Hills Like White Elephants Rhetorical Analysis
Hills Like White Elephants
Ernest Hemingway wrote the work “Hills Like White Elephants”. His story is about abortion although within the text, the word abortion is nowhere to be found. The reason why Ernest Hemingway portrayed abortion the way he did was because in 1927, abortion was something that nobody really talked about. It was a something that would be looked down upon. So he writes “Hills Like White Elephants” with multiple metaphors to mask the idea of abortion. Not one time does the man or the woman say the word “abortion.” The man goes through everything that the girl says in his mind and takes the literal meaning of her words. On the other hand, the girl says almost everything metaphorically. Also the actions of the man and the girl have metaphoric meanings as well.
Earnest Hemingway writes “Hills Like White Elephants” in such a metaphoric way, that it takes a few times to read it and figure out what the topic of discussion is between the guy …show more content…
The symbolism of the man moving the luggage to the other side of the train station can be seen as a flip-flop of opinions about the abortion. At first the girl begins the conversation as if she is totally unsure with what she should do since she starts out with the white elephant comment. With this comment she is thinking about what she would look like pregnant and if she should keep the baby and not follow through with the abortion. Then in the middle of the conversation, she says, “Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me.” She makes that transition of being unsure about having the abortion for him to going ahead with it since it’s what he wants her to do. She then at the end of their conversation she comes out with, “Doesn’t it mean anything to you? (which “it” is assumed to be the baby) We could get along.” She has changed her mind now to maybe not wanting to go through the abortion and suggesting that it would be okay if the child was
Ernest Hemingway wrote the work “Hills Like White Elephants”. His story is about abortion although within the text, the word abortion is nowhere to be found. The reason why Ernest Hemingway portrayed abortion the way he did was because in 1927, abortion was something that nobody really talked about. It was a something that would be looked down upon. So he writes “Hills Like White Elephants” with multiple metaphors to mask the idea of abortion. Not one time does the man or the woman say the word “abortion.” The man goes through everything that the girl says in his mind and takes the literal meaning of her words. On the other hand, the girl says almost everything metaphorically. Also the actions of the man and the girl have metaphoric meanings as well.
Earnest Hemingway writes “Hills Like White Elephants” in such a metaphoric way, that it takes a few times to read it and figure out what the topic of discussion is between the guy …show more content…
The symbolism of the man moving the luggage to the other side of the train station can be seen as a flip-flop of opinions about the abortion. At first the girl begins the conversation as if she is totally unsure with what she should do since she starts out with the white elephant comment. With this comment she is thinking about what she would look like pregnant and if she should keep the baby and not follow through with the abortion. Then in the middle of the conversation, she says, “Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me.” She makes that transition of being unsure about having the abortion for him to going ahead with it since it’s what he wants her to do. She then at the end of their conversation she comes out with, “Doesn’t it mean anything to you? (which “it” is assumed to be the baby) We could get along.” She has changed her mind now to maybe not wanting to go through the abortion and suggesting that it would be okay if the child was