I believe this issue is abortion. "Hills Like White Elephants" But if we consider a "white elephant" as an unwanted item, she could also be pointing out that he never accepts burdens he doesn't want. Hills Like White Elephants": Critical Analysis Ernest Hemingway's "Hills like White Elephants" is an intriguing story of two individuals who have come to a difficult conversation. "Hills Like White Elephants" On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Sustana, Catherine. Hence, a white elephant is a burden. The Story and its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. The symbolism of the white elephants further emphasizes the subject of the story. with these useful links. Sustana, Catherine. Planted in the middle of a desolate valley, the station isn't a final destination but merely a stopping point between Barcelona and Madrid. Finally, he claims that it's "just to let the air in," which implies abortion rather than any other optional procedure. "Hills Like White Elephants" is set in Spain. Analysis of 'Hills Like White Elephants' by Ernest Hemingway. When the girl comments that the hills look like white elephants and the man says he's never seen one, she answers, "No, you wouldn't have." and in-depth analyses of In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Ernest Hemingway is using personification and metaphors to paint us a picture of a troubled relationship between a couple who are trying to find a solution to a problem that can’t seem to agree on a solution. He promises to stay with her the whole time and that they'll be happy afterward because "that's the only thing that bothers us.". Kaisler, Max. Basically, dear reader, you're in the opposite situation as the characters in "Hills Like White Elephants." "Hills Like White Elephants Characters." Author: Clark L Draney Created Date: 3/19/2014 11:12:28 AM Learn all about how the characters in Hills Like White Elephants such as The American and The Girl ("Jig") contribute to the story and how they fit into the plot. The Lost Generation and the Writers Who Described Their World. ThoughtCo. Hills like white elephants evoke the image of a protruding, pregnant belly, so the man’s less than enthusiastic response implies his aversion to Jig’s pregnancy. The girl makes a seemingly innocent remark to the man that the hills “look like white elephants,” to which the man responds that he has never seen one. And his response that he's "perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you" doesn't refer to the operation—it refers to not having the operation. It is told primarily through dialogue between “the American and the girl with him”; formal names are not given, though the girl is later identified as “Jig.” These hills like white elephants are the symbol of the child in the girl’s womb. At first glance, the woman comes off as timid and resigned to the fact that she is going to do whatever it takes to make the man happy. 6th Ed. HILLS LIKE WHITE ELEPHANTS The hills across the valley of the Ebro' were long and white. Study Guides. The girl is staring at the distant hills, which are brightly lit in the sunlight, though otherwise barren in appearance. Islands in the Stream (c1951) by Ernest Hemingway, Analysis of Flannery O'Connor's Story, 'A Good Man Is Hard to Find', Analysis of William Faulkner's "Dry September", A Full Analysis of the Story 'Wants' by Grace Paley, Biography of Ernest Hemingway, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize Winning Writer, Ph.D., English, State University of New York at Albany. The term “white elephants” originally was used in Indian cultures where a white elephant is “a possession … See a complete list of the characters in LitCharts. "Analysis of 'Hills Like White Elephants' by Ernest Hemingway." “Hills Like White Elephants,” is a short story, written by author Ernest Hemingway. Hills Like White Elephants. "Hills Like White Elephants" is a rich story that yields more every time you read it. Hills Like White Elephants" shows Hemingway's use of iceberg theory or theory of omission: a message is presented through a story's subtext; for instance, in the story the word "abortion" is never mentioned, although the male character seems to be attempting to convince his girlfriend to have an abortion. Hemingway sets "Hills Like White Elephants" at a train station to highlight the fact that the relationship between the American man and the girl is at a crossroads. Boston: Bedford/St. Throughout the man and the girl’s conversation about whether to get an abortion, the… read analysis of The Woman (the Waitress) Kaisler, Max. The child is like a white elephant, an unwanted, costly possession to the man. “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway from Charters, Ann, Ed. FULL CAST AND CREW | TRIVIA | USER REVIEWS | IMDbPro | MORE. Finally, the man asserts that "I don't want anybody but you. The American and The Girl. The two possible meanings of white elephants—female fertility and cast-off items—come together here because, as a man, he will never become pregnant himself and can cast off the responsibility of her pregnancy. Hills Like White Elephants Lyrics The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. Consider the contrast between the hot, dry side of the valley and the more fertile "fields of grain." Continue your study of "Hills Like White Elephants Characters." The man is attempting to convince the woman to get an abortion, but the woman is ambivalent about it. https://www.thoughtco.com/hills-like-white-elephants-analysis-2990497 (accessed April 22, 2021). When the woman asks, "And you really want to? How does Jig from ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ see the setting around her and the two sides of the … Find the quotes you need to support your essay, or refresh your memory of the story by reading these key quotes. Hills like White Elephants, short story by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1927 in the periodical transition and later that year in the collection Men Without Women. “Hills Like White Elephants” centers around the main conflict of a couple about to get an abortion, and like the piece submitted by my classmate, it manages to communicate the mixed emotions of following through with the procedure without including the word “abortion” anywhere. The themes of this sparsely written vignette about an American couple waiting for a train in Spain are almost entirely implicit. The man is attempting to convince the woman to get an abortion, but the woman is ambivalent about it. It's a good example of Hemingway's "iceberg theory" of writing, where a story's meaning isn't stated directly but is implied. He also frequently says she doesn't have to do it if she doesn't want to, which indicates that he's describing an elective procedure. The story's tension comes from their terse, barbed dialogue. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/hills-like-white-elephants-analysis-2990497. Hills Like White Elephants takes place in the early 1920s at a train station in the valley of the Ebro River, between Barcelona and Madrid, straddling dry, brown country and lush, verdant river valley. Hills Like White Elephants (2002) - IMDb. Catherine Sustana, Ph.D., is a fiction writer and a former professor of English at Hawaii Pacific University. Get ready to write your paper on "Hills Like White Elephants". You might ask yourself whether the woman will go through with the abortion, whether they'll stay together, and, finally, whether either of them knows the answers to these questions yet. Throughout the story, it is clear that the man would like the woman to get an operation, which he describes as "awfully simple," "perfectly simple," and "not really an operation at all." If the hills represent female fertility, swollen abdomen, and breasts, she could be suggesting that he is not the type of person ever to intentionally have a child. The story is about a girl by the name of Jig, and an American man, whose name is not stated. Go to BN.com to get your copy of these helpful resources. The story takes place in a railroad station while the two are waiting to … He never mentions the woman's health, so we can assume the operation is not something to cure an illness. View all ", she's posing a question that suggests the man has some say in the matter—that he has something at stake—which is another indication that she's pregnant. Here's where you'll find analysis of the story as a whole. Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" tells the story of a man and woman drinking beer and anise liqueur while they wait at a train station in Spain. This comment leads to a brief bickering match over whether the man may or may not have seen a white elephant. If the two characters had been sober throughout the story, the reader would have more ease in believing the decisions, or non-decisions, that the characters make. An American man and a girl are sitting at an outdoor café in a Spanish train station, waiting for a fast, non-stop train coming from Barcelona that will take them to Madrid, where the girl will have an abortion. In the case of pregnancy, not having the abortion is something "to go through with" because it results in the birth of a child. You might consider the symbolism of the train tracks or the absinthe. The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Practically everything in the story symbolizes a different item. Later, her comment “the hills don’t really look like white elephants” is a subtle hint at her defiance: perhaps she won’t have the operation at all. However, maintaining the elephant would be so expensive as to ruin the recipient. First published in 1927, "Hills Like White Elephants" is widely anthologized today, likely because of its use of symbolism and demonstration of Hemingway's Iceberg Theory in writing. The origin of the phrase is commonly traced to a practice in Siam (now Thailand) in which a king would bestow the gift of a white elephant on a member of his court who displeased him. Fact or Fiction: Did Pocahontas Save Captain John Smith's Life? Hemingway made it clear that this "theory of omission" should not be used as an excuse for a writer not to know the details behind his or her story. At fewer than 1,500 words, "Hills Like White Elephants" exemplifies this theory through its brevity and the noticeable absence of the word "abortion," even though that is clearly the main subject of the story. “Hills like White Elephants” is a deceptively simple looking story: superficially Hemingway gives us a dialogue between a man and girl traveling so she can have an operation. But if the story is new to you, you might feel less certain about it. Detailed analysis of Characters in Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants. Martin’s, 2003. The man thinks that it is a simple and quick operation to curb the annoyance just like the conversation about white elephants that he brushes aside without much effort. In the short story “Hills like White Elephants,” there is a constant power struggle between the two characters. Symbolism in 'Hills Like White Elephants' The first symbol we have in the story is the white elephant. 17 Apr 2021. LitCharts. It is a story about a man and a woman waiting at a train station talking about an issue that they never name. Notice the symbolism later in the story when he carries their bags, covered with labels "from all the hotels where they had spent nights," to the other side of the tracks and deposits them there while he goes back into the bar, alone, to have another drink. "Hills Like White Elephants" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway that was first published in 1927. The story's tension comes from their terse, barbed dialogue. Hemmingway’s story, Hills like White Elephants, has many symbolizing parts. Web. Hills Like White Elephants Complete Story Posted By Lateef On August 29, 2007 @ 8:51 am In Uncategorized | 116 Comments [1] Click here to see the Literary Analysis for ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway. Teachers, check out our ideas for how you can creatively incorporate SparkNotes materials into your classroom instruction. I don't want anyone else," which makes it clear that there will be "somebody else" unless the woman has the operation. "Analysis of 'Hills Like White Elephants' by Ernest Hemingway." LESS. “Hills Like White Elephants” opens with a long description of the story’s setting in a train station surrounded by hills, fields, and trees in a valley in Spain. Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants, Produced by Ben Hunter, Directed by Alexandra Daniels There are also several indications that this isn't the first time the characters have discussed the issue, such as when the woman cuts the man off and completes his sentence in the following exchange: If it already seems obvious to you that "Hills Like White Elephants" is a story about abortion, you can skip this section. Hills Like White Elephants. LitCharts LLC, 9 May 2016. Sustana, Catherine. 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