Essays on Hills Like White Elephants

HILLS LIKE ELEPHANTS. THE MAIN IDEA OF THE STORY AND ITS CONFLICTS.

Introduction:

background on both authors and texts

Summary of the text

Thesis statement: Jig and Paul being characters of different stories by different authors revolt against norms of the American patriarchal society in the first half of the 20th century.

The topic of homosexuality and alienation of the main character in “Paul’s Case”

Examples and explanations Summary of the issues discussed in the story and conclusion Difficulties of communication Examples and explanations summary of gender roles in the story

Symbols used in the story and their explanation

Examples and discussion Summary of use of form and content of the story Issues discussed in the story Discussion of the issues Summary of discussed issues ...

HILLS LIKE ELEPHANTS. THE MAIN IDEA OF THE STORY AND ITS CONFLICTS.

Introduction:

background on author and text

Summary of the text

Thesis statement: In his short story, Hemingway discusses such issues as gender role, drugs and alcohol and so forth. Difficulties of communication Examples and explanations summary of gender roles in the story

Symbols used in the story and their explanation

Examples and discussion Summary of use of form and content of the story Issues discussed in the story Discussion of the issues Summary of discussed issues Conclusion. Hills Like Elephants. The main idea of the story and its conflicts. "Hills Like White Elephants" written by Ernest Hemingway was first published ...

A Comparison of Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” and Johnson’s “Black Woman”

A Comparison of Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” and Johnson’s “Black Woman” The short story, Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, and the poem, Black Woman by Georgia Douglas Johnson, both focus on the struggle a woman experiences when contemplating an abortion. While both were written around the same time—“Hills Like White Elephants” in 1927 and “Black Woman” in 1918, each features characters that offer differing, distinct views of the issues surrounding the decision. This is in no small part because their lives are dramatically different, thanks to issues of race and socioeconomic status. The ...

Every romantic relationship hits a point where what we want to be true about the relationship runs squarely into what is actually true in that relationship. At that point is generally the crisis that determines whether the relationship will survive or not. If the relationship does not survive, we often end up heading out looking for another one, wanting what we wanted to be true to be real in the next relationship. This is often why so many men, single once again in middle age, end up trying to date someone much younger to see if they can relive ...

The first thought in reading the title of the short story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is to wonder what the title means. Once the reader gets into the story and becomes caught up in the interaction between the man and his female companion, the title may slip away after the first and second mention as symbolism and the author’s presentation of gender characteristics. However important and interesting the other aspects of Hills Like White Elephants may be, it is proposed that the entire story is based around the premise of the representation of the hills ...

A Literary Analysis

Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” takes place at a train station in Spain on a very hot summer day. The two main characters, the American and Jig, the girl, are travelling by train because the girl is going to get an operation. They are waiting for the next train that will take them to Madrid, the location of the operation, and they have forty minutes waiting until it gets there. The operation is likely an abortion, and the American is pushing for it while Jig is concerned and hesitant to go through with it. During ...

The objective of this paper is to analyze and examine, through words, Ernest Hemingway’s style of writing. When it comes to analyzing a literature author’s writing style, the critic can pertain to a lot of things such as, but may not be limited to the choice of words, syntax and sentence structure, rhythm, point of view, emotion, rhetorical strategy, purpose, tone, and the use of figures of speech. Ernest Hemingway is one of the most remarkable American authors. In this paper, evidences from two of his most popular works namely the Hills like White Elephants and A ...

Ernest Hemingway, the author of the story ‘Hills like White Elephants,’ is a famous 20th-century American writer and author whose published works have created a niche of their own in the literary world. Hemingway is known for his autobiographical element. He revolutionized the idea of the American living in the 20th century. He was a very brief and straightforward in his work. He used short sentences and posed his ideas very vividly. His personal life was storming, and he married multiple times. He would fall in love even after his marriage, and he married four times. He suffered from ...

Comparison of Themes of Marital and Romantic Relationships in Two Stories

The present age tends to dichotomise romance and family. Doris Lessing’s short story “To Room Nineteen” portrays a free-spirited Englishwoman who made the mistake of signing up for the life of a full-time housewife. Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” set in Spain, depicts the scepticism and xenophobia of a young woman whose American lover importunes for abortion. Both these women are disillusioned with romance with which they began. Susan Rawlings in Lessing’s story does not care for material security which her promiscuous husband provides. Hemingway’s Jig fears she is taken for a ride when ...

The short story, ‘Hills like white elephants’ utilizes heavy use literary elements to convey the theme of the story, while managing to keep the reader captivated by story trying to deduce further meaning to its conclusion. The author uses the setting of the story to draw a deeper meaning to the story thus enhancing the ability of the reader to comprehend the situation the couple faces without using express language (Koloze, 2005).

The story is set in a train station where a couple sits drinking bear while waiting for their train. The setting in the context of this story is important. ...

In a world obsessed with so much technology, it is fairly easy to get sucked into electronic devices, social media and virtual networking. This has not only affected our interpersonal relationships, but our relationship with the written word as well. There are many people that could not even tell you the last time that they picked up a book. It seems as though in our busyness and with our hectic lifestyles that we have lost a certain level of companionship and intimacy that we once had with one another and with the world. Literature and/or reading, has always had the ability to ...

Plot of the Story

Hills like white elephants is s story happening at the train station surrounded by natural beauty at a hill in Spain. The man who is called "American" is waiting with his girlfriend in a bench for a train to Madrid. As the man orders beers, the girl remarks the hills to look like white elephants as he comments; he has not seen one ever. The get drunk, and The American says he wants a girl to have an operation, to which the girl asks what will happen to her after that. She agrees on the condition that as the operation finishes they ...

Introduction

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born in July 21, 1899, Oak Park, Illinois. He was an American writer and journalist. Most of his works were fiction characterized by mainly economy and understatements. Owing to his profession of being a journalist he was also an adventurous person. He did his production in the 20th century (the mid 1920s and also mid 1950s). He ventured into journalism after finishing school where he worked for The Kansas City Star. Afterwards he left for the Italian font where he became an ambulance driver during World War I. This is what led to the production of ...

Critical analysis

Ernest Hemingway is probably one of the most outstanding and influential authors in the history of the American literature. He is famous for such novels as “Moveable Feast” , “Farewell to Arms”, “The Old Man and the Sea”, however, he has also proved to be a talented author of short stories. “Men without Women” is his second collection of short stories, which include fourteen narratives. This volume is a good example of Hemingway’s talent and genius as it represents traits of his unique writing style such as conciseness, attention to details, symbolism and somewhat implicit dialogues. ‘’Hills like white Elephants” is ...

Question 2.

In reading the stories “Hills like White Elephants” and “The Unicorn in the Garden”, the authors Ernest Hemmingway and James Thurber have introduced strong symbolisms. The first aspect to strike when reading both these stories is how the characters themselves are symbolic of life and death. In “Hills Like white Elephants”, the girl Jig, symbolizes life. She is the one who wants to have a baby. She wants to break away from the life of staleness where all she and her husband ever do is “look at things and try new drinks”. Instead she wants to welcome life – a baby (which she ...

While Ernest Hemingway is commonly associated with living the masculine ideal, in many of his stories he shows a more tenuous grasp of gender roles than one might think a man nicknamed “Papa” who spent his life pursuing such adventures would hold. Hemingway drove an ambulance in a civil war that did not even involve his country; he was a huge fan of bullfights; he was an even bigger fan of hunting. However, such characters as Lady Brett Ashley, whose very name shows a diagonal meandering across gender lines, is a woman who acts like a stereotypical man in terms of her sexual appetites and emotional ...

The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway tells the tale of Jig and the American, two characters with a great deal of ambiguity and complexity arguing about an implicit conflict of which the audience is given very few details. By keeping the nature of their conflict and relationship ambiguous, Hemingway allows the audience to fill in the blanks with their own biases, prejudices, and interpretations. While there are many different interpretations available for “Hills Like White Elephants,” the most plausible explanation is that Jig and the American are (or were) in a relationship, Jig is pregnant, and the ...

Introduction

Hills Like White Elephants is a popular American short story by American author, Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). Hemmingway wrote and published the story in his 1927 collection of short stories titled Men Without Women. The story bears many autobiographical elements of Hemingway’s life as he struggled to build lifelong relationships. It is a popular story in American schools thanks to a captivating plot, setting, characters, use of imagery and its exposition of common societal themes.

Setting

The story is set at a train station surrounded by fields, trees, hills and a valley in Spain. The place is the Ebro River valley in Spain. It features a ...

An analysis of the relation between the narrative elements and theme in the short story “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway “Hills like White Elephants” is one of Ernest Hemingway's most popular short stories. It deals with one of the most debated social issue in the society. The writer presents the social issue of abortion through the characters Jig and the American. The writer uses the characters, the setting, and the symbolic references to bring out the theme in the story. Hemmingway skillfully weaves an ambiguous web that leaves the readers to draw their personal conclusions about ...

Literature Review

There are many ways through which the writers use in the expression of their desires. Different writers will apply different forms of symbolism to air out their views and opinions on contemporary issues of the society. The manner through which the different writers use to air out their views explains the type of a person the writer may be. The poets also play an important part in the society as they use the poems in the propagation of important messages in the society. The short story Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway and the poem Black Woman by Georgia ...

Organization

Abstract This essay pertains to the observations and findings of the readers of the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. The author has portrayed the concept of “conflict” in the process of communication with the help of contrasting visual imagery and crisp dialogues. This essay discusses the subtle forms of expressions which the author has used to convey his message.

Introduction:

In the short story, “Hills Like White Elephants”, the author has depicted the conflicts that may arise when two people, nurturing different ideologies, try to communicate their differences. (Pritchett) At the onset of the story, ...

Symbolism is an important aspect of literature that most writers use to bring out their point. There is however a big difference on how symbolism was used in ancient literature and how it is currently being used. This is simply because of the changing times as well as the influences that come with technology. The essence of literature is to point out issues that are affecting the society with the aim of creating a lasting solution to them. It should also be noted that modernity has come up with a different breed of writers who have taken a different approach to literature. Even ...

Hemingway is considered one of the greatest writers of all time, and a master of the short story. In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway examines a number of important literary themes, delving deep into the human psyche and consciousness. Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” touches on the lives of two characters, an American and a woman named Jig. The two sit in a Spanish restaurant, drinking beer and talking past each other about Jig’s unplanned pregnancy. The story revolves around the conversation that the two have in the restaurant, illustrating some of the painful truths that Hemingway observed ...

Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" follows two conflicted and ambiguous characters - Jig and the American. Though their primary struggle and conflict is never explicitly mentioned, it is heavily implied that these two characters were or are in a relationship, Jig is pregnant, and the American wishes for her to have an abortion. The silent treatment Jig gives the American and the passive but pleading requests made by the American are indicative of their personalities, as well as other context clues strewn throughout the short story.The short story itself is a treatise on the importance of communication in a ...

The philosophy Boethius once said as he reflected on his life while wasting away in a prison cell, “there is no pain so great as the contemplation of former happiness in present sorrow.” This is a universal theme in literature, looking back at a better time from the vantage point of a deplorable condition. This essay explores this theme and secondary literary tools that help achieve the feeling of lost Eden that Hemmingway employs in his short story “Hills Like White Elephants.” In some stories, an unwanted change of loss occurs in one instant. Someone could lose a loved one in a dramatic way ...

‘Name’

‘Instructor’s Name’ ‘Hills Like White elephants’, written by Ernest Hemingway, is one of those rare stories which does not fall under any of the plot category prescribed by Christopher Booker. The style was unconventional for its time, and the entire plot revolves around a conversation between a man and a woman, who embark on an argument regarding the necessity of an operation. The man referred as American is trying to convince his female companion to undergo an operation. The American repeatedly says that it is up to her to decide on it but he says that rather unconvincingly, and is ...

The two stories, “Hills like White Elephants” and “The Story of an Hour”, resonate around the feminist and Marxist ideas in unique and interesting ways. The stories are narrated from a third person with the authors keen to bring out capitalism and the ever present male chauvinism. It is this paper’s position that the two stories though within the same context, express different political ideology. The “Hills like White Elephants” appears to support the chauvinist approach in life while “The Story of an Hour” contends and disparages male chauvinism while promoting feminism. This paper shall analyze the political undertones ...

The story “the man who was almost a man” shows irresponsible parenthood. Dave’s mother was lenient to her son and let her have the gun in spite of knowing the deadly consequences the gun could bring (Wright, 1). When Dave got the gun he shot dead, Jenny their mule leaving his parents distraught. In the story “Vermont tales” the parents to the two children had separated causing the children to put up with their grandparents (Helprin, 1). The grandparents show responsible parenthood by telling the children a tale about loons in order to teach them some life lessons in love, ...

Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" follows two conflicted and vague characters - Jig and the American. While their big struggle and conflict is never explained, it is implied that these two characters were or are in a relationship, Jig is pregnant, and the American wants her to have an abortion. The silent treatment Jig gives the American and the requests made by the American show us their personalities. The hesitation for both characters to talk about the issue at hand shows the often delicate nature of relationships when unexpected but traumatically changing situations face them. The ...

The philosophy Boethius once said as he reflected on his life while wasting away in a prison cell, “there is no pain so great as the contemplation of former happiness in present sorrow.” Nostalgia, is a universal theme present in the cannon of literature. The theme explores looking back at a better time from the vantage point of a deplorable condition. This essay explores this theme in two different stories, that unfold the at different thematic tempos. In Jewett the white heron, the focus character Sylvia resists the intrusion of a man in her quite environment of living with her grandma on her ...

“Hills Like White Elephants” is one of Ernest Hemingway’s most famous short stories, and for good reason. It is a story that contains timeless themes and deals with a timeless issue: the interaction between men and women. Hemingway took and developed a concept that would come to be known as the “Iceberg” style of short-story writing and created what amounted to an entirely new stylistic type of short story. Hemingway’s use of a variety of literary elements to create dramatic tension and to really underscore the thematic idea of the problems of talking versus communication, particularly between individuals of different genders. ...

Ernest Hemingway’s short story, Hills Like White Elephants, appears simple enough upon the first read. It features an American man and his female lover, Jig, as they wait for a train to Madrid, Spain. They sit and drink beers as they wait for the train, and discuss some aspects of their lives. However, a second and closer reading of the story reveals that something much more important and life-changing is occurring in the relationship of the American and Jig. The first clue that things are not all right between the lovers is in their initial conversation, which has a bickering ...

“Hills like White Elephants” is a short story written by the eminent writer Ernest Hemingway. The story is set in a city of Spain, Zaragoza. As Hemingway wrote after the World War I, many of his stories focus on the depression and despair which was caused by the war. Hemingway portrays how people lost faith in themselves and in God. Due to this they started to indulge in faithless and vulgar activities like mindless physical intimacies and they just let go of their norms and traditions.

“Hills like White Elephants” revolves around two characters; a girl named Jig and a boy who is ...

In Short-Story Characters

Loneliness is a human condition that people almost universally wrestle with, at least during some point in their lives, which is why it is such a compelling subject for writers to depict with their characters. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “lonely” is defined as “being without company, cut off from others, not frequented by human beings, sad from being alone, and producing a feeling of bleakness or desolation” (n.d.). A person may feel lonely when all his friends are going away to college but he is still in his hometown working at the same job he has had through high school, when ...

Classic English literature

Ernest Hemmingway was born in Oak Park Illinois USA in 1899. He was both an author and a journalist and led an adventurous life. Hemmingway was enlisted in the army as an ambulance driver in the First World War but returned after getting seriously wounded in the course of the way. His experiences and the manner in which he led in life are evident of his literary works most of which seem to be adventurous. In Hills like white elephants the adventurous nature of the main characters, the American and his girl friend is evident of Hemmingway’s character (Pustienne ...

"Hills Like White Elephants" and "A New England Nun"

Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" follows two conflicted and ambiguous characters - Jig and the American. Though their primary struggle and conflict is never explicitly mentioned, it is heavily implied that these two characters were or are in a relationship, Jig is pregnant, and the American wishes for her to have an abortion. In Eleanor Wilkins Freeman's "A New England Nun," a similarly contentious relationship is shown, between the happily-established Louisa and the selfish, disruptive Joe, who comes into her life because of a promise which nearly tears both of ...

"Hills Like White Elephants" - Character Analysis

Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" follows two conflicted and ambiguous characters - Jig and the American. Though their primary struggle and conflict is never explicitly mentioned, it is heavily implied that these two characters were or are in a relationship, Jig is pregnant, and the American wishes for her to have an abortion. The silent treatment Jig gives the American and the passive but pleading requests made by the American are indicative of their personalities, as well as other context clues strewn throughout the short story. The reticence for both ...

Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Hills Like White Elephants” depends on dialogue to display two three dimensional characters and to demonstrate their relationship and the quandary they are experiencing and attempting to solve. A narrative of a couple who are in a dispute over the decision of whether the woman should abort her pregnancy, the work is written perceptively and plainly while dodging any words which explicitly name what the dispute is about. The author similarly uses symbolism, via the story’s setting, to restate the state of affairs. Generally, “Hills Like White Elephants” expresses a multifaceted theme and characterisation through few ...

Ernest Hemingway’s story, “Hills Like White Elephants” relies on dialogue to present two fully rounded characters and to illustrate their relationship, and the dilemma within it. A story of a young couple who disagree over the decision to have an abortion, the piece is written intelligently and clearly while avoiding any definitive words describing the nature of the disagreement. Hemmingway also uses symbolism, through setting, to reiterate the situation. Overall, this short story conveys a complex theme and characterisation while using relatively few narrative devices. “Hills Like White Elephants” tells a story with an almost exclusive use of dialogue. It ...

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story “Babylon Revisited” is the tale of Charlie Wales, who might have been a cautionary figure for Fitzgerald’s own life. Wales and his wife, Helen, used to drink excessively and get in dramatic, drawn-out fights. They had a daughter together, named Honoria. One night in 1929, during the heady days of the Jazz Age that preceded the arrival of the Great Depression, they had had a particularly awful fight, and Charlie ended up locking his wife out in the snowy night, and she became sick and died from exposure. The daughter, Honoria, ended up with Helen’s ...

Hills Like White Elephants is full of symbolism, much like a lot of Hemingway’s work. The title itself is symbolic of the various allusions made throughout the story: the plot revolves around ‘The American’ and his companion, ‘Jig’ whilst they are waiting for their train. We are party to their conversation which appears to be a discussion about Jig getting an abortion. The American says: “But I don’t want anybody but you” and this suggests this he is un-willing to share his lover with a baby. The baby and its abortion are not explicitly referred to, and this is the ‘ ...