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Symbolism within Hemingway's Hills like white elephants
Symbolism within Hemingway's Hills like white elephants
The analysis of ernest hemingway hills like white elephants plot character characterization point of view theme ppt
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“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.
Elephants'." Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 75-77. Literature Resource Center. Gale.
Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a short story that deals with the idea of conformity and the conflict caused by internal desire and pressure from another party. The short story is very subtle, and often uses these subtleties in combination with incredible amounts of symbolism interlaced throughout the narrative to cause the reader to look and think deeper into the motives, values and convictions of the conflict between the two protagonists respective desires. When two parties are at an impasse of desire, the conviction of their opposing beliefs becomes increasingly unshakeable. This results in dissension due to the severe lack of understanding between the parties involved and furthermore, they refuse to be held responsible for the inability to communicate their feelings to one another.
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills like White Elephants." Responding to Literature. Ed. Judith Stanford. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2006. 841-44. Print.
“The Hills as White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, tells a story about a couple who are expecting a baby, but want to have an abortion. The setting of the story takes places at a bar situated across of a train station in Madrid, Spain. The couple sits by the bar, and order some drinks. They began discussing about whether or not having the abortion. While they wait for the train the man convince the girl. Within the two works there are many similarities but also differences between the central idea, conflict and the language devices.
“The Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story that is about an American man and a girl called Jig. They are sitting at a table outside a train station, waiting for a train to Madrid. While they wait they order drinks and have a heated ongoing conversation over whether or not Jig will have an operation that would be of great significance to their relationship. “The Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway has two important symbols in the story, the hills and the drinks both of which help to give us a better understanding of what is going on between the American and his girl.
The two short stories “Hills like white elephants” by Ernest Hemingway’s and “The lady with the dog” by Anton Chekhov’s have many unspoken messages throughout the text. Both stories involve romantically involved partners with very emotional decisions. In Hemingway’s story the couple lacks communication and does not resolve this issue. However, In Chekhov’s story the main character finds love for the first time and doesn’t know how to start this new chapter in his life. Both authors use language and setting to communicate these unspoken desires from the two couples in each story.
Ernest Hemingway was born and grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. By the time he wrote this story he had been wounded in Italy during World War I; had traveled extensively in Europe as a newspaper correspondent and writer; had married, fathered a son, been divorced, and remarried (Hemingway 236). Planted in the midst of a forsaken canyon, the station isn’t a final destination but merely a stage between Barcelona and Madrid. Hemingway sets “Hills like White Elephants” at a train depot to play up the reality that the relationship between the man and the Jig is at a crossroads. The author is showing the couple is at a pivotal point on whether to go with each other and endure their relationship or end things and start new lives. However, the contrast between the white hills and sterile basin perhaps highlights the division between fertility and sterility, between having the baby or having the abortion, between life or death. The girl seems broken between the two landscapes, not only commenting on the beauty of the hills but also walking to the end of the platform and looking out at the desolate dessert around the station. Throughout the story the author uses objective point of view, symbolism, and irony to illustrate the theme that life and death decisions may negatively affect relationships.
Renner, Stanley "Moving to the Girl's Side of `Hills Like White Elephants'." The Hemingway Review, 15 (1) (Fall 1995): 27-41. As Rpt. in Wyche, David "Letting the Air into a Relationship: Metaphorical Abortion in `Hills Like White Elephants'. The Hemingway Review, 22 (1) (Fall 2002): 56-71. EBSCOhost.
Relationships have tended to be compared to the word perfect most of the time, but in Hills Like White Elephants, the word perfect is not the word to describe the couple’s relationship in the story. The story is written by Ernest Hemingway, who right before writing this short story was having relationship problems which involved divorce because of his affairs. It seems that he has a lot to say and can relate to this short story. The author seems to relate to the male in the story. This short shorty is based on a couple who are sitting in at a table at a train station waiting for a train to Madrid, Spain. They seem to have a topic opened up on the table that seems to not be cleared up right away because one feels different than the other. In
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.
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” Fiction 101: An Anthology of Short Fiction. James H. Pickering. Twelfth Edition. Pearson Education, Inc., 2010. 638-641
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.
“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.
Stukas, Jake. "Literary analysis: Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway." Helium.com. Web. 21 Nov. 2009. .
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 113-117. Print.