Analysis Of Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" relies on symbolism to carry the theme of either choosing to live selfishly and dealing with the results, or choosing a more difficult and selfless path and reveling in the rewards. The symbolic materials and the symbolic characters aid the reader's understanding of the subtle theme of this story. The hills symbolize two different decisions that the pregnant girl in our story is faced with. Both hills are completely opposite of each other, and each "hill" or decision has a consequence that is just as different as the appearance of the hills.

“Perfectly simple” is restated a couple of times in the conversation which tells us that out of the two only one wants the child and the other doesn’t want the child (Hemingway). The American man thoughts are not more important than Jig’s. Even if the American man is supporting her to get an abortion it’s still Jigs decision. His opinion does matter to her because she wants his thoughts about what’s best for them and their unborn child. Jig is torn between remaining reckless and carefree and making a family with the man she loves. “‘Because I don’t care about me’” states that she is willing to do almost anything for the American man but is blocked by her mother instinct to protect her child (Hemingway). Jig is indecisive in what she wants because she questions herself and the American man what if questions. “‘I realize…can’t we maybe stop talking’” this tells us Jig finally realizes that by asking a lot of rhetorical questions to the American man she has the answer she needs even if it’s not the answer that she wants (Hemingway).

"Hills like White Elephants" is not the normal story where you have a beginning, middle and end. Hemingway gave just enough information so that readers could draw their own conclusions. The entire story encompasses a conversation between two lovers and leaves the reader with more questions than answers. Ernest Hemingway was a brilliant writer. People that study Hemingway's works try to gain insight and draw natural conclusions about Hemingway and his life. Hemingway led a difficult life full of martial affairs and misfortune. Some of these experiences have set the foundation for Hemingway's greatest works. This essay will analyze the influence

Hemingway uses many instances of symbolism in this short story to coincide with the themes and feelings of the characters, such as the description of the scenery surrounding the train station. On one side of the station there is vegetation and fields of grain, while the other side is dry and barren (Short Stories for Students 159). The fact that the station divides these contrasts of environments is a symbol for the couple’s decision. The choice to have the abortion symbolizes sterility, which coincides with

From the first paragraph, the setting of the scene introduces the atmosphere that will reflect the rest of the story. The scene takes place in a train station in Spain where the couple wait for the next train to Madrid. Although, the time period is never given, but it can be assumed to be around 1927 since the story published in the same year. The first use of imagery, "The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun.” (128) “The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went to Madrid." (129) Just like the 2 rail lines that go to 2 different directions. This could be understand as the couple had only two choices and two differents direction in which the couple need to decide for their relationship. The landscape and surrounding play an important role in the setting and imagery of the story. When the woman sees the long and white hills she says that they "look like white elephants" (129) A white elephant is a metaphor describing the baby and the white color seems to demonstrate the innocence and purity of her unborn child.

Jig was concerned that the relationship she had the American would end if she did not go through with the abortion. She knew that he had not been happy since

Frequently, Hemingway uses setting as a significant role within his story to symbolize what the characters do not speak. Throughout the story, the two main characters sit at a bar nestled within a remote train station. All the while, Jig takes note of her surroundings: “On this side there was no shade and no trees…” (Hemingway 274). She also mentions, “…the country was brown and dry” (274). Hemingway’s description shows how bare and desolate the land is on that particular side of the train station. By way of contrast, the opposing side of the station paints a different picture, “On the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of Ebro” (276). The clash between the two landscapes is profound. On one hand there is arid, lifeless land. Conversely, the opposing side yields, beautiful fertile land. Hemingway wanted to emphasize how Jig’s life would develop one way or another depending on the route she took. Notably, the dry land seems to represent the frailty of the situation and how unpromising the future looks should she go through with the abortion. Alternatively, the lush land she gazes at from the train station gives her a glimpse of what could be and perhaps represents her true feelings toward the pregnancy. Throughout the story, Jig has hesitation about the surgery and does not seem to want to follow through with it. Jig mentions, “’We can have everything’” (276) as she stares off into the mountains. The quote signifies that she wants to be as fruitful as the land and do away

What is the use of symbolism in writing? Is it merely to confuse the reader or is its true intent to make the reader think about the meaning of the story? A symbol is a person, object, or event that suggests more than its literal meaning (Meyer 220). In Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants," Hemingway uses a plethora of symbols to convey the idea that the young girl, Jig is ambivalent to having an abortion and that her older American boyfriend does not want to have the baby. Although the word abortion is never used in the story, the reader understands the concept through Hemingway's symbolism.

The girl remarks that she and the American man never do anything together except try new drinks. This can represent that their relationship is boring and mundane which seems to bother the girl. These feelings can reflect that girl may be ready for change and a chance to settle down, unlike the man who doesn't seem interested in changing his carefree ways. She also asks the man permission for a drink and has to rely on him to order the drinks because of her inability to speak Spanish. She appears disappointed that she is so dependent on the man and no matter what her decision may be, their relationship will no longer be the same. After trying the new drink she replies that “Everything tastes like licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for like absinthe” (Hemingway 655). Another symbolism that Jig is now feeling bittersweet about the decision because she may want to have the baby, but the man's decision is to have the abortion.

Jig attempts to make a crucial change in her life by making the right decision,

Along with the location of setting, the time also plays an important factor. Hemingway uses a lot of symbols and figurative language, so the time of the story was not clear-cut. Hemingway however, did give us clues for our imaginations to think about what time it actually was. “There was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails” (Hemingway). This indicates that it was mid-day and there was no shade to take cover in. As the story progresses the time of the day also carries on. “There was a warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of bamboo beads hung to keep the flies out” (Hemingway). In this quote it is suggesting that it was late afternoon and the sun was moving. The couple at this point arrived at the station therefore the building was casting a shadow.

The author’s description of the characters geographical location is effective because the reader can know where they are and the meaning of it. When the author said, "It is very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes,"(1) the reader knows that the story is happening during the summer due to the weather and that they are in a train station in Barcelona which is a mid-point that symbolized that their relationship is at a crossroad and they have to decide if there are moving forward together or if they are going in different ways. Moreover, the description of the environment clarifies the characters’ dilemma when the author compares the white hills with life and death to represent the girl’s pregnancy, as the passage “The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry” (8) and she said "They look like white elephants,"(9) by comparing the hills with elephants it means that they are big to indicate her belly is visible. It is a representation of the choice the characters are facing and they are dealing with having an abortion or not. It became clearer for the reader when the man said, "It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig, and it’s not really an operation at all."(42) All that to indicate the reader what is causing such a problem in their relationship and further in the

The short story, “Hills Like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemingway, is not the type of story that explicitly reveals its meaning. However, one must read between the lines in order to understand the purpose of this story, and certain literary elements are deliberately placed within to aid the reader. 3 elements in particular stand out in “Hills Like White Elephants” and their placement within are what make the story important and meaningful. Looking deep in the core of this story, the reader may see the usage of setting, conflict and symbolism to convey the issue of dealing with unexpected problems and confronting the future.

Hemingway’s idea of man and woman relationship is repetitive in the fact that the male has primitive, demanding features while the woman suffers emotionally in order to please the male. Other characters of his such as Pedro Romero has primitive features that coincides with the man in the story. Readers seem common traits between the two such as wanting the woman to change to fit his wishes. “You mustn't feel that way”. This quote leads to prove the primitive nature as the man tells the woman how she should be feeling about the option he is trying to force upon her. While Pedro simply wishes for Brett to change her hair in difference to the man wanting the woman to

Relationships can be difficult when two people have an opposing stance on a controversial topic such as abortion. Men, in their self-interest, perceive this option as an easy way out, in which they can have all the pleasure and none of the consequences. However, for a woman an abortion causes both physical and emotional pain which a man could never understand. Thus, making this one of the utmost difficult issues a girl may need to face in her life. In Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” there are two Americans traveling in Spain. The setting of the scene is a bar located near the train station where the man and the girl discuss this life altering operation, as they await the arrival of the train to Madrid. Throughout the story the man is persuasive, as he attempts to convince the girl to have the operation, while at the same time, the girl expresses her reluctance and remains unconvinced that an abortion is the answer to their problems. Abortion remains as controversial today as it was when Ernest Hemingway wrote “Hills Like White Elephants”. Although Hemingway never used the word abortion in his story, he found ways to evoke emotions of sympathy for the girl and disdain for the man through his creative use of symbolism, setting, and characters in the short story.