Masculinity And Womanhood In Hills Like White Elephants
“Hills Like White Elephants” may be a short story about two people just talking in a bar of a station, but behind every word Hemingway uses lies a deeper meaning. It is necessary to point out that omitting further information is something that is typical to Hemingway’s writing style. The reader has to contemplate what the author wants to portray in his story in the first place. Although the author probably had one meaning in mind, the metaphors can be interpreted in many ways. While reading the story, what came up to my mind was whether the author’s personal life had to do something with it or not. What is equally important in this process of thinking is to look at the views the author has on certain aspects, in this case masculinity and womanhood, …show more content…
A white elephant signifies something that has a high value but is not quite beneficial. When this proverb is placed in context, it would be possible to assume that Jig’s pregnancy might be a ‘white elephant’, considering a human life is very valuable but the couple is not ready to have a child at the moment. According to Joseph M. Flora, a white elephant in nature is rare (44) and this can signify that maybe it would be the only chance for the girl to get a baby, for the reason that a woman can get possibly infertile after an abortion. The question arises what the hills might have to do with white elephants. The hills can be seen as a boundary between the couple. It is obvious from what the American says to Jig, that perhaps the hills could stand for the unborn baby. Further in the story, the girl suddenly calls these hills ‘mountains’. (252) In my interpretation, it seems that she also might have realised that the baby would be a barrier between them. Well, in this case she has to ‘move mountains’ and make that difficult decision. If we observe their relationship, it seems like it is not going too well either. With attention to Jig’s view and the man’s view we can say that they both have a different attitude towards the abortion and their relationship. Remarkably, the girl’s thoughts change through their conversation. Renner divides the stages of the decision-making process into four – what he calls – ‘movements’. (28) Along with these movements Jig also changes her mind about her relationship with the American. In the first stage Hemingway creates the impression that the girl still has to make the decision about the surgery. This idea is created by the description of the scenery in which the station is amidst the two lines of rails and what the girl sees on the other side. (251) The dryness and the brown colour of the country refer to a lack
Masculinity In Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway
1771 Words | 8 PagesThroughout the stories we have read in this course, Hemingway portrays men struggling to appear masculine or macho. This struggle reflects the societal expectations and norms of the time period in which Hemingway was writing. The 1920s and 1930s were marked by a shift in traditional gender roles, with women gaining more independence and freedom, which threatened men's sense of masculinity. To Hemingway, being masculine meant embodying qualities such as courage, stoicism, physical strength, and emotional control. His male characters often express their masculinity through displays of physical prowess, such as hunting or bullfighting.
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
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 PagesIn the short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, there is a relationship unfolding, a complex relationship difficult to understand. The relationship is revealed by a conversation between a man and a woman, a topic of conversation that people rarely discussed in the period that the story was set. After researching interpretations, it is consistently said “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.
Gender Roles In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1542 Words | 7 PagesIt may not seem huge, but by Jig simply saying no to the abortion, Jig and Hemingway take a step for feminist
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 Pages“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life” (Buddha). Throughout different time periods religion has impacted the society in which people live. Religion has and continues to dictate the rules citizens have to follow in all areas, especially social, educational, and political. Religion influences morals, values, and people’s identities. Many people turn to religion for not just spiritual answers, but for guidance and help in everyday life.
Hills Like White Elephants Response Essay
1662 Words | 7 PagesThe dialogue between the two characters is often indirect and elusive, reflecting their struggle to communicate their true feelings and intentions to each other. According to scholar Xiaomin Wang, who wrote extensively on the topics of miscommunication within this story, “However, from the very first moments, one can tell that neither listens to the other and poor listening and communication is going on which worsens the existing crisis in their life. Jig notes that the hills behind the train station "...look like white elephants'' and when her boyfriend states he has never seen a white elephant, she responds rudely. " Jig's comment about the hills looking like white elephants is a subtle attempt to initiate a conversation about her pregnancy, but the man fails to recognize this and instead responds in a dismissive manner. This lack of attentiveness on his part highlights the significant communication gap between the couple, and it is clear that they are not truly engaging with each other or making an effort to understand each other's perspectives.
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
Miscommunication In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants?
828 Words | 4 PagesThe girl claims that the hills “... look like white elephants”(Hemingway, P1) where the man responses with “I’ve never seen one”(Hemingway, P1). Metaphorically, the girl later elucidates that the hills don’t really look like white elephants which can be portrayed as a subtle hint that she may want to keep the unborn baby that the American missed. The metaphor of white elephants can be linked with the saying ‘elephant in the room’ that refers to ‘the obvious truth that is being unaddressed’. The difficulty to communicate can be explain in the ‘white elephant’ metaphor as the two do not clearly address how they are feeling towards the situation. The setting of describing the country as “dry and brown” which can draw on the realism of their situation, dead and in need of rejuvenation.
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 Pagesthe girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.” She opens the crucial issue in an implicit way when she describes the “hills like white elephant”. Which suggests her imaginative way of thinking: she relates to the hills as the physical shape of her pregnancy, and the white elephants is “something she cannot just throw away but for which, in her present circumstances, she has no use; something that is awkwardly, burdensomely in the way” (Renner 30). The girl faces difficulties in expressing her feelings, but she does not surrender and keeps
Character Analysis Of Jig In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1481 Words | 6 PagesThe Hidden Hills In the past century, women have started to stand up for themselves and do what they want regarding their body. Men previously have made all the important decisions, controlled women, and really only saw them as objects or entertainment. Slowly but surely, however, women gained their power and voiced their opinions for what they wanted. This can be seen in Jig’s character in Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants.”
Symbolism In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1128 Words | 5 PagesHowever, when she later makes the remark that the hills “don’t really look like white elephants”; that they looked like white elephants only at first, but actually, “They’re lovely hills.” (Mays, 2014, p.116). This change in views could be a subtle indication to the man that she does not want to terminate her pregnancy, while he ignores it and continues to encourage her for undergoing the medical procedure, making it even more difficult for making a decision. The contrasting landscapes described in the story also suggest that the girl is torn between both landscapes, which represents two contradictory choices. Half-way through the story, the girl stands up and walks to the end of the station, where she sees from afar the “fields of grain
Literary Analysis of 'Hills Like White Elephants'
839 Words | 4 Pages“Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story written by the American author Ernest Hemingway. The story was first published in 1927 in the experimental literary journal transition and later on during the same year in the second collection of short stories written by Hemingway called Men Without Women. Ernest Hemingway is regarded as one of the most important writers of the 20th century and most of his works are considered as classics of American literature. After a first read of the short story “Hills Like White Elephants”, the reader can clearly see that Hemingway entwined some autobiographical components into the story, especially his lifelong difficulty to engage in meaningful relationships with women in particular.
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