as they influence the decision whether to abort the unborn child or not (Smiley). In his book on Hemingway, published in 1999, Carl P. Eby points out that "[f]or the past two decades, Hemingway criticism has been dominated by a reconsideration of the role of gender in his work" (Bauer 125).
Ernest Hemingway is an incredible writer, known for what he leaves out of stories not for what he tells. His main emphasis in Hills Like White Elephants seems to be symbolism. Symbolism is the art or practice of using symbols, especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations (merriam-webster.com). He uses this technique to emphasize the importance of ideas, once again suggesting that he leaves out the important details of the story by symbolizing their meaning.
Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" touches on an issue as ageless as time: communication problems in a relationship. He tells his story through conversations between the two main characters, the American and the girl. Conflict is created through dialogue as these characters face what most readers believe to be the obstacle of an unexpected pregnancy. Their plight is further complicated by their inability to convey their differing opinions to each other. Symbolism and the title's meaning are other effective means of communicating conflict.
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” Fiction 101: An Anthology of Short Fiction. James H. Pickering. Twelfth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc., 2010. 638-641
Hemingway, considered to be a modernist writer, makes his readers work by implementing the well-known theory of omission, which “Hills Like White Elephants” is a perfect example of. As he stated in Death in the Afternoon : ‘If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, […].’ (259). It seems that Hemingway assumed the reader would know what is being omitted, nevertheless many features of “Hills Like White Elephants” have already been covered by various critics. At the end of the story the reader is forced to unravel the most...
“Hills Like White Elephants” is a one-of-a-kind short story. Hemingway clearly felt the need to be straightforward and direct stylistically, a trait that is said to have carried over from his work in journalism . In this story, he decided to use the third person objective point of view, making the plot both thought-provoking and confusing. One might ask, was it really necessary for Hemingway to use such a detached and vague narration? Is the third person objective point of view crucial to the story? The third person objective point of view was absolutely necessary for the story: without it, the story would cave in on itself.
“The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. […] The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went to Madrid” (290 paragraph 1). Ernest Hemingway crafts a well written dialogue in this story about a man and a girl. The story begins with a detailed description of a train station in Spain surrounded by beautiful hills. The story then turns into dialogue between the two. A man and a girl who appear to be traveling sit down at a train station to grab a beer and wait for the train. However a conflict is present between the man and the girl. The dilemma is an abortion. It is made clear throughout the story that the man is wanting the abortion and the girl is not really for it and therefore is not really sure what to do. Hemingway’s good use of dialogue and his creative way of using symbolism creates the tone and mood as well as showing the meaning of the conversation without directly stating it.
Hills Like White Elephants, written by Ernest Hemingway, is a story that takes place in Spain while a man and woman wait for a train. The story is set up as a dialogue between the two, in which the man is trying to convince the woman to do something she is hesitant in doing. Through out the story, Hemingway uses metaphors to express the characters’ opinions and feelings.
In the short story by Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants," a couple is delayed at a train station en route to Madrid and is observed in conflict over the girl's impending abortion. In his writing, Hemingway does not offer any commentary through a specific character's point of view, nor, in the storytelling, does he offer his explicit opinions on how to feel or think about the issues that emerge. The narrative seems to be purely objective, somewhat like a newspaper or journal article, and in true Hemingway form the story ends abruptly, without the couple's conflict clearly being resolved. The ambiguity of the ending has been a subject of much debate; however, the impact of what is not said in words can be gleaned through the symbolism of their surroundings. Upon examination of the setting, the couple's final choice becomes instantly apparent.