Hills like white elephants story. Hills Like White Elephants Study Guide 2022-10-03

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Hills Like White Elephants is a short story by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1927. The story is set in a train station in Spain, where a young couple, referred to only as "the man" and "the girl," are having a conversation about an impending operation that the girl is hesitant to undergo. It is implied that the operation is an abortion, although the word is never used directly in the story.

The story is told through the dialogue between the man and the girl, and it is revealed that the man is trying to convince the girl to go through with the operation. He argues that it is a simple procedure and that it is the best thing for both of them. The girl, however, is hesitant and expresses her doubts and fears about the operation.

The title of the story, "Hills Like White Elephants," refers to a line in the conversation between the man and the girl, in which the girl looks at the hills in the distance and says that they look like white elephants. The man responds by saying that he has never seen a white elephant, and the girl replies that they are pretty. The reference to white elephants is a metaphor for something that is rare and valuable, but also burdensome and difficult to care for. This metaphor can be interpreted as representing the girl's unborn child, which is valuable and rare, but also a burden that she is not sure she is ready to take on.

Throughout the story, the man and the girl struggle to come to a decision about the operation, and their conversation touches on themes of love, responsibility, and the difficulties of communication in relationships. The man tries to reassure the girl by telling her that he loves her and that everything will be alright, but the girl remains hesitant and unsure.

In the end, the reader is left to wonder what decision the couple ultimately made. Did the girl go through with the operation, or did she choose to keep the child? The story ends with the man ordering two beers, and the girl saying "I feel fine." This ambiguity leaves the interpretation of the story open to the reader, inviting them to consider the larger themes and implications of the couple's decision.

Overall, Hills Like White Elephants is a poignant and thought-provoking story that explores the complexities of relationships and the difficult decisions that we face in life. It serves as a reminder that, even in our closest relationships, we may not always understand or agree with the choices that our loved ones make, and that sometimes the hardest decisions are the ones that are left unsaid.

Hills Like White Elephants Study Guide

hills like white elephants story

What does River symbolize? He seems to enjoy this moment apart from her, noting how reasonable the people in the bar all seem. At the end of their conversation, the girl appears to have agreed to have the abortion, and they both board the same train to go to the same direction which means that there is no conflict of opinions between them. What is the synonym of a small hill? The two couple briefly discuss their future. Learn More First, Hemingway chose a specific location to describe the actions of his story. In Paris or Paname: Hemingway's Expatriate Nationalism. There seems to be a special magic in the way a river flows.

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On Jig’s Psychological Changes in the Short Story Hills Like White Elephants of Hemingway

hills like white elephants story

This story, Hills Like White Elephants, is taken form the Objective dramatic point of view where the author is the narrator. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry. It is clear from the ensuing conversation that their intimacy has resulted in a pregnancy and that he wants her to submit to an abortion. They are less steep and not as high. This is sometimes called the dramatic point of view. Beginning his writing career as a journalist, Hemingway favored clipped, impersonal statements over subtle, emotional, or poetic styles of writing.

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Setting in "Hills Like White Elephants" Story

hills like white elephants story

Throughout the story, the woman is distant; the American is rational. Definition of hill Entry 1 of 2 1 : a usually rounded natural elevation of land lower than a mountain. What is the nearest meaning of hill? The female character's repeated comments about white elephants suggest a deep awareness of their situation that her partner does not recognize, and scholars have seen this allusiveness as an indication of her superior imagination and knowledge. Jig concerns is that she had to choose between the American man and the baby. She was waiting at the table and smiled at him.

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Symbolism in the story "Hills Like White Elephants."

hills like white elephants story

Moreover, the train must arrive soon, which means that a decision must be made, which cannot be delayed any longer. The woman came out through the curtains with two glasses of beer and put them down on the damp felt pads. Hills Like White Elephants is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Studies in Short Fiction. He transformed the plot into a third-person narrative with a tense and unstated conflict at the heart of the action. However, the setting allows the reader to understand the meaning of events occurring.


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Hills Like White Elephants: A Short Story by Ernest Hemingway

hills like white elephants story

Since theyre higher than everything around them, hills are good places to get a nice view. Along with the title, the story refers to the whiteness of the hills and how they look like white elephants. Hills Like White Elephants. In the story they both view a hillside that reminded Jig of white elephants. The arriving train represents decision time. Within the story, Hemingway makes "two references to the whiteness of the hills and four to them as white elephants".

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What is the moral lesson of the story Hills Like White Elephants?

hills like white elephants story

Some critics have written that the dialogue is a distillation of the contrasts between stereotypical male and female relationship roles: in the excerpt above, for instance, the woman draws the comparison with white elephants, but the hyper-rational male immediately denies it, dissolving the bit of poetry into objective realism with "I've never seen one. The man and the girl have different views about abortion, the argue continually throughout the story. Thus, the setting of the story emphasizes the dynamics of events, the reader experiences anxiety. Another significant detail, undoubtedly, are the hills themselves, against which the conversation unfolds. He will have to carry these weights throughout his life. The railway station is a pathway for both of them, on which their joint fate is decided.

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Analysis of Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"

hills like white elephants story

Jig looks at the Spanish hills and comments that they look like white elephants, the first occurrence of the phrase in the story. He allows us only to see the characters as we would in real life. Their attitude towards the curtain shows their attitude toward the abortion. Each symbol develops gradually from the start till the end of the story and communicates the meaning of the story. He went out through the bead curtain.

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Hills Like White Elephants

hills like white elephants story

Scott Fitzgerald and other expatriate American writers of the "lost generation. Just like we were before. You know I love you. The white elephant—which was more often than not stricken with albinism, and thus more a ruddy-pink color—was, and remains to this day, a symbol of success. Jig concerns is that she had to choose between the American man and the baby. Elliot thinks that the girl in the play is Catholic that is why the curtain of beads works as a rosary for her. The labels are the symbols of their hedonistic lifestyle without any responsibilities Friedman.

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What do the hills symbolize in Hills like White Elephants?

hills like white elephants story

I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Hemingway skillfully incorporates many details into a short story, turning it into meaningful work. What does a valley symbolize? Many interpretations see the curtain as a barrier between Jig and the American. Many people have built their homes and villages on hills to avoid floods. This is an epiphany. Literally, the curtain is a barrier between the American and the girl while he drinks in the bar among other "reasonable people" while the girl sits outside.

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