Preview

Hills Like White Elephants Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
466 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hills Like White Elephants Essay
Hills Like White Elephants The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” was written by Ernest Hemingway. The author seems to be a minimalist where he does not provide explanation about the very issue why the couple is unhappy and annoyed with each other. To have a more deeper understanding on the literature, I have looked up a translated version of it and according to a Japanese translation of the very story, it said that the problem was about her pregnancy and that the man wants her to have an abortion. It was then understandable that why the author might have left that information out of the story because, having an abortion is not something you would talk in public which in this story’s case, they happened to be in some kind of bar. I believe …show more content…
She seemed to be very dependent on the man that she could not make up her mind. She always has to ask before she decides from ordering her drinks to what to do with her pregnancy. However, she seems as if she had made up her own mind in the end that she’ll be moving forward with her life with him or without him. It is a very interesting piece of literature because the story is vague enough to create a heated debate whether she had an abortion or not in the end. We can make up the future of their relationships in our imaginations and how she might be going to live. It enabled us to figure out what the story were based on, and it showed us a very realistic feature of our very own world we live in and how some people are irresponsible and so self-centered. This literature was confusing however, conceptually understandable that even though this short story was written somewhere between the life-time of Ernest Hemingway. People can relate to it in someway and the style of how it is written is something it could be said to be artistic and educational that people can learn from. As this textbook was dedicated for the purpose of learning literature, it was appropriate for using this literature in the book; So that people could debate, discuss the very meaning of the contents and
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

    Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” portrays the turmoil a couple endures when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, the choice to hold onto their current life or to begin a new life. Readers are allowed to intrude on a conversation between an American man and a girl, further conflict is presented through Hemingway’s use of symbolism. The man wants to go through with an abortion while the girl is unsure about which track she should take. Throughout the story, Hemmingway’s use of abundant details about the setting, rather than providing much detail about the characters, reveal a conflict between the man’s desire for the girl to have a “perfectly natural” (Hemingway 116) procedure and the decision to forgo an “awfully simple operation”…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” and "Shiloh, " by Bobbie Ann Mason. a Brief Comparison.
    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” and "Shiloh, " by Bobbie Ann Mason. a Brief Comparison.

    In the short story "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway we were presented a man and his girlfriend. They order a couple drinks as they wait for a train. As the story continues, more details of what the couple is discussing unfold. Although it is never actually said we learn that the couple is talking about whether to have an abortion. "It's really an awful simple operation, Jig."(42) It's is also apparent that the man wants for the girl, Jig, to have the procedure, while the girl does not. It is also obvious that the girl has stronger feelings than the man does about their relationship "And you think then we'll be all right and be happy."(54) I believe that his story was not just meant to be taken as entertaining, but more to get the reader thinking. The author had purposely written the cliff-hanger ending so one would try to determine what would become of the predicament.…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Gender Differences In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants
    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Gender Differences In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

    In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants” he shows the major difference between the two which is a woman’s pregnancy and the difference in reactions between a man and a woman what that occurs. While the man in the story seems to want the woman to have the operation which is an abortion, throughout the story woman is more conflicted and unsure what she wants. By the end although we don’t get a complete resolution and Hemingway leaves some ambiguity the woman seems to have become sure that she wants to keep the baby. The interaction at the end where the man says “do you feel better” which she replies to by saying “I feel fine, there’s nothing wrong with me, I feel fine” seems to let us know that she now believes that being pregnant isn’t something wrong with her and she wants to have the baby.…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants Conflict Analysis
    • 1176 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Hills Like White Elephants Conflict Analysis

    In this short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, focuses on a couples struggle to communicate and finding common ground which leads to a crisis point in their relationship. This story sets place in Spain where a woman named Jig and the American man are seated outside of a bar near a railroad junction. The couple starts out by having a few beers and discussing a problem they are facing in their relationship, as the conversation continues between the two, you can see that the couple is starting to get slightly angry and aggravated with each other whether or not they should proceed to Barcelona in order to have an abortion. Jig disagrees with the American’s choice, although she refuses to say her thoughts openly. The…

    • 1176 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants Symbolism Essay
    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hills Like White Elephants Symbolism Essay

    In conclusion, “Hills like White Elephants” is talking about this couple possible having an abortion. In end, they do not get the abortion because Jig wants to have this unborn baby and the man finally agrees to stay with her and have this baby. Even though the man is afraid that his feelings possibly may disappear. He is willing to stay and make her happy and have their future…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Evaluation Argument "Hills Like White Elephants"
    • 1376 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Evaluation Argument "Hills Like White Elephants"

    A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession, but also it means a rare and sacred creature. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway uses an unborn child as a white elephant. This short story depicts a couple of an American man and young women at a train station somewhere in Spain. Hemingway tells the story from watching the couple from across the bar and listening to their troublesome conversation. Through overhearing the couple’s conversation Hemingway uses dialogue to explain the couple’s decision of an abortion operation. Hills Like White Elephants is a great example of Hemingway’s rare use of dialogue. Hemingway compresses dialogue in his stories by removing authorial guidance, forcing readers to interpret for themselves shades of meaning (Del Gizzo, Moddelmog 175). In the short story Hemingway also uses the setting to help the reader understand what the man and woman are feeling and thinking as they await their train. By providing details of the hills, bar, and landscape the reader can better understand the emotions and situation the couple are experiencing. The way that Hemingway creates the characters is a very interesting way because he lets the reader make their own opinions about the characters through their actions and words. In Hills Like White Elephants Hemingway uses compressed dialogue to let the reader interpret the story themselves while also using the setting and characters to help show the situation that the story portrays.…

    • 1376 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants Analysis
    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hills Like White Elephants Analysis

    The story "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway is a fascinating story about one couple having faced with an unexpected pregnancy. The theme of the story is about the couple's decision between life and death. The main character Jig and The American are in disagreements on weather to keep their baby, or have an abortion. The couple's lack of communication creates the conflict in the story. For example, Jigs says, "We can have all this..." "And everyday we make it more impossible" While this problem is going on, the couple is sitting at a train station in the middle of a valley. Each side of the valley represents either life or death. As Jig moves about in the story, she faces different sides of the valley, which helps to determine the decision she will make. With the many descriptions and symbolism throughout the story, the final decision seems as if Jig is keeping the baby.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hills Like White Elephant Essay Thesis
    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hills Like White Elephant Essay Thesis

    Amber Morenes and I, did our group presentation on Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants.” Our thesis was: Hemingway effectively portrays the socialized conflict between men and women’s gender roles through his use of dialogue. Illustrating the effect of socialized gender roles on identity through Jig’s reliance on the man to tell her how to be, as well as interpersonal communication by not being able to see each other's point of view about the abortion. Amber and I got our ideas through research on EbscoHost. We looked up themes on “Hills Like White Elephants” and we looked up symbolism on “Hills Like White Elephants” from there we were able to get enough literary criticism on the book, and get a better understanding on what Hemingway was saying in his short story.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hills Like White Elpephants
    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Hills Like White Elpephants

    While reading the story first thing it came to mind was, what is this story about? , I couldn’t seem to figure out what the plot was. The way Hemingway presents his story is really confusing because he lets it up to the reader of what they want to do out of the story, the reader basically decides what is going on in the story due that very little detail is revealed, on why are the 2 characters there at that bar, and why are they having an argument, that seems not to make any sense?. In an article that I read by Timothy O’Brien “Allusion, Word-Play, and the Central Conflict in Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants” O’Brien focuses on what the setting and the dialogue mean. Just to summarize the plot in the story according to the article just mentioned, the girl is pregnant and the man does not want her to have the baby, he basically wants her to have an abortion, knowing that that is a very difficult decision to make he uses his “dialog” to try to convince her, she also tried to explain in various ways the importance it had to her, at the end of the story we are left with the incognito of what happened, what was the decision they finally took.…

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants Essay
    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hills Like White Elephants Essay

    Throughout his work “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway uses symbolism and condensed metaphors to sensationalize the power, yet subtleness of the main theme: happiness. While the title does not blatantly represent the characters pursuit of happiness, the simile used in the title does epitomize Hemingway’s writing style as well as the diverse use of symbolism throughout the narrative. Hemingway uses this symbolism to convey the unspoken thoughts and emotions of the characters and the ultimate decision made to begin her journey on the pursuit of happiness.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants Essay
    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hills Like White Elephants Essay

    Having a baby can be the most important decision a couple can have. In “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, a couple indirectly talks about whether or not they should have an abortion. Both of the partners are very vague in talking about their opinion on the situation. In Hills like White Elephants, Hemingway uses symbolism of the hills, it and white elephants to help explain the couple’s opinion on the baby and the situation.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fiction Analysis Hills Like White Elephants
    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Fiction Analysis Hills Like White Elephants

    Close interpretation of the story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway leads the reader to an issue that has plagued society for decades. Understanding of the human condition is unveiled in the story line, the main setting, and through the character representation. The main characters in the story are an American man and a female named Jig. The conflict about abortions is an issue that still faces society today. Architectural and atmospheric symbolisms are used to set the mood and outline the human condition. The love bond between the man and Jig is strong; however, the more powerful bond between Jig and her unborn child is sacred.…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ernest Hemingway Writing Style Analysis
    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ernest Hemingway Writing Style Analysis

    Hemingway’s style of writing in “Hills Like White Elephants uses the narrator who seems to tell the story as if he was watching it but still leaves the story easy to read and concentrate on. In the first paragraph the narrator describes little about the American and the woman by saying, “The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building” (350) he does not describe them as much as he describes the setting. The reader has to look deeper into the conversation between the couple because the narrator is not describing the actions thoroughly. This writing style makes…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants
    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hills Like White Elephants

    The “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway is an excerpt about a couple whom come to a crossroads when they discover they are expecting a baby and are contemplating having an abortion. The couple is at a train station surrounded by hills, fields, and trees in a valley in Spain. A man known as the American and a young girl sit at a table outside the station, waiting for a train to Madrid. The young girl says, “The hills look like white elephants.” When the young girl refers to white elephants she is referring to her unborn child. Later she retracts her statement and says the hills “don’t really look like white elephants” anymore. This is significant to the story because a white elephant usually refers to something that is not wanted. The young woman realizes maybe what she once didn’t want she does want after all. Unfortunately the man does not pick up on the young girl’s desire to keep the baby and continues to pressure her to have the “simple operation.” The central idea of this story is human’s inability to communicate effectively with one another.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hills Like White Elephants
    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Hills Like White Elephants

    Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” is about a young couple discussing the decision of getting an abortion. Hemingway does not exactly state in the story that that is what they are talking about, but his use of figurative language helps you connect the dots. The story takes place outside a bar at a train station in Barcelona. The couple is there waiting for the train to take them to Madrid. There are many opinions about the story and how the scenery plays a huge role in giving the reader clues as to what is going on. Here is where they will be compared.…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics