Hills like white elephants

Throughout our lives we are faced with many decisions and situations that can ultimately alter the destiny of our life. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” a young traveling couple is faced with just that a life altering decision. From the irony of the title to the symbolism of different events and objects, the story is perceived differently among the readers. Once the audience realizes that Jig is pregnant and the couple is talking about a possible abortion, this answers a lot of hindering questions left in the readers’ mind, and, in my opinion, the view of the whole story takes a turn for the worse. Another important idea to grasp is the symbolism of the setting of the story; the couple is speaking at a train station in Spain while surrounded with suitcases with labels on them. All these details of the story help the reader decipher how and what the difficulty between the girl and the American man truly is. As we dig down deeper, and read other sources speaking about the same topic, we see that many other people agree with me on the symbolism and many do not agree with me on the symbolism.

The irony of the title is beyond belief. Many people have been a part of white elephant gift exchanges, especially around Christmas time. This is a game where people buy a usually nice, but burdensome gift. This gift is random to some and cannot be easily disposed of. Wise GEEK defines a white elephant gift as a “present that is something unusual, somewhat useless, or inconvenient” (par. 2). As we read this selection the truth that the possible pregnancy in certainly inconvenient. Knowing the definition of a White Elephant gift exchange changes the whole perspective of the story. In paragraph 58, the young lady expresses burdensome speech while...

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... realize, through the irony of the title, how this couple approaches the situation, and how they interacted with each other about the situation, and we can only hope that their different opinions merge to a compromise.

Works Cited

Hemingway, Earnest. "Hills Like White Elephants." Compact Literature. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8thth ed. Boston: Wadsworth, n.d. 129-33. Print.

Lanier, Doris. "The Bittersweet Taste." Ebsco MasterFile Premier. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Rankin, Paul. "Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants." Ebsco MasterFile Premier. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Renner, Stanley. "Moving To The Girl's Side Of "Hills Like White Elephants.." Hemingway Review 15.1 (1995): 27-41. Literary Reference Center. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

"What is a White Elephant Gift Exchange." Wise Geek. Now You Know, 3 Mar. 2006. Web. 27 Apr. 2014