Is The Iceberg Theory In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Are Like White Elephants
Men are from Mars; women are from Venus; this statement best describes Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills are Like White Elephants.” Although not directly implied, the short story gives insight as to how a man and a woman, who are going through a crisis together, have a very different outlook on how to communicate, remedy the situation and discuss what they want and need from one another. “While giving the words, metaphors, writers execute ‘concept plan learning’ to shape significant words games called the iceberg theory. The iceberg theory shares another name called the theory of omission”, in which noticeable meanings of words are missing and hidden (Wu and Hong 210). The goal of this paper is to examine Hemingway’s theory of omission writing style to demonstrate how using symbolisms, motifs, and metaphors, the …show more content…
The origin of the phrase “ White Elephant” is commonly traced to a practice in what is now Thailand. If a king were displeased with someone, he would bestow upon them, a gift of a white elephant. The white elephant regarded as holy, and therefore receiving such a gift was an honor. However, maintaining the elephant was expensive and was sure to ruin the recipient, or at least become a burden (Bullen 750). The couple has an indirect debate about the white elephant in the room; to the girl, the baby is a gift. However, the American man rejects the idea of family and selfishly attempts to convince her an abortion is a better solution. Weeks Jr. 77, analysis of the white elephant symbolism supports this theory. Hemingway sets “Hills Like White Elephants” at a train station; this motif symbolizes the state of the relationship between the American man and the girl is at a crossroads. Travelers, including the main characters, must, therefore, decide where to go and, in this case, whether to go with each other and continue their relationship or venture in opposite
Fate In Flannery O Conner's A Good Man Is Hard To Find
927 Words | 4 PagesHills Like White Elephants #1 Describe the setting and discuss its importance to the story. •Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is set in a train station to highlight the fact that the relationship between the American and the girl is at a crossroads. Planted in the middle of a valley, the station isn’t the final destination, but merely a stopping point between Barcelona and Madrid. Night
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.
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
Hills Like White Elephants Relationship Analysis
813 Words | 4 PagesNevertheless, Ernest Hemingway soon shows that this relationship contains a rift. This becomes apparent once they try conversing to one another. The girl attempts to spark a conversation by mentioning that the hills look like white elephants, but this topic soon turns hostile with the American’s replies. How this conversation is handled already shows that the couple “are trapped in a state of imbalance and disagreement” from the beginning (Link). The problem with the conversation is that the American’s personality of being simple and serious.
Abortion In Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway
786 Words | 4 PagesThe concept of the white elephant, in this story, represents the baby or for the girl the decision of what to do with the baby. The term “white
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.
Theme Of Disconnection In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1013 Words | 5 PagesOne main theme in Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is the idea of disconnection. In this story, we eavesdrop on a conversation held between both characters. In their dialogue, conflict is created as the characters face what most readers believe to be the obstacle of unexpected pregnancy. This is assumed through symbolism and the titles meaning. The term “white elephant” was used for an unwanted gift.
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.
The Theme Of Abortion In Hills Like White Elephants
893 Words | 4 PagesIn the short story, “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway from the start makes us draw out our own conclusions and does not give us a great deal of information. For example, we are only told about two characters, an American man and a girl who are waiting for their train to arrive. Other than this, we are not told what relationship the characters share together or where their final destination is. The protagonist who is referred to as “the girl” is in the middle of a tragic situation which can take a turn for the best or the worst and her partner, the “American man” is not helping but making the situation more heated.
Hills Like White Elephants Character Analysis
1044 Words | 5 PagesIn his story “Hills Like White Elephants”, Ernest Hemingway points out the couple's inability to make the decision: whether to abort the unborn child or not. The reader finds that the story deals with couple's miscommunication through the conversation and the emotions that they express. One can observe that no descriptions are given to the characters, thus, Hemingway creates universal dilemma to focus on the crucial issue. In this way, Hemingway leads the reader to identify with his female character that undergoes a struggle.
Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway
754 Words | 4 PagesErnest Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants", published in 1927, portrays a tense conversation between a man, called "the American", and a girl named "Jig", the only named character, against the scenic backdrop of a train station on Ebro River with its dusty, white hills looming in the distance. Though their conversation never specifies what their conflict is, we can infer that they are speaking about the termination of a pregnancy i.e., an abortion, via the use of words like "operation". Through this conversation and the American's treatment of Jig, we see the catalyst for Jig's transformation from a naive little girl who cannot even order her own drinks into a determined young woman able to make her own serious decisions for
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.
Nature As A Motif In Literature: Poem Analysis
701 Words | 3 Pages“Hills like White Elephants” makes use of the natural world, particularly that which is thought of as nature itself, to depict the relationship between a “girl” who is called Jig, and the unnamed American man, as well as the decision that has to be made (that is never specifically stated) of abortion. Though the image of train tracks that is used is not necessarily an aspect of the natural world in itself, the descriptions of the land on either side reveal the use of nature to depict
Literary Analysis Of Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway
2016 Words | 9 PagesOne of the most notable facets of “Hills Like White Elephants” is the repetition of sentences throughout the short story. With the story running at barely two thousand words, the repetition of these key phrases stands out among the dialogue. The phrase from which the title comes from, “like white elephants”, reoccurs five times within the text. In cultural context, an elephant in the room is an idiom for a burden or an issue at hand that no one wants to discuss.
The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway Analysis
1138 Words | 5 PagesThe novel, The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, describes the life of some people from the Lost Generation in post-World War I Europe, but mostly in Paris, France and Pamplona, Spain. This novel rotates around Jacob, or Jake, Barnes’, the narrator’s, life; which mostly includes drinking with his friends, Robert Cohn, a Jewish man who is often verbally abused by his “friends”, Ashley Brett, an attractive woman who Jake is in love with, Bill Gorton, a good friend of Jake’s, and a couple others. Their life in dull Paris seems to revolve around spending money and drinking, but when they go to colorful Pamplona, Spain, they have an amazing time during the fun-filled fiesta. Ernest Hemingway uses the “iceberg theory” when he presents Jake Barnes to the reader; he does not directly tell you a lot about Jake, but through Jake’s thoughts and emotions, one can tell that he was injured in the war, he is not a very religious person, he would rather do what he loves, instead of what he must, and he does not like to be honest with himself, despite the fact that he is one of the more honest characters in the novel. Ernest Hemingway does not directly let the reader know that Jake is injured in a special place; he allows the reader to interpret that from Jake’s thoughts and memories.
More about Is The Iceberg Theory In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Are Like White Elephants
Fate In Flannery O Conner's A Good Man Is Hard To Find
927 Words | 4 PagesHills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis
1554 Words | 7 PagesGood People And Hills Like White Elephants: A Comparative Analysis
970 Words | 4 PagesHills Like White Elephants Relationship Analysis
813 Words | 4 PagesAbortion In Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway
786 Words | 4 PagesHills Like White Elephants Rhetorical Analysis
739 Words | 3 PagesTheme Of Disconnection In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1013 Words | 5 PagesHills Like White Elephants Literary Criticism
1098 Words | 5 PagesThe Theme Of Abortion In Hills Like White Elephants
893 Words | 4 PagesHills Like White Elephants Character Analysis
1044 Words | 5 PagesHills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway
754 Words | 4 PagesThe Dialogue In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
1629 Words | 7 PagesNature As A Motif In Literature: Poem Analysis
701 Words | 3 PagesLiterary Analysis Of Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway
2016 Words | 9 PagesThe Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway Analysis
1138 Words | 5 Pages