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Absinthe In Hemingway's 'Hills Like White Elephants'

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Annotated Bibliography Lanier, Doris. “The Bittersweet of Absinthe in the Hemingway’s ‘Hills like White Elephants.’” Short Fiction 26.3 (1989): 279-288. Literary Resource Center Web. 10 Oct. 2017. In this article, Doris Lanier argues that the pregnant girl, Jig and the father of the unborn child are not satisfied with “quality of life” because Jig connects absinthe to everything. Lanier explains why the characters feel their lives are not happy. The critic gives two reasons why she believes the characters think their lives are “destructive and have no meaning”(288). …show more content…

She points out a comment Jig makes implying everything to licorice. “Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things we waited so long for, like absinthe”(24-26). Lanier argues the “response caused the girl to see the connection between the absinthe and everything”(279). The critic insists that when Jig comments “everything taste… of absinthe” she is expressing how she is dissatisfied with her current situation. The critic also notes how the American man denies their unhappy lives. In the article, Lanier examines the man response to Jig when she compares everything to the taste of licorice from “Hills like White Elephants” replying, “cut it out”(288). The critic argues the American man already knows their lives may be “meaningless and lack[ing] morality”(288). Lanier concludes that the American man’s comment “cut it out,” supports her argument stating absinthe symbolizes how the characters felt their lives as “potentially destructive and meaningless” (288). Felty, Darren. “Spatial Confinement Hemingway’s ‘Cat in the Rain’” Studies in Short

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