Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis

The narrator is very brief. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, a man and young girl are traveling together in Madrid, Spain. I can infer from their conversation through their words and through the embedded vocabulary that they are probably headed to an abortion center. The reason I think this is because they spend the entire short story contemplating the idea of an abortion. The decision they are making seems urgent and rushed. The girl looks out the window at the “hills like white elephants” as the man continues to be persistent, as if wanting an answer as soon as possible. This urgency allows me to infer that the only reason why the decision is so urgent is because they are actively heading to an abortion center in that moment.

     The story “Hills Like White Elephants” is about a couple who discuss an abortion. The American in the story addresses it as a “simple operation,” (487) while Jig seems to feel it is the wrong choice. I feel the man is encouraging her to have the abortion done in his own selfish way.

In the first read of “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, I found the short story very frustrating and confusing as both the characters and the “conflict” were unnamed. However, my second time around, and a lot of thinking, I genuinely enjoyed it. “Hills Like White Elephants” centers on a couple’s verbal duel over, as strongly implied by the text, whether the girl will have an abortion of her partner’s child. The American is anxious for Jig to have the abortion because he “doesn’t want anybody but [her]” (277).

“Hills Like White Elephants” written by Ernest Hemingway is about a young girl wrestling with the idea of abortion due to the pressures and influences of the man in the relationship. The phrase which stood out and was repeated frequently throughout the passage the hills looking like “white elephants.” Throughout the passage, one can see how as the young girl studies the white hills she begins to reflect and realize how unique her baby is. The young girl begins to reconsider the abortion. This allusion links the unborn child and the white elephant.

In the story “Hills Like White Elephants” Earnest Hemingway constantly talks about throughout the entirety of the story white elephants and this operation. It is through symbolism that you begin to understand the story better. Just about every movement in this short story has an underlying meaning. Which better help you understand the story better such as the characters’ actions and decisions. For example, the white elephants that are mentioned throughout the story symbolizes the unborn child. The story describes the child as long and white. The long stands for the long process of having child and how the child would consume eighteen long years of the couples lives. The whiteness of the hills refers to the purity and innocence of the unborn

unwanted pregnancy can be seen as an unwanted threat to the stability of the couple’s

The Meaning Behind It All In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”, readers are given little detail on what is actually taking place in the story. Many can sense a feeling of deeper meaning by the play on words that Hemingway uses. However, it can be hard to interpret exactly what the white elephant of the story is. There are many clues that cause readers to begin to assume that the white elephant is an abortion.

Moreover, “Hills Like White Elephant” distinctively suggest the conflict of man vs himself, or Jig vs. herself. Evaluating the literary elements of the story “White Elephants” represents her distraction of confronting the issue by dazing at the hills in midst of hope to replenish the carefree attitude she prolonged. As deep down within her nurturing character she doesn’t want to settle with the operation. “And once they take it away, you never get it back.” (Hemingway 81) Although the line focuses on the topic of gaining everything. Her quote interprets to the predicament that she faces as it wouldn’t be easy for herself. Understandingly being troubled by possibly making the worst decision for her own benefit. Presented by the author, “Oh yes. But I don’t care about me. And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine.” (Hemingway 68) Displaying the unhealthy emotional investment she has for the American man as she is unable to make her own decision in fear that her relationship won’t go back to the way it used to be.

Not a whole lot happens in Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants.”  When I started reading the story, I didn’t fully understand why the story was called this and what the story was really about.  The story is narrated in the third person, which allows the reader to see everything that is going on while the main characters are talking to each other.  The setting of the story takes place in a bar in the middle of a train station that has “no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun” (par. 1).  Throughout the story there are a few symbols that you can pick out, others are a little harder to see them as symbols.

Ernest Hemingway’s “The Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story published in 1927 about an American man and a woman named Jig. The setting of this story takes place at a train station located in Spain surrounded by hills, trees, and fields. Other devices used by Hemingway throughout this story include imagery, simile, excellent syntax, and a very tense and emotional tone. In the beginning of the story, the American and Jig sit outside of the train station waiting for their train to Madrid. While waiting, time is spent describing the beautiful scenery around them, such as the white hills. During the wait for their train, they plunge into a deep discussion in regards to Jig’s implied pregnancy. The American is in the midst of attempting to convince Jig that the operation – implying an abortion – is her best option. Throughout the story, while Jig is struggling with whether or not she will have the operation, it is evident that the couple has extreme communication difficulties. They disagree on most topics that they discuss and they usually are never on the same page. The American is bent towards Jig’s abortion, and thus Jig is caught up in an internal battle of whether she will please her man or if she will choose life for her unborn child. This short story can be very confusing and is easily misunderstood because of how well Hemingway disguises underlying meaning. Many topics are left unsettled or unsaid throughout this story,

In the story “Hills Like White Elephants” the author is telling the story from a detached voice. It is implying without saying that the story revolves around her having an abortion. The man is trying to convince her to have the operation done. At one point in the story, she gives into having the procedure done. Then later changes her mind and decides that she is not going to have the operation. He uses the thought of happiness as a weapon to try and manipulate her ino having the operation done.

Hemingway places two train tracks along the station whose destinations are divergent. The decision that has to be made by the young girl is accentuated through the two train tracks, the beads, and the beaded curtain. The two train tracks represent the opportunity to escape into two different worlds; one being the flourishing fertile side, and the other being the juvenile side with no “attachments.” Illustrating the reminder that a decision has to be made between the two worlds is the beaded curtain, “ The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two strings of beads.” The differing

Love, feelings and emotions bridge each story to one another by making complex and short but comprehensive details. From the characters, recurring themes to the unique setting of each story. Love is defined as “a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child or friend, feeling: general state of consciousness considered independently of particular sensations, and thoughts, emotion: any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc., and usually accompanied by certain physiological changes, as increased heartbeat or respiration, and often overt manifestation, as crying or shaking” all defined by Dictionary.com. Each word is used in the definition of the other word just like Hemingway’s three stories. Each word is connected and intertwined with one another like a snake on a low hanging branch.

Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants” is told through the dialogue of two major characters at a train station in Spain. The hotel stamps on their suitcases suggest that they have been moving from place to place living like nomads and their conversations suggest that they have a stressful relationship. The girl harrows at the fact that their style of living consists of looking “… at things…” and trying “… new drinks” (298). The absence of mentioning one word to the American man about their relationship shows that it is not particularly serious or meaningful.

Ernest Hemingway is inconspicuous in much of his writing style, making it extremely hard to grasp the complete meaning behind his work. “Hills like White Elephants” is one of his many works that show a hidden meaning through symbols. Using the new criticism approach can help break down an author’s message through what critics call “close reading” using textual evidence (Schilb and Clifford 1095- 1096). One of the first symbols, quite the biggest in the story, is the phrase “They look like white elephants” (Hemingway 297). The author is using white elephants to symbolize something no one wants, in the case of this story he is talking about a baby. Another symbol in the story can be seen with the train tracks. The meaning behind the tracks are