Hills Like White Elephant Analysis Essay
“Hills Like White Elephants” Tone Analysis
In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway conveys an anxious tone through Jig’s internal conflict about her pregnancy and the idea of having an abortion. Jig is caught between following what she believes is best for herself and how to stay in favor with the American whom she appears to be in a serious relationship with. Hemingway depicts Jig’s concerns by contrasting the two sides of the railroad tracks. Jig continually changes where she is looking as she contemplates each side. Her dialogue becomes increasingly irritated and bothered as the conversation progresses and she considers the consequences for each option. Her train of thought becomes so distressed that eventually she just asks
…show more content…
Hemingway describes the barren side of the railroad where “there was no shade and no trees” (313), to contrast the more fertile land on the opposite side where there “were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro” (315). The fertile side represents the thoughts that Jig is playing with in her mind about keeping the baby and starting a family with the American. She does not outright suggest that her and the American settle down, in fear that he may not be ready for that and leave her. On the other hand, she clearly does not see having an abortion as something that she is entirely sure of. She sees nothing pleasant about the barren side and yet the best she can do to dissuade the American from the idea of the abortion is to ask him to stop talking. In reference to the barren side of the tracks, Jig states that the distant hills “look like white elephants” (313). A white elephant is a common symbol for a possession that is troublesome and generally unwanted; it can also be something that is difficult to maintain or dispose of. In this case, Jig is referring to the baby that the American seems to want little to do with. The presence of the baby is definitely causing turmoil in their relationship and yet Jig is not exactly ready to give it up, though
Examples Of Ambiguity In Hills Like White Elephant By Ernest Hemingway
333 Words | 2 PagesErnest Hemingway uses repetition and ambiguity in his story, “Hills like White Elephants'' to exhibit the idea that in order to maintain a healthy long-term relationship, communication and consideration of one another’s values are needed. Throughout this story, a couple, Jig and the American, are having an intense and emotional conversation about whether Jig should have an abortion. She displays very sensitive feelings about the procedure, and the American takes advantage of this by trying to manipulate her, repeatedly stating it is her choice: “if [she doesn’t] want to [she doesn’t] have to. [He] wouldn’t have [her] do it if [she] didn’t want to” (477). By doing this he falsely implies he has no opinion, but later contradicts himself by
Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis
1554 Words | 7 PagesThe setting (7) of the story, the train station, is a symbol for the place where Jig and the American man are at in their relationship and what lies ahead for them. This symbol also portrays the theme (8) of choice and consequences. They are at an impasse due to the pregnancy, and the train tracks are the futures that could happen based on Jig’s decision about the abortion and the baby. For instance, Jig could agree politely to the American man and go ahead
Good People And Hills Like White Elephants: A Comparative Analysis
970 Words | 4 PagesLane Jr. who's struggling with his faith will support and stand by Sheri and her decision concerning the pregnancy. Ernest Hemingway's" Hills Like White Elephants” allows his readers to come to the conclusion as to whether the couple in question will terminate or keep the unborn child. As Jig, and the American are
Character Analysis: Hills Like White Elephants
432 Words | 2 PagesIn top of all she is not sure about going through with the procedure. “The American” wants Jig to go through the procedure. He feels like if she goes through with the abortion, things will go back to what the used to be. She doesn’t feel that way; she knows things will not be exactly like they were before. Jig knows that if she goes through with the abortion they would have made the decision that they don’t want a family.
Hills Like White Elephants Relationship Analysis
813 Words | 4 PagesThe relationship between the American and the girl in “Hills Like White Elephants.” In the 1900s, there was a distinct relationship between a man and a woman, with each having their own traits. During this time, Ernest Hemingway also had his own idea of this relationship which he portrays in his story, “Hills Like White Elephants”. Within this story, the relationship between the two characters, the American and the girl, is portrayed as strained and distanced by their constant avoidance of the “elephant in the room”.
Hills Like White Elephants Jig Character Analysis
699 Words | 3 PagesIn Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants”, the American and Jig are like parallel lines, they can never meet. As they struggle to find common ground, the very discussion that can bring them together only tears them apart. The relationship between Jig and the American is complex from the very beginning since their personalities, methods of communicating, and desires are different. The American represents infertility, selfishness and death but how can he not be when he’s a single man, traveling, trying new drinks, spending nights in hotels with no worry about money and now he has impregnated a women, of course he will lose his zest for her (Hannum).
Abortion In Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway
786 Words | 4 PagesDuring the course of the story “Hills Like White Elephants” the author Ernest Hemingway uses symbolism to describe the the main idea of the girl having the “operation.” Hemingway uses the landscape, the white elephant, and the term “elephant in the room” to represent different aspects of the pregnancy and abortion. The landscape in the story represents choosing the abortion or choosing to keep the baby. The setting of the story is at a train station.
Hills Like White Elephants Rhetorical Analysis
739 Words | 3 PagesThroughout their conversation, you can decipher a tone where the conversation sheds light on his feelings towards the procedure and her feelings. He says “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It’s not really an operation at all” (Hemingway 124), in an effort to persuade her to in fact have the abortion. She, on the other hand, seems silent at first, but then questions how their life will be better after this procedure. Her uncertainty shows in her responses, and in other findings “… the sensuous beauty of a love relation that is quickly deteriorating, now that she has become conscious of her lover’s selfishness” (Maynard 273).
Hills Like White Elephants Literary Criticism
1098 Words | 5 PagesHills Like White Elephant is a short story by Earnest Hemingway from 1927. The story is talking about a failing relationship between an American man and his girlfriend. This couple is at a critical point on their lives. At the bar in a train station in Spain, the girl, Jig, does not want to end up her pregnancy, but she is going to sacrifice the baby to satisfied him. Because he is critical of the exploitation of his girl’s feelings concerning the continuation of unbalanced relationship.
Religion In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1204 Words | 5 PagesIn the story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, Jig turns to religion when making a life changing decision. Jig, a women, and an American man are at a Spanish train station while waiting for a train to Madrid. The women compares the hills nearby to white elephants, a symbol of overcoming obstacles and connected to fertility and knowledge. In document d, Jig is believed to be making a decision on whether to have an abortion or not.
The Theme Of Abortion In Hills Like White Elephants
893 Words | 4 PagesThe conflict between the two characters is the issue of abortion and whether or not the girl will go through it. Hemingway does not tell us that the girl is pregnant but hints it throughout the story referring to “the operation” as having an abortion. From the start, you can take
Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1013 Words | 5 PagesIf analyzed in a more generic view, the short story can be used to show how a male and female stereotypically understand a subject. The American speaks more literal and materialistic as Jig is seen to speak in a more figurative and abstract manner. Ernest Hemingway’s use of symbolism gives the reader a more visual effect to the conflict between the man and the girl as well as the idea of their inner thoughts. The white rounded hills, the beads on the curtain hanging from the bar’s doorframe, and the cool shade and blazing light all represent different aspects of the two choices that the American and the girl have to decide on, just like the railroad tracks on either side of the
Hills Like White Elephants Character Analysis
1044 Words | 5 PagesAccording to Smiley, “The dialogue contains the essence of the story's power; for to read Jig's and the American conversation is to recognize the powerless frustration of parallel interchanges” (2). The girl's character passes changes throughout the story. It appears that “Hemingway works out the story's conflict, which revolves around the development of his female character” (Renner 28). The girl gains power and frees herself from the following the American man. In the beginning of the story, the girl take the initiative to speak which leads to the discussion: “'what should we drink?'
Hills Like White Elephant Literary Analysis
746 Words | 3 PagesThey each bring up different points as to why throughout the story. In Earnest Hemingway’s short story Hills like White Elephants written in 1927 he uses the hills themselves, the scenery that the couple is surrounded by, and the beaded curtain as symbols to describe the situation that the couple faces. In this short story, the hills that the train station overlook are compared to white elephants. This is because the conversation Jig is wanting to have with the American consists of whether or not to keep the
The Dialogue In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1629 Words | 7 PagesThe dialogue in Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” reveals a man’s and a woman’s incongruent conflict on abortion, and the author’s fundamentally feminist position is visible in the portrayal of the woman’s independent choice of whether or not to keep the baby she is carrying. The plot is very simple in the story which is less than 1500 words long. A woman and a man spend less than an hour on a hot summers day at a Spanish train station in the valley of Ebro as they are waiting for a train heading for Madrid. Their dialogue takes up most of the space and only few major actions take place.
More about Hills Like White Elephant Analysis Essay
Examples Of Ambiguity In Hills Like White Elephant By Ernest Hemingway
333 Words | 2 PagesHills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis
1554 Words | 7 PagesGood People And Hills Like White Elephants: A Comparative Analysis
970 Words | 4 PagesCharacter Analysis: Hills Like White Elephants
432 Words | 2 PagesHills Like White Elephants Relationship Analysis
813 Words | 4 PagesHills Like White Elephants Jig Character Analysis
699 Words | 3 PagesAbortion In Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway
786 Words | 4 PagesHills Like White Elephants Rhetorical Analysis
739 Words | 3 PagesHills Like White Elephants Literary Criticism
1098 Words | 5 PagesReligion In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1204 Words | 5 PagesThe Theme Of Abortion In Hills Like White Elephants
893 Words | 4 PagesSymbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1013 Words | 5 PagesHills Like White Elephants Character Analysis
1044 Words | 5 PagesHills Like White Elephant Literary Analysis
746 Words | 3 PagesThe Dialogue In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1629 Words | 7 Pages