Hills Like White Elephants
Fiction Essay “Hills like White Elephants” is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. The author starts the story by describing the setting to allow the reader to have a clear picture in their mind of what things look like. There are two main characters in this story and Hemingway only describes them as the girl and the American man, and they go through life living in the moment. It takes place in Spain at a train station. He describes the train station as, “there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails…” (pg. 96, paragraph 1). We are able to see the characters’ struggles at the end of the plot.
Hemingway starts the story right in the middle because you don’t really know what’s happening or what’s going on. All you know is that there is a girl who’s traveling with an American man and they are trying to get to Madrid. Through the whole story the two are having a conversation while waiting for the train. They are talking about life, how bad the alcohol tastes, and how the valley looks like white elephants.
There are a few plot moments that I feel are critical and helps the reader to understand more about what’s going on in their relationship and the reason they are there at the train station. The first moment in the story is when the American man says, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,” “It’s not really an operation at all” (pg. 97, paragraph 40). Now you realize that she’s really nervous about the surgery. We don’t really know what kind of surgery yet until they start talking about how other people have gone through it and came out fine. And the American starts emphasizing how much he really cares about her by letting her know that, “It’s the best thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to do it.” (pg. 97, paragraph 55).
I think the most critical moment in story is when the American starts talking about how life would be great and how happy they would be once she has the operation. And that
Hemingway starts the story right in the middle because you don’t really know what’s happening or what’s going on. All you know is that there is a girl who’s traveling with an American man and they are trying to get to Madrid. Through the whole story the two are having a conversation while waiting for the train. They are talking about life, how bad the alcohol tastes, and how the valley looks like white elephants.
There are a few plot moments that I feel are critical and helps the reader to understand more about what’s going on in their relationship and the reason they are there at the train station. The first moment in the story is when the American man says, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,” “It’s not really an operation at all” (pg. 97, paragraph 40). Now you realize that she’s really nervous about the surgery. We don’t really know what kind of surgery yet until they start talking about how other people have gone through it and came out fine. And the American starts emphasizing how much he really cares about her by letting her know that, “It’s the best thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to do it.” (pg. 97, paragraph 55).
I think the most critical moment in story is when the American starts talking about how life would be great and how happy they would be once she has the operation. And that