Free Will In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

The man, however, is not the sole contributor to the communication breakdown. Right away the girl begins to show her weakness and inability to express herself. When the man initially directs the conversation to the operation (abortion), her reaction is described: "The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on [and] . . . did not say anything" (275). Failure to state her conviction is illustrated in this example, and is further indicated by frail hints of her desire to keep the baby: "Once they take it away, you never get it back" (276). An obvious hint, yet she never clearly voices her hunger to have the baby. She continues to desire his will over hers in lines such as this one: "Then I?ll do it [have an abortion]. Because I don?t care about me" (275).

Ernest Hemmingway uses time, place, and symbolism in "Hills like White Elephants" to intensify the central dilemma in a story about a man and a woman deciding on whether to go through with an abortion. Although a literal reading of the title may not seem to have any relation to the story, the title is rich in implications. Critics suggest that "Hills" refers to the shape of a woman's stomach when pregnant, and Webster's 21st Century Dictionary defines white elephant as: "[An] awkward, useless possession." The term is also defined in Webster's as an item that is worthless to some but priceless to others. According to Victor Lindsey, the child in the story is a white elephant in the view of the man, who is trying to convince the girl to

In “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway, the author uses the setting and surrounding geography to help display the friction between the American and girl. The symbolic geography and setting are used to communicate the conflicts and obstacles that the American and girl are having. Even though this story is told mainly through dialogue between the American and girl, Hemmingway uses the setting and geography to show the audience that the unborn baby is a white elephant and the struggle the girl has of whether she truly wants to keep the baby.

Hemingway’s usage of theme, setting, persuasive writing, and verbal irony helps to create different moods throughout the story. The theme “talk without communication”

In this story, the white elephant is the pregnancy that the girl dealing with. Thinking as a psychologist one may as if Hemingway experienced a similar problem like this in his own life? Hilary K. Justice says, “These open questions seem rather disparate at first glance, but Hilary K. Justice has taken a significant step toward unifying, them by following what she calls the "signpost `To Biography'" (30)--the story's dedicatory inscription--and pointing out that Hemingway used abortion as a metaphor for threats to his relationship with his second wife.”(Wyche) He never compares the hill to an elephant specifically by saying that “the hills look like white elephants,” however he says “hills like white elephants.”(Link) In the short story Hills like White Elephants, repetition, the train station, landscape and the white elephant are more than symbols it helps define the scenery and importance consequences that come with decision

Hills Like White Elephants, written by Ernest Hemingway, is an extremely creative short story. Hemingway uses many figurative elements within the story to paint a picture in our mind of what is occurring. He challenges the reader to solve the riddle about the “white elephant”. Hemingway uses diction,dialogue, and symbolism to allow the reader to experience the hidden figurative language within the short story

The symbolism of a white elephant is widely known as something very large or apparent that no one wishes to acknowledge or speak of in American society. It is an interesting opening to a very strained conversation concerning an apparent pregnancy, and the man 's wish to terminate it. The couple 's careful avoidance of actually naming the problem, or the proposed solution, suggests the situation in which a

The negative connotation of a white elephant is expressed in this explanation. It is this negative meaning that is describing the hills, or her pregnant stomach and the unborn child. Further on in their conversation regarding the decision to be made, Jig says to the man, “I know. But if I do it then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants and you’ll like it?” (Hemingway). The girl deliberately asks the man whether the decision of aborting the child will better their lives, or continue moving them down the path of unhappiness. The decision that Jig is faced with ties back to the main theme that Hemingway portrays throughout the short story, decision and indecision. The constant uncertainty that is revealed through the girl’s character is seen in other instances as well.

Jig knows that having the child will make her look like a whore in the eyes of her community, thus she knows that she has to get rid of the baby, but in her heart she wants to keep it.

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.

The pair is sitting outside at a table facing the dry hills. The girl looks out at the bleak, arid landscape and comments to her paramour that "[the hills] look like white elephants"(143). He brushes off this remark as a flight of fancy; after all, the hills bear no physical resemblance to white elephants. The girl is looking at these hills as being emblematic of their current lifestyle, and is trying to find some good in it, perhaps to convince herself to heed her partners wishes and go through with the abortion. She is trying to find magic in something very grim, but this self-pacifying tactic fails. His callous response to her attempt at finding beauty only furthers the emotional and ideological

In the story, the most divine irony is projected through the imagery. While Jig and the man are discussing the abortion, Jig gets up from where they are sitting and takes time to view the landscape around them. Everything she sees around her is a sign of fertility; a flowing river, fields full of crop, and vividly green foliage. Once she turns away from this image, back to the conversation the man who has no desire to entertain her desire to have a baby, her own determination to fight for her unborn baby fades away.

To begin with, Hemingway utilizes the symbolism of the “white elephants” and the “railroad station” to illustrate the difficulties of decision making in a relationship. The couple was at a train station waiting, while talking about the “operation” that the American wants the girl to have. In the first paragraph it quotes, “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.” Within this sentence, Hemingway creates the comparison of the “hills” to the “long and white” traits of a

As mentioned in the story and the title, the significance of the symbolism and the term white elephant refers to the baby since it is a gift which is expensive and difficult to maintain. In this instance the

Traditionally, a white elephant is a useless possession that is more times than not, unwanted. In today's world we see white elephant gift exchanges where people will exchange unwanted gifts to one another, usually popular among work colleagues or family gatherings. In “Hills like White Elephants” the white elephant is the baby that Jig is unexpectedly carrying. Even though the couple is in love neither the man nor the girl can decide what to do with the child the are expecting. The baby would indeed be a gift, but it would also be a burden, this can be discovered when the man states that “We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before” (Hemingway 476). The man obviously believes that if they decide to keep the baby then it will prevent them from doing things they want to continue doing, and that is clear because he continues to badger Jig about the situation they are in that it made Jig beg the man to stop, she pleads, “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” (478). By this it is clear that Jig is truly concerned about the situation that affects her life and just wants to stop talking about everything. It is clear that the american man does not want to have the baby, “the man has therefore treated Jig’s pregnancy like a burden or an illness” (Rankin 236). Throughout the short story the man has obviously been for the abortion and does not