ipl-logo

Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephant By Ernest Hemingway

1072 Words5 Pages

Ernest Hemingway presents his readers with a story unlike most in his short story “Hills Like White Elephants.” Authors often give their readers a story with a beginning, middle and an end, Hemingway however, leaves his readers wondering where the characters came from and where they are going. The setting of the train station and its surrounding landscape gives deeper meaning to the conflict surrounding the couple. The couple constantly drinks alcohol throughout their conversation, giving an insight into their lifestyle together. The most significant symbol of their dilemma is in the title, white elephants. Through symbolism, Ernest Hemingway presents a couple with a shaky relationship who seem to be in a petty squabble that ultimately transforms …show more content…

Although Hemingway never blatantly states what the operation is, the reader is lead to believe the operation they discuss is an abortion. The couple has two choices, to have the abortion or not, these two choices are symbolized in the description of the landscape. The description of the two sides also symbolizes the decisions themselves and how Jig feels about her choices. On one side of the station “it was very hot” and “there was no shade and no trees” (525). This side is described as barren and lifeless which symbolizes what Jig’s state would be if she had the operation. On the other side there “were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro.” (527). In contrast, this side is green and full of life, Jig would be full of life if she continued with the pregnancy. Not only does the greenness symbolize life, the hills do as well. Hemingway’s use of hills symbolizes her pregnancy as well, a woman’s stomach looks like a hill when she is pregnant. Hills represent the dilemma the couple is facing, they are an obstacle. The pregnancy is an obstacle, a setback in Jig’s life, but it is something she can overcome with either decision she makes. Jig seems to be torn between the two decisions, she comments on the beauty of the hills but she physically walks to the end of the platform and gazes out at the barrenness surrounding the station. The drastic difference in the two sides represents the two completely different choices the American and Jig can choose to

Show More
Related

  • Comparison Of Hills Like White Elephants 'And Sonny's Blues'

    1012 Words  | 5 Pages

    The settings authors use for their stories play an important part in short stories by allowing the authors to express various moods, give insights into the thoughts of their characters, and use symbolism through contrasts in the settings. This essay will look at how the settings of "Hills Like White Elephants" and "Sonny's Blues" were used to reflect the characters' conflicts and emotions while also adding atmosphere and depth to the stories. The short story "Hills Like White Elephants," written by Ernest Hemingway, explores the complexities of human connections. This story follows a couple, Jig and "the American," as they face a major life decision: whether or not to have an abortion, which they refer to as an "operation" (Hemingway 701).

    Read More

  • Popular Mechanics Raymond Carver

    1291 Words  | 6 Pages

    “On [one] side there was no shade and no trees” this side of the train station represents what life would be like if she would not have the baby. Her life would be like “the dry side of the valley” (Hemingway 923, 926). “On the other side [of the valley] were fields of grain and trees along the banks of Ebro. Far away, beyond the

    Read More

  • Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis

    1554 Words  | 7 Pages

    The 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

    Read More

  • Hills Like White Elephants Relationship Analysis

    813 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nevertheless, 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.

    Read More

  • Abortion In Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway

    786 Words  | 4 Pages

    During 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.

    Read More

  • Hills Like White Elephants Rhetorical Analysis

    739 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout 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).

    Read More

  • Theme Of Disconnection In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

    1013 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the story we see how the conversation develops between both of the characters. In Scott Consigny’s article, “Hemingway's Hills like White Elephants”, he talks about the bamboo curtain that was hanging in the door of the bar. Consigny begins to tell us the symbolism behind this curtain and how it is “a symbolic barrier between jig and her American lover” (p.1). We can only agree to this as we keep reading and notice the different decisions that both characters want to make. The conversation between both of them is very lively up until he mentions the operation.

    Read More

  • Hills Like White Elephants Literary Criticism

    1098 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hills 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.

    Read More

  • Relationships In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

    853 Words  | 4 Pages

    The struggles presented between these two characters bring to light issues in human relationships that weigh into everyday life. Hemingway’s short story reveals to readers how relationships affect communication, decision

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Abortion In Hills Like White Elephants

    893 Words  | 4 Pages

    The 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

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

    1013 Words  | 5 Pages

    If 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

    Read More

  • Hills Like White Elephants Character Analysis

    1044 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 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.

    Read More

  • Hills Like White Elephant Literary Analysis

    746 Words  | 3 Pages

    Outside of the train station there was a beaded curtain, “Close against the side of the station was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep the flies out” (Hemingway line 3-5). The beaded curtain is used as a symbol to show the separation between them and the rest of humanity. The beaded curtain is supposed to represent boundaries. The couple faces many boundaries throughout the short story, these boundaries act as a curtain in the couple’s relationship that limit their options and conversation on the topic of whether to abort their child or not. Bamboo stem was once said to have been what humanity was created from; the couple sat just outside the beaded curtain never passing through

    Read More

  • The Dialogue In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

    1629 Words  | 7 Pages

    The 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.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway

    2016 Words  | 9 Pages

    If taken literally, Hemingway’s story is one in which very little happens. The story takes place in a train station in Spain where a couple argue about a vague event over drinks. From the very start of the short story, there is an overbearing uneasiness felt in the text as the unnamed male and the girl, Jig, hold what seems to be—on the surface—an innocent conversation. By using a limiting third person point of view that consists mostly of dialogue, Hemingway creates an obstacle in the way of understanding as there is no clear insight to what is going on inside of either party’s head. The conflict that the pair seem to be discussing is never named and it becomes the metaphorical elephant in the room much like the white elephants that Jig sees in the mountains.

    Read More

More about Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephant By Ernest Hemingway

Open Document