Literary Analysis Of Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway
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. One 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. Hemingway takes this metaphor one step further, specifying that the hills are like “white elephants”, which are not only rare and sacred creatures, but also a metaphor in and of themselves to mean a burdensome property that is expensive and difficult to
Use Of Diction In Ernest Hemingway's 'Hills Like White Elephants'
201 Words | 1 PagesIn “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway employs characterization and diction to illustrate that men can be very powerful and horrible. While introducing the characters the narrator says, “The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building” (1). Ernest Hemingway uses diction to emphasize that there is an American man and a foreign girl. He wants readers to consider that the man has power because he is more experienced than the underage girl. After telling her it’s her decision and trying to sway her decision he reveals “‘I think it’s the best thing to do.
Rhetorical Analysis Of Hills Like White Elephants
285 Words | 2 PagesThe short story "Hills Like White Elephants," is about a couple that is really young and the is having a issue about abortion. The author uses a lot of rhetorical devices to convey his message but mostly use imagery and symbolism. The way that the story is told by the author the reader can see the story told in their head. The way that the author describe the hills and the town that they was in it shows a lot of imagery. The story also picture the couple waiting for the train that they had been waiting for.
Hills Like White Elephants Symbolism
758 Words | 4 PagesChristian Carasa English Composition 28 April 2016 Research Paper In the short story, “The Hills Like White Elephants,” an assortment of symbolic and scenic settings are integrated into the story by Hemingway. Hemingway uses symbols to teach the reader situations people could come across throughout life. The use of symbols in “Hills Like White Elephants” is very important to the plot line and to the fundamental meaning of the story. Through this use of symbolism, the reader can begin to reveal the concealed themes in this short story.
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 Symbolism Essay
622 Words | 3 PagesErnest Hemingway, a world-renowned classical American author, leaves much to the reader’s imagination and interpretation in his stories. One example of this is his short story, Hills Like White Elephants, in which an unnamed man and a woman, Jig, are deciding whether or not to proceed with an “operation” (referring to an abortion) and may end up going their separate ways in the end. The overwhelming amount of symbolism in this story can be confusing at first, but after a closer look, Hemingway's tale seems to be one of genius. The story begins with Jig and the man ordering drinks at a bar between two train tracks, one going to Barcelona and the other to Madrid. The fact that the woman orders large alcoholic beverages could be interpreted
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.
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 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 Literary Analysis
839 Words | 4 PagesMany things aren’t expressed bluntly; people often have to rely on clues to make certain assumptions about their surroundings. Within literature, for example, many things—such as certain feelings and messages—aren’t articulated outright. Naturally, because of the omission of certain details, the reader relies on hints within the text for deeper implications. One tactic, commonly used within texts written by Earnest Hemingway, is the use of setting to bring light onto that which is unsaid. In Earnest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” the setting of the story reveals un-explicitly said ideas and conflicts within the story, ultimately showing that it is possible, in life, to derive previously unknown facts from the smallest
In The Lady With The Dog By Anton Chekhov
1072 Words | 5 PagesAs a starting point, in Hills Like Elephant By Hemingway, the story begins with two couples Jig and American setting at the train station in Spain. They are at a crossroads, unsure of which direction to take as can be seen through the conversation they have. He symbolism he uses like a train station to suggest that there are two ways that Jig can go.
Relationships In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
853 Words | 4 PagesThe 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
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?'
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.
Profundity In Ernest Hemingway's Writings
872 Words | 4 PagesHemingway’s novels are still popular and loved by being unique and being easy to read for anyone. Some of the Hemingway’s novels are popular, in particular, “An old man and the sea” is known as the required readings in many high schools. His writing can be summed up in one word: conciseness, be that as it may, the inner meaning or theme of his writing is not just simple. They are more of profound and thought-provoking. In this paper, I’m going to show how Hemingway put profundity in his writings which are seemed to be much simpler than other’s writings with his novel “A clean well-lighted place” as an example.
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