Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis Essay
Literary Analysis: Hills Like White Elephants
The “Hills Like White Elephants”, written by Ernest Hemingway, is a story about a couple who have a decision to make. Though it is never said anywhere throughout the story, the couple is faced with an unwanted pregnancy. The characters have a tough decision to make nd they have different opinions on what the right choice is. The metaphorical image of the train station only emphasizes the decision at hand. It is also brought to attention by the little ideas brought forth by the setting and characters’ personal analysis of the situation. The elements of the story, such as the setting, characters, and points of symbolism, reinforce the idea that the characters are at a crossroads.
The setting of the story itself portrays the theme of being at a crossroads. The story begins with an American man and a women sitting at a train station. The setting helps to emphasize that the characters are at a crossroads because the girl can either go with the man or she can go on her own. She points out the things around her like the hills and the barren valley, emphasizing the difference between their predicament; to bare the unspoken of child or not. The women is actually torn between
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Many see it to be unethical others see it as a right to their own decisions and body. In “The Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, an unusual outlook is presented. The girl may want this baby but is being pressured by the man to undergo an operation to terminate the pregnancy. The girl looks to elements around her and contemplates that the man does not know what it is like to be given a gift such as the child and then be pressured to be rid of it. The setting, characters, and symbolism of the story instate the idea that the couple is at a crossroads. The story ends without a resolution as to what decision was made. The man and the women are still at the train station with decisions to
Shooting An Elephant Analysis Essay
660 Words | 3 PagesOur attention bleeds deeper into the story. By the time he is done with the story he leaves his audience with bloody wounds and twisted thoughts. The author’s attitude reveals that an individual’s true self will affect the choices he makes. For example, when the crowd passed the dead body no one cared to comfort the dead man’s family.
Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis
1554 Words | 7 PagesThroughout the short story (1), “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway is speaking about a seemingly unwanted pregnancy and a woman’s uneasiness with going through an abortion. However, Hemingway never explicitly says in this work of fiction (2) that it is about abortion or that the woman, Jig, is uncomfortable with it, but uses symbolism (3) to present this to the audience. At the time “Hills like White Elephants” was published, in 1927, abortion was illegal in most places and a very taboo subject that wasn’t to be openly discussed in public. Thus, Hemingway relied greatly upon the use of symbolism to get his message across for this reason as well as the third person narrator (4) that did not give insight into the character’s thoughts within this piece of literature (5) . He uses symbols such as the train station, white hills, the baggage, and the drinks to point towards the underlying internal conflict (6) of Jig’s decision that is being heavily influenced by the American man, who wants Jig to get the abortion.
The Relationship In Hills Like White Elephants
729 Words | 3 PagesAccording to the narrator, “The girl was looking off at the lines of the hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.” (p1), which indicates that the setting is a reflection on the state of the relationship between the American and the woman. Since the narrator describes the hills as being white while the rest of the surroundings are brown, it creates a metaphor for how obvious and destructive white elephants can be in the relationship. The train station is also a metaphor for the journey through life.
Hills Like White Elephant Analysis Essay
515 Words | 3 Pages“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.
Analysis Of The Worn Path By Eudora Welty
677 Words | 3 PagesThe decision or outcome is only a result of the journey and doesn’t help us understand the important questions such as how, when, where, and why was the decision reached. The journey takes the reader along the path in which the characters overcome obstacles and find their identity, giving clearer understanding of the story. The journey is also where the meat of the lessons lie and without the journey the lesson is lost. Therefore the journeys importance is because it leads us toward the conclusion even if that conclusion is left out, however without the journey the conclusion cannot tell us about the
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.
Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants
706 Words | 3 Pages(Hemingway 185). That would explain the vagueness of the story and, why no choices are made. The one that stands out the most is the train station. It symbolizes the idiom “at a crossroads”. That means that one is in a situation where a choice has to be made.
Essay On Hills Like White Elephants
892 Words | 4 PagesHills like White Elephants Most all Ernest Hemingway’s stories are similar to his life experiences. While writing “Hills like White Elephants”, Hemingway found out that his wife Hadley was pregnant with his second child. During this time, Heming was still having an affair with a lady name Pauline. In the short story “Hills like White Elephants” there is an American and a girl whose name is “Jig”.
Analysis Of Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1006 Words | 5 PagesIn the story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway, there is an apparent power imbalance between the two main characters. The man in the story is either referred to as the American or the man, while the woman is referred to as the girl. When referring to someone as “the man” Hemingway is implying that he is an adult. While the word “girl” implies that she is a child. This is evidence that the girl is younger than the man or is seen as more immature which results in the man having a significant role of responsibility over the girl.
Hills Like White Elephants Analysis
741 Words | 3 PagesIn the short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, there is a relationship unfolding, a complex relationship difficult to understand. The relationship reveals itself by a conversation between a man and a woman, a topic of conversation that people rarely discussed in the period that the story takes place. After researching interpretations, most of my findings resemble “She is pregnant, and he wants her to have an abortion” (Weeks 76), to which I agree that this conversation is about abortion. With the man seemingly pushing the topic and the girl hesitant and questionable, it is unsure as to the result of their conversation. However, it is my belief that she chose to follow her heart and not get the abortion.
The Dialogue In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
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Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway
663 Words | 3 Pages“They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees.” Comparing the hills to the unborn baby, is a perfect symbol for a topic that is painfully obvious that no one wants to discuss. Overall the story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway is a difficult story to understand at first glance. However, reading the story a few times becomes easier to understand the story’s true purpose, which Hemingway illustrates wonderfully with symbolism and
Selfishness In The Short Story 'Hills Like White Elephants'
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209 Words | 1 PagesYou see, selfishness is the reason behind the misery of others. When it comes to humans, we do not always think that the price of our selfishness can cause the people around us into misery. We humans like to put ourselves first, and plenty of us do not think about the consequences of putting ourselves first. In “Hills Like White Elephants” the price of the couple selfishness comes with consequences losing a life they created together. This young couple is not ready to give up their freedom, or their relationship, if you looked from the woman’s point of view.
Who Is The Curtain In 'Hills Like White Elephants'?
674 Words | 3 Pages“Hills Like White Elephants” is the short fiction story published in the 1927 collection “Men Without Women” of Ernest Hemingway. He is a famous American author. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, considered one of the great innovators in twentieth century about fiction. Hemingway did very well in using metaphors in his work. This short story contains many characteristic symbols.
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