Literary Analysis Of Hills Like White Elephants

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.

“Hills Like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemingway, is a short story published in 1927 that takes place in a train station in Spain with a man and a woman discussing an operation. Most of the story is simply dialogue between the two characters, the American and Jig. This couple is at a critical point in their lives when they must decide whether or not to have an abortion. Certain themes arise from this story such as choices and consequences, doubt and ambiguity, and how men and women relate. Hemingway also uses many examples of symbolism in “Hills Like White Elephants”, including descriptions of the surrounding scenery, the hills themselves, and the station where the action takes place.

“Hills like White Elephants,” written by Ernest Hemingway is a short story about two characters and their’s turning and twisting arguments about an operation and also how the settings affect on both this characters perspective and attitude toward the abortion. The story begins at the train station somewhere in Spain where this couple waiting for a train to Madrid and discussing whether to keep baby or no. While in the stations, different events take place as highlighted by the author of the story where the girl explore surrounding of the train station and compare each thing with her situation such as the nearby rail tracks, trees, river, the hills, alcohol. On the other hand, the American responds by stating that he has never come across white elephants and refuse her perspective and shows his decision to not have a baby. The two characters continue ordering more drinks while having their discussion. In a nutshell, the story “Hills like White Elephants,” is a short story about a young girl name Jig and American man who waiting for a train and discussing about whether a girl have an abortion or no, based on abortion, there is a conflict of their relationship derived on the environmental setting of the short story.

Hills Like White Elephants, published in 1927, embodies Hemingway’s style, and explores the issues of responsibility, communication, and unexpected life decisions, and does so in just four short pages. Hemingway drops us off in the middle of a conversation between a boyfriend and girlfriend, in which the couple discusses whether or not to abort their unborn child. The man, known as the American, pressures the girl, known only as Jig, into going through with the abortion, while Jig subtly suggests that she would rather keep the child and settle down. Neither of the characters states anything outright, and our limited perspective leaves it solely up to us to decipher the meaning of the story. Ernest Hemingway uses the symbolic setting and the themes of communication and unpredictability to drive home his belief that life is far from being happy, and rarely conforms to what we expect.

In Ernest Hemingways short story, Hills Like White Elephants, there is a couple who has a difficult conversation at the crossroads waiting for their next train. Mostly, their conversation is about getting an abortion. The American, who is the male in the story, continuously tries to convince The Girl to abort their child while she is trying to please him. However, by analyzing throughout the story, the setting, characters, and symbolism affects the tale and gives the readers a sense of understanding and empathy towards the situation. All of the elements come together to create this emotional dialog more intriguing and heart breaking.

A theme in a story can have a controlling and meaningful purpose, or it can also be insignificant and used to entertained the readers. Authors centralize their story on a specific topic to make it easier for the reader to understand the story and to reveal the central ideas purpose. Ernest Hemingway’s “The Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story that reveals miscommunication. A suspenseful story that builds up tension amongst the characters. An American and a girl named Jig are having a discussion about an abortion.

In Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” I found many layers of symbolism, and a fascinating psychological underplay afoot between his two characters. It begins with the girl’s comment about a line of white hills seen in the distance, which she compares to white elephants. The man responds with the comment “I’ve never seen one.”

Ernest Hemingway uses many literary devices in his short story Hills Like White Elephants to enhance its meaning and impact. A literary device is a technique a writer uses to enhance and produce a special effect in their writing. Literary devices are very important because they help the reader understand a story, and it's characters. The literary devices used to make Hills Like White Elephants a richer and more impactful story are setting, symbolism, and irony. One important literary device used in Hills Like White Elephants is setting.

The major theme of Hills Like White Elephants is the operation. The reader could assume that the operation means abortion. The American says, “It’s really a simple operation, Jig” he is trying to convince her tat aborting

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.

In the short story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, the entire story is a dialogue between a man and woman about an unplanned pregnancy. The woman does not know whether to keep the baby, however the man is trying to convince her to have an abortion. Language and Communication, the characters’ choices, and alcohol are the three main themes that help determine what the story is about, how they get to their location, the reason behind the mans decision, and even the outcome of the story. Alcohol is a theme of the story but not a major one however, it does help the reader with the cliffhanger at the end of the story. In the beginning of the story, the characters are drinking in a bar.

The man in the story is described and portrayed as the ideal average all-American male figure. He, throughout the course of the story, attempts to coax the girl into following through with the abortion. To gain control over the situation as well as the outcome, he uses her love for him against her.

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.

Jig and an American man in “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway argue over their relationship, her implied pregnancy, and their unshared desire for abortion. They sit outside a train station in the Ebro, Spain river valley drinking beer as they wait for the Madrid train (Hemingway 69-70). Jig steers the conversation cleverly by stating that the surrounding hills “look like white elephants” (70). It is the term white elephant, synonymous with something undesired and weighted, which the man is either ignorant of or avoids. Jig confrontationally points out her meaning only to bitter the conversation. In turn, the man insists the pregnancy is “the only thing that makes [them] unhappy” and wants her to have the “awfully simple operation”

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.