Literary Analysis Of 'Hills Like White Elephants'

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Henningfeld, Diane Andrews. "Hills Like White Elephants." Short Stories for Students.
Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. The main idea in this analysis is to prove that Jig and her partner are in the middle of a comedy and trajedy. Comedy in this case refers to marriage and sexual union rather than humor. Tragedy refers to the end of something such as the end of family or society. Henningfeld states that the decision Jig has to make about the abortion will take the couple in either a comedic direction or a tragic direction. The ending is inconclusive and the only thing the readers can interpret is that there is a huge struggle the couple is facing. Henningfeld states that many of Hemingway’s stories deal with …show more content…

Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. Maynard’s analysis of “Hills Like White Elephants” stood out to me deeply because what he focused on throughout his entire essay was the ironic reoccurring theme of couples. The theme of pairs or couples is ironic because no matter what Jig and her partner choose to do in regards to the abortion, the aftermath will not allow their relationship to be fixed. Maynard states that most of this story represents symbols and keys of a couple representing unity. However, the couple is no longer united and will no longer be united due to the decision that they have to make. There are examples of “two beers”, “two strings of beads”, “two heavy bags”, and “two felt pads” pointed out by the scholar to prove his point. I honestly did not notice the pairs as being major contributions to the story. At first, these pairs did not even stand out to me. It was not until I read this critical essay that I realized the strong reason for having couples stood out clearly in the story. At first, I disagreed with Maynard. I felt, he was looking into the pairs too much. However, as I continued reading his essay, I realized there were so many examples to prove his point that there is a reoccurring theme (leitmotif) of couples representing …show more content…

Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. This article deals with the idea that the symbolism of white elephants is the most powerful and impactful symbol in the story. The scholar writes that the reference to white elephants appears four times in the story, each of which demonstrate a crucial part of the story. The first is a literal reference describing what the hills look like. The second deals with a contrasting image of the beautiful hills with the dry countryside. This shows the difference in the looks of the couple’s potential relationship from different perspectives. The third is brought about by Jig describing what the hills “look like”. Her partner then says he has never seen a white elephant. Here, the tension and sarcasm is strongly brought about by the couple. This is where we begin to see the true problem as being the abortion. The last reference of white elephants deals with how Jig would like for her partner to like her idea of white elephants. Jig would like for him to want the baby. The analysis focuses on how white elephants themselves can be seen as a symbol for many things. The scholar states that the symbol can relate to the birth of Buddha. Or it can relate to the way in which kings bring about hardships to others by presenting them with white elephants. The main point of Weeks is that the white elephant can bring about many different

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