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Short story analysis
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At first glance of Carver’s “Neighbors” and Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” those two short stories seem very much alike. Although both short stories share literary devices such as point of view, and characterization; however, they are different in tone. Bill Miller of the short story “Neighbors” is described as a confused and weak person as he attempts to live the life of his neighbors, the Stones. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” the antagonist, Jig, is optimistic and confident. However, Bill and Jig are not completely different from each other, not just about their genders, but also the ways that they feel about situations and themselves. The reader can see the change of Bill and Jig as the stories gets told. In the end of the
Charters, Ann, ed. "Hills Like White Elephants." The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to s Short Fiction, IV, 615-618. Boston: Bedford Books, 1995.
Gale. Weeks, Lewis E., Jr. "Hemingway Hills: Symbolism in 'Hills like White'" Elephants. Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77.
“Roman Fever” and “Hills Like White Elephants” are two stories that on surface seem very different from one another, but through careful analysis the two are quite similar. Their similarities are mainly evident through the significant use of the dialogues in the both stories. “Roman Fever” has a third person omniscient narrator which the author allows to know the inner private thoughts of both characters, Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley. In contrast, “Hills Like White Elephants” is composed in a third person limited narrative where very little is known about the thoughts of both Jig and the American. At first Ernest Hemingway’s short story can clearly be viewed as the most ambiguous out of the two. With its simplistic style, written mostly in straightforward dialogue which leaves the readers to contemplate over the ultimate outcome of the story and forces them to ...
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills like White Elephants." Responding to Literature. Ed. Judith Stanford. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2006. 841-44. Print.
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 ...
Burroway, Janet. Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft. 6th ed. New York: Longman, 2003. As Rpt. in Rankin, Paul "Hemingway's `Hills Like White Elephants'." Explicator, 63 (4) (Summer 2005): 234-37.
While reading short stories, two stood out: Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants and Raymond Carver’s Cathedral. The themes in both stories are powerful and convey strong messages that really pose existential thoughts. Not only is each story’s theme attention grabbing, but so is the common and reoccurring use of symbolism throughout the stories. They did not just use the Element of Fiction symbolism, but even used one common symbol. Ernest Hemingway’s story Hills Like White Elephants and Raymond Carver’s story Cathedral each contain existential and similar themes such as talking versus communicating and looking versus seeing, as well as demonstrating creative and comparable symbolism throughout.
In Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” Jig changes her position completely when she claims her dominance over her situation, and possibly ends the relationship with The American Man. She changes from powerless, weak, and ambiguous to taking complete control and deciding to make her own decisions about the circumstances in which she is in.
---, "Hills Like White Elephants." The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. New York: Charles Scribner?s Sons, 1953. 273-278.
Hemingway, Ernest. Hills Like White Elephants. 1927. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2011. 113-17. Print.
In my literary analyst I have chosen to analyze the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway and also the short story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O 'Brien. I have chosen these two short stories because the conflicts in both of the stories are not alike one another. In my literary analysis I hope to identify the conflict, literary techniques, and also similarities and differences between both short stories.
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006. 268-272.
In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” it is easy to tell how Dialogue is a very powerful tool to use in storytelling. Dialogue has the power to give information about characters including their goals and personality. It also has the ability to strengthen a story with details to paint an image in the readers mind. In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway uses dialogue in a number of ways to enhance his story. Hemingway’s use of almost total dialogue displays the personality, motivations, and concerns of both the American and Jig.
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” Literature Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. DiYanni, Robert. 2nd ed. New York. Mc Grew Hill. 2008. 400-03. Print.
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.