The Thoughts of a Writer

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Ernest Hemingway portrays many of his views through the characters in his stories. Hemingway has found a way to deliver many different themes in his writing. He includes personal experiences, thoughts and opinions to convey his way of thinking to the reader. Hemingway's writing can be interpreted in many ways, but as countless readers have observed, Ernest Hemingway is a sexist. Hemingway is viewed as a sexist because of the way he writes about women. His writing makes the reader believe that Hemingway has a strong dislike for women. Both "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway and "A Clean Well-Lighted Place" represent Hemingway's view on male's dominance over women and that women are the cause of men's misery. Ernest Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants", is about abortion. In this short story, Hemingway has made one of the characters, the waitress, an eavesdropper. Through the writing, we are immediately able to recognize that Hemingway has a preference towards men power over women. The way that he wrote the character's name was "American" and "the girl". This gives the reader the idea that the "American" is older and the person in charge in this relationship. As the reader continues to read this story, they can see that the girl is doing and willing to do anything to please the American: "Girl: 'And if I do it you'll be happy and things will be like they were and you'll love me?'" (Hemingway 2). Even though the topic goes unsaid, what the girl is referring to is the abortion that the American wants her to go through with. She says, "'I don't care about me.'" (Hemingway 2). All she wants is for the American to be contented and stay with her even if it means killing an unborn child. In this way, Hemingwa... ... middle of paper ... ...phants" one can conclude that Hemingway feels as if he is better than women, seeing that he is a male. The female character in this story, Jig, has repeatedly said that she does not care what happens to her, all she wants is for the American to remain by her side. Hemingway has indirectly stated that women are supposed to obey men because men are superior. In "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" Hemingway shortly brought up the elderly man's wife in the waiters' conversation. While it was not stated, the wife has been accused for the man's suffering. The reader can conclude that Hemingway is indeed a sexist and feels superior to females. His experiences with women have not been the best, so he expresses his hatred towards them in his writing. Works Cited Hemingway, Ernest.A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. 1933 Print. Hemingway, Ernest.Hills Like White Elephant. 1927. Print.

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    Hemingway also uses immorality as the central idea. The American is trying to convince the girl to abort: ‘“I have known lots of people that have done it…. ‘But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants…‘I’ll love it” I just cannot think about it” (596,597). Here one sees how the man manipulates the girl.

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  • White Elephants Symbolism

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    “Hills Like White Elephants” depicts a private discussion between the American and Jig over a touchy subject to where a vital choice must be made. Normally, Ernest Hemingway does not give sensitivity to his female characters, yet Jig is distinctive for this situation. Hemingway’s utilization of symbolism to hint Jig’s choice is made evident in numerous ways.

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  • Ernest Hemingway Essay

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  • Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

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    In Ernest Hemingway’s, Hills Like White Elephants, he is able to create a tension filled dialogue between an American man and a girl, Jig, as they sit, drink, and wait for a train from Barcelona at a bar. It mentions that all that the two have been doing was traveling, looking at things, and trying new drinks (Hemingway 2). During the thirty-five to forty-minute period, the couple vaguely discusses about whether or not the “simple operation” for an abortion should take place. Throughout the story, it seems that the man has his mind made up on having the girl go through the operation and tries to persuade her to agree, while the girl is still in limbo about it. In the beginning of the story, Jig seems to be used to depending on the man to

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  • communication is key

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    Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a short story about a couple contemplating on whether or not to have an abortion. The two are at a train station drinking beer and waiting for their train to come. In the story, the man wants the girl to get an abortion saying it will be an easy and quick procedure. However, the readers can tell that the girl is not too fond of the idea of getting an abortion. Throughout the story the couple tries to talk about the problem but their conversation seems to go nowhere. They go back and forth saying that they just want the other one to be happy. There is an irony in the story of these two characters as their relationship begins to “deteriorate,” compared to the “unity portrayed in the river, mountains, and fields” (Maynard). The woman begins to see the “selfishness of the man” and that is when the readers see that she has made up her mind to keep the child” (Maynard). Even though the readers have a good understanding of what each character wants, neither of them come out and say what they have decided. Once their train arrives the two part ways. No clear decision was ever made but the readers have a good idea that the couple most likely separated and the girl probably kept her baby. Hemingway stresses how important communication is in relationships through this story. The couple in the story obviously did not communicate very well, therefore, their relationship did not last. Relationships are built on communication and if a couple cannot communicate then the relationship will not last. Hemingway portrayed a couple who failed at communicating through three different ways. Location, time, and degree of relationship are all factors that affect communica...

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  • Compare And Contrast Hills Like White Elephants And A Clean Well-Lighted Place

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    Hemingway has created a situation where she is forced to depend on him because she is a young, immature, girl in an adult situation. It is when the American tells jig that “we will be fine afterward. Just like we were before, it is the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” that she realizes nothing will ever be the same no matter what he says. During one discussion she says “we could have everything” the man agrees, then she says “no we can’t it isn’t ours anymore and once they take it away, you can never get it back.” He says “But they haven’t taken it away” and her response is “we’ll wait and see.” The American doesn’t realize that at this point she has discovered that if he cannot love her and be happy while she is pregnant how he will ever truly love her as much as she loves him. According to Robert Barron many critics believe that the couple’s relationship has a bleak and ultimately poor ending (Barron). The older waiter in “A clean, Well-Lighted Place” is dealing with a similar situation when a wealthy old man who is a regular at the café he works at comes in after a failed suicide

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  • Interpreting Hemingway's 'Hills Like White Elephants'

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    “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway is about a couple, the American and Jig, who contemplate whether or not to have an abortion. The premise of the story seems simple enough, but the outcome is highly debated. Critics argue that the baby was kept by the couple ( Renner ) and others claim the baby was aborted.( Fletcher ) Others have even simplified the story, claiming that the issue was not resolved because the couple was drunk by the end of the story. ( Sipiora ) Although the conclusion is in questions many have agreed with the idea that the couples relationship would be changed and would end prematurely. ( Wyche ) Dialogue is the main technique in conveying this argument but we can only understand the complexity of Hemingway’s work by looking at the story as a whole. By looking at the many symbols, intrinsically and

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  • Character Motivations in Hills Like White Elephants

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    In the story, "Hills like White Elephants" written by Ernest Hemingway, the main character Jig faces a life changing event, abortion. The struggles with the complications of abortion concern and desire Jig to want to keep the baby. Bringing a new life into the world is a long time commitment and it is something Jig feels she can treasure forever. However, her companion attempted to persuade her in another direction, to proceed with the abortion. As naïve as he is, he feels his persuasion can overcome Jig's desires. Jig is a sarcastic yet reserved woman, who desires to bring a new life into the world, even if her companion does not approve; she knows what is best.

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  • The Fear Of Abortion In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants?

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    Abortions were occasions that would be found in books and motion pictures that depicted young ladies in bad positions or ladies that had been pushed to the edge. For example, Ernest Hemingway’s Hills like White Elephants. The story focuses on a conversation between an American man and a girl at the Spanish train station while waiting for a train to Madrid. Throughout the story we read about two people talking about a certain operation that will eventually make things better for them. We get the clues that he is talking about abortion. The girl does not seem to want to have the procedure but the man pressures her about it. Although the American attempts to frame the fetus as the source of the couple’s discontent with life and one another, the tone and pattern of dialogue indicate that there may be deeper problems with the relationship than the purely circumstantial. Back then the procedure was extremely hazardous and accompanied numerous dangers. To choose to have an abortion was to choose to be degraded. Women were jailed for having abortions and discriminated against. In 1973, the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade changed the way abortion was viewed, and since then, controversy over the legitimacy of abortion continues to

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  • Hills Like White Elephants, a Theme Analysis

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    Ernest Hemmingway uses time, place, and symbolism in "Hills like White Elephants" to intensify the central dilemma in a story about a man and a woman deciding on whether to go through with an abortion. Although a literal reading of the title may not seem to have any relation to the story, the title is rich in implications. Critics suggest that "Hills" refers to the shape of a woman's stomach when pregnant, and Webster's 21st Century Dictionary defines white elephant as: "[An] awkward, useless possession." The term is also defined in Webster's as an item that is worthless to some but priceless to others. According to Victor Lindsey, the child in the story is a white elephant in the view of the man, who is trying to convince the girl to get rid of it. Hemingway hints about how the man and the woman each feel about the unborn child, but he never tells us why they have such different views on the prospect of an abortion. The man in the story, referred to as "the American," claims that the abortion is necessary because it would save their relationship, whereas the woman, Jig, has doubts as to whether or not she should have an abortion at all.

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  • Commentary on "Hills Like White Elephants," by Ernest Heminway

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    In "Hills Like White Elephants," by Ernest Hemingway the it is easy to sympathize with the woman, to like and admire her more than the man in the short story. Through reading the short story and going through the conversation that Jig and the American have it is easy to say why Jig is more likeable because she is sort of a victim of the American. He is pushing her into having an abortion that she may not want to have to keep their relationship the same, but if she has the abortion the relationship will not be the same anyway. The American is just pushy and selfish and wants only what is best for him, while Jig wants what is best for both of them.

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  • Setting in Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway

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    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.

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  • Analysis Of A Clean Well Lighted Place By Ernest Hemingway

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    In Hemingway’s “A clean Well Light Place” the story depicts the different stages of a man’s life, and he accomplishes this by controlling the point of view of the story. Rather than telling a story that is open to interpretation, he tells the audience the important facts and details of why people are acting the way that they chose. This use of third person omniscient prevents us from misconstruing the interactions between the main characters.

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