Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis

She must choose one "hill" or another, she cannot sit on the tracks forever and mull over the pros and cons of each decision.

In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Hemingway describes characters little. This short story basically consists of a dialogue between a man and a woman. In the short story, Hemingway barely provides the information of characters so that this short story can be generalized in one sentence: a man and a woman are waiting for the train to Madrid on the roadside. Because of the hot weather, they keep drinking beer, while discussing an operation. Actually, in this novel, characters are always talking about this vital operation. This operation exists as

The American man trying to convince Jig to have a “‘simple operation…that it’s just to let the

Inadvertently though, it takes all sincerity out of the words of the male character. I did not think he was too serious in anything he said, and the fact that he can sit and drink beer while telling this woman that he loves her, makes his dialogue seem less serious, and more like he is lying to her. A bar is a place where men tell women they love them to get them to come home with them. While drinking beer, he would probably normally be hitting on her, not coaxing her into having an abortion. The conversation and topic is completely out of place in this setting.

things like the white elephants, the scenery around the tracks, the setting at the train station, Jig’s

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

And so the struggle between Jig and her lover is resolved. He has won, and she has given up her dream. The elements of the story suggested a carefree couple that traveled and drank their way across foreign landscapes together, with no responsibilities, until suddenly, they faced one of the biggest responsibilities of all. Hemingway 's depiction of their conflict is in my opinion a stunning expose of a scenario that is all too common in the human tradition, rife with assumptions and masterful in its inferential

There are many ways, shapes, and forms of stories that the reader could put themselves into. Whether they choose to partake in a wayward journey full of adventure or the daily life of a human being with morals; a story’s aspect influences those thoughts with a deeper understanding. In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” it follows an American man and girl at a resting point during their travels. They arrived by train, stopping between Barcelona and Madrid. While there, they patiently waited for the next train at a bar inside of the station. They invoked themselves in a very long conversation about an important life changing decision, in which they are trying to figure out together. With narration providing the readers a first-class seat within the story, it is as if they were customers at the bar that happens to listen. This story unravels the true intention of the character’s issue that is deeply hidden within the text and title symbolically. Therefore, the literary terms that makes this story unique is its symbolism, conflict, and narrative point of view.

At the end of their conversation, both are drinking alone, the girl at the table and the man at the bar which can imply that their relationship my end by them going their separate ways.

provide, and that he must cease sending her any letters or other correspondence. To reinforce

This imagery of the train station is brought about by more than the actual setting, but rather is corroborated by the presence of bags “against the wall of the station. There were labels on the them from all the hotels where they had spent nights” (Hemingway 592). Hemingway’s choice to mention Jig’s bags is used to further extend the effect of transition, as the bags are covered in stickers, portraying a map of the various places that the couple have been together, both physically visited as well as the many emotional attachments that have grown between the two along their journey. An employee emerges, and offers to move Jig’s bags to the end of the train tracks for her as the train nears. Hemingway’s choice to have Jig’s belongings move towards an end of the tracks creates the effect of another man entering Jig’s life in order to bring her, and her belongings, closer to the decision of what track to choose.

Ernest Hemingway has a very unique style of writing. He captures the readers’ attention with strong imagery, metaphors, and symbolism. In both the Sun Also Rises and Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway uses a simple writing style that allows the audience to have a clear image of the main argument. The reader must pay very close attention to the dialogue, as different subliminal messages are exposed throughout the story. Also, in both stories the women protagonist is the main source of the argument.

By doing this Hemingway succeededs in creating a character who cannot be respected but is instead pitied. In a discussion, with her American lover, Jig comments about the hills surrounding them, comparing them to white elephants, only for him to tell her that what she is saying is wrong. Rather than defend something that is her own opinion she changes the subject and later apologizes for saying it in the first place.

The short story Hills like White Elephants written by Ernest Hemmingway seems to be a simplistic tale of an arguing couple. This however is not the case, Hemmingway does a very good job in hiding his literary genius in his linguistic patterns all throughout the story. In this story a couple is heading to Madrid for the women to do something that is never explicitly mentioned in the story. The story is set on a train station in Barcelona where the couple are drinking while waiting for the express train to Madrid. In the background are hills that look like white elephants according the woman as she tries not to think too much of what is about to happen.

Furthermore, Hemingway develops the story by narrating it in omniscient point of view to enthrall the effect of the decision that Jig chooses through the impositions set by the man. The omniscient point of view is told in third person and it allows the readers to peer inside the character’s thoughts and feelings. The use of omniscient point of view is effective because it helps demonstrate the importance and the objective of the conversation between Jig and the American man. The dialogue between them is the focus throughout the story since Hemingway narrates the story through an upfront style making it condensed to demonstrate the complexity of the theme. As seen by the difficulty in which Jig and the man struggle to communicate what is the