Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

Words: 1590
Pages: 7
Open Document
The Man, the Girl, and a White Elephant

The well-crafted dialogue and underlying symbolism found throughout Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” creates a domino effect of analytic thinking that challenges the readers’ minds to read both between the lines and beyond the page. These elements bring articulate, controversial and provocative depth to this short tale of choice. Despite the lack of explicit detail, Hemingway – utilizing the Iceberg Theory – tackles the ever-lasting, ever-controversial matters of abortion, addressing the issues of all parties involved, and tells the story of a young girl with child, a man, and a decision. In questioning the significance of “white elephants”, readers are provoked to wonder: Who or what is truly the white elephant? Readers also question the girl’s choice and the couple’s future, whether she keeps the baby and/or stays with the man. To answer these questions, one must comprehend the dialogue which sets the atmosphere of the relationship and …show more content…
Though rather quiet at the start of the story, later becoming very vocal, her choice words and selective silence speak volumes about her character, growth and thoughts (Wyche). She is particularly sarcastic when speaking to the man, his responses displaying a contrast of intellect between the two. This is likely partway the cause of the familiar air surrounding the tension felt when Jig expresses how the hills “look like white elephants”. When the man admits to never having seen one, to which the girl replies, “No, you wouldn’t have” (Hemingway 886), he contradicts himself in proclaiming he may have indeed seen one, and just because she says something, that does not make it so. Jig then changes the subject, revealing that she is accustomed to his antics and understands how to deal with him. This moment of dialogue also showcases irony, in that the man says he has never seen a white elephant while the girl bares one (of his) in her womb (Weeks,
Show More

Related Documents: Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

Analysis Of Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway As A Form Of Modernism

Modernism Ernest Hemingway demonstrated in his story “Hills Like White Elephants” a style of writing that was normally present with the modernist movement, a style of writing from the beginning of the 1900s to the mid-1940s. He used things like a lack of explanation but an increase in details, images as symbolism, and using ambiguous words to let the reader choose the meaning of the story. These two things are what show that this story was a form of modernist literature. Hemingway describes the…

Words 524 - Pages 3

Hills Like White Elephants Criticism

Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story about a couple having drinks while waiting for the train. This narrative is written as if the reader is overhearing a conversation the two people are having. Although this narrative is concise in the way it is presented, it gives the reader a very affective glimpse at a prominent issue. There are some thoughts that cannot be expressed in any other way but through literature. Modern and postmodern writers are known for creating those…

Words 974 - Pages 4

Compare/Contrast: "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" with "Hills Like White Elephants" Essay example

Compare/Contrast: "Good Man" with "Hills" Currently, a plethora of outstanding stories have been written. What makes a story, though? The answer is the elements that the author includes into his or her writing, such as symbolism and imagery. "Hills like White Elephants," written by Ernest Hemingway, and "A Good Man is Hard to Find," written by Flannery O'Connor, are just two examples of admirable work. Each writer incorporated plenty of elements to improve the story. Since the amount…

Words 917 - Pages 4

Hills Like White Elephants Symbolism Essay

For centuries, abortion has served as a focal point of explosive controversy, effectively highlighting the morally ambiguous dichotomy between creating life and ending it. In Ernest Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants," our protagonist, Jig, serves as a microcosm of all expectant mothers who face this quandary. She struggles to deal with the moral and emotional ramifications associated with abortion, and is petrified of losing the man she loves. However, upon closer examination,…

Words 1125 - Pages 5

Hill's Like White Elephants Essay example

In “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, the prominent issue of communication in a relationship is primarily introduced to the audience. This short story consists mainly of banter between the two main characters, the American and the girl. Through their dialogue, conflict is presented with the “elephant in the room”, the clearly unwelcome topic of abortion. Due to their inability to articulate their clashing opinions, the situation is thrown further into a dark hole of complications.…

Words 1281 - Pages 6

Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis Essay

A Literary Analysis of Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” Most girls during their adolescent and even early adulthood years have had experiences similar to that in which Hemingway describes in this short story. From the beginning of the story, it is not clearly stated that the couple is having an argument about an abortion. During this time period, abortions were not as advanced nor common as they are today. The artificial ideas and the realistic views of the main characters in the…

Words 1017 - Pages 5

Janine Merrit Literary Drama Essay

Setting the Atmosphere In literature, setting is just as important as characters, point of view, and plot. Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills like White Elephants” and Susan Glaspell’s play “Trifles” both have characters that are different types of people but are connected by how they relate to their choices; and the potential consequences and the uncertainty of their fate. The use of symbolism in both stories introduces the reader to the settings and creates a mood of empathy towards Jig and Mrs…

Words 1020 - Pages 5

The Hills Like White Elephants Essay

Sexual perspectives based on Existentialism ——3130000216 黄时敏 Abstract: The main thoughts of The Lost Generation, especially in their writings, contribute a lot to Existentialism. Through the conversation in Hemingway’s The Hills Like White Elephants, different perspectives based on gender difference are presented to readers. One is the way to perceive the meaning of life, and the other is the way to choose the life. Those gender differences lead to the thinking of how to reach a harmonious state…

Words 2148 - Pages 9

Where Are You Going Where Have You Been

In the story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, we read about two characters, a girl and an American man. The two have short conversations between them, and these conversations can hint of many clues about them and their relationship. In the story, we discover what the characters are like, through what they say, and also through the things they don’t say. The short story “Where are you going, Where have you been” by Joyce Carol Oates is about a teenage girl who is, vain, self-doubting…

Words 1488 - Pages 6

What Is Jig's Relationship In Hills Like White Elephants

In Hills Like White Elephants Hemingway is trying to show us how a couple react to an unwanted pregnancy. Although he never specifies what kind of operation the girl is supposed to go through he implies that they are talking about an abortion. The man doesn’t want the baby so he is trying to convince the girl that they are better without a child. The American thinks that the child will be a burden for them instead of a blessing. On the other hand the girl is trying to keep the baby but she relies…

Words 1748 - Pages 7