13/12/ · Hills like white elephants Hills like white elephants, is a short story about a couple trying to make a big decision together. It is apparent that the girl is pregnant. The argument they are struggling with is whether or not for her to have an abortion. The man is on the side that she should have the operation; she has not yet made up her 1/1/ · Hills Like White Elephants English Literature Essay. The short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, is about a young couple and the polemic issue of abortion. However, since the word “abortion is found nowhere is the story, it is mainly understood through Hemingway’s use of literacy elements: setting and imagery/symbolism Hills Like White Elephants. ‘Hills like White Elephants’ is one of the most well-known short stories written by Ernest Hemingway. The story was first published in the year , in the literary magazine ‘Transition’. It was published in the month of August and later on that year, it was included in the short story collection ‘Men without Women’
Hills Like White Elephants Free Essay Sample
The conversation takes place at a Spanish train station while the two characters are waiting for a train to Madrid. The short story opens essays on hills like white elephants a long description of the setting.
It is set in a train station, which is surrounded by hills, fields and trees and is situated in a valley in Spain. The scene opens on this railway station where the Barcelona-Madrid express is expected to arrive in forty minutes. They are waiting for this train to Madrid.
The writer describes the surroundings of the station as the valley of the Ebro River with long white hills on each side. The girlfriend Jig says that the hills surrounding the station look like white elephants. The American replies to this that he has never seen a white elephant. The couple decides to try a new drink, the anis del Toro, with water. They start bickering about the drink.
The girl remarks that the drink they have ordered tastes like licorice, essays on hills like white elephants. The American tells the girl that both of them try to enjoy themselves. To this, the girl replies that she is only trying to enjoy herself.
She also says that the hills do not look like white elephants to her anymore. Both of them order more drinks and bicker some more. The American mentions that he wants the girl, Jig, to have an operation. However, he does not specify what kind of operation it is. Because of the way he talks, the readers get the impression that he is quite agitated. He tries to downplay the seriousness of the operation a bit. He tells the girl that the operation would be very simple.
He even goes on to say that the procedure is not that of operation at all. After the man says all this, the girl says nothing at all. She remains quiet for some time. The man says that things will become better afterward. Things will go back to just like they were before. He says that the operation will fix their essays on hills like white elephants and their relationship will go back to the way it used to be before.
The girl is quite sceptical of it. She remains silent for some time but then dispassionately agrees with him. Seeing the reluctance that the girl agrees with, essays on hills like white elephants, the American says that he is not going to force her to have the operation but he says that it is the best course of action for both of them to follow.
The girl says that she is ready to have the operation as long as he assures her that he is going to love her after the operation has been done. She says that she wants both of them to be able to live happily together after the operation has taken place. Listening to all of this, the man begins to emphasize on her love for the girl. He tells her that he cares very much for her.
The girl, however, claims that she does not care about what happens to her. Then, the girl gets up and walks all the way to the end of the station. She takes a deep look at the scenery and wonders aloud whether, after she has had the operation, they will be able to live happily or not.
The two argue for some more time and keep doing so until the girl gets tired. She makes the American a promise to stop talking. The bartender brings two more beers to the couple and he tells them that the train is scheduled to arrive in five minutes. The girl smiles at the bartender but she does not understand what she had said as she spoke Spanish. She has to ask the American what she said.
Once they have finished their drinks, the American carries the bags to the platform and then walks back to the bar. He notices all the people who are also waiting for the train. He then asks the girl if she feels better. She replies in the affirmative. She says that she feels okay and that there is nothing wrong with her.
There are many interpretations of this operation. One of the strongest opinions about this operation is that the operation is actually an abortion. The American is trying to convince the girl to abort his child.
Jig, as very obviously reflected in the story, is very sceptical of all this. She is reluctant to have the operation and thinks that because of the pregnancy, their relationship has reached a stage from which they cannot go back. However, she still wonders whether by having the abortion she can make this between them to the way they used to be.
The American becomes anxious about it and tells the girl that he loves her and will continue to do so irrespective of her having the abortion or not. Throughout the story, the power shifts back and forth between the girl and the American in the verbal tussle. However, it is a topic of debate among the critics and scholars as to who has the upper hand at the end of the story.
Most of these scholars believe that it is Jig, the girl, who has the upper hand at the end and she is the one who has made her decision, although that decision is not made explicit by the writer. The American is seen as very essays on hills like white elephants for Jig to have the abortion because he does not want anyone in his life the baby but Jig only.
The American wants his life to continue in the same manner. He is desperate to convince the girl to have an abortion. He even tries to make the operation seem less frightening by saying that it is perfectly simple. He says that the operation is absolutely safe. This is very well evidenced by the reactions that he has to her comments when she says that she finds the white hills looking like white elephants and when she says that the drink tastes like licorice, essays on hills like white elephants.
By these comments, Hemingway is trying to tell the readers that the girl is more emotionally invested in the relationship. On the other hand, for the man, it is mostly about sex.
This is the reason for which the girl is very reluctant to have the operation. The author has also tried to reflect that the girl, to some degree, essays on hills like white elephants, cares about the baby. Some of her remarks and questions reflect this care. She believes that because of this pregnancy, their relationship has changed irrevocably. She does not believe that having abortion is going to change anything in their relationship.
One can notice that the American is trying very hard to make Jig say that she wants the abortion herself. Because is she says so, he will get rid of the blame. But clearly, Jig does not give him satisfaction throughout the story. She remains silent many times. Thus, if she goes through the operation, she would have done so because the man would have forced her to do so. This is the attitude she carries throughout the entire story.
At the end of the story, Jig seems to have gained the upper hand in the tussle. She begins to smile at the barmaid and at the American. She seems to have gained a new serenity about herself. She seems to have gained new confidence. This is also reflected by the fact that the American gives up the argument. He takes the opportunity of taking the bags to the platform to move away from the argument. One might feel that the American man has admitted to himself that he has lost the argument and he is taking a few minutes to himself.
This is why he has a drink in the bar before returning to their table. Once he reaches there, he does not ask about abortion. He asks the girl whether she feels better. The girl says that she is fine and smiles at him. There is no anxiety that she reflect at this point. This is also one of the reasons due to which the scholars have felt that she has acquired the upper hand in this verbal tussle.
One of the most significant aspects of this work is the characterization of women. The jig has been presented as a sympathetic woman. In fact, she has been presented as even more sympathetic than the American man. She sees abortion as a deep question. She essays on hills like white elephants considers the impact that abortion is going to have upon the relationship that she shares with the American, essays on hills like white elephants.
The American, on the other hand, wants to continue his life in the same carefree manner that he has always spent it in. He does not want to be a essays on hills like white elephants yet and he does not want to be burdened with the responsibilities of being a father, essays on hills like white elephants. He tries to bully Jig. He tries to convince her to go through abortion. Also, the fact that Jig resists to this bullying of the American throughout the story makes her the protagonist of the story.
One might wonder what the significance of the title is.
Ending Explained! Hemingway's \
, time: 12:09Research Papers On Hills like White Elephants | WOW Essays
26/1/ · Hills Like White Elephants is a short story written by Ernest and featured in the book, Men Without Women. It is set in a train station in the Ebro river of Spain. The day is hot and two characters one called ‘the American’ (male) and the other Jig (female) are introduced. They are drinking beer and liquor as they wait for the train to Madrid 27/2/ · “Hills Like White Elephants,” is a short story, written by author Ernest Hemingway. It is a story about a man and a woman waiting at a train station talking about an issue that they never name. I believe this issue is abortion. In this paper, I will support my thoughts that the girl in the story, Jig, finally decides to go ahead and have her baby Analysis of Hills Like White Elephants “Hills Like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemingway, is a short story published in that takes place in a train station in Spain with a man and a woman discussing an operation. Most of the story is simply dialogue between the two characters, the American and Jig
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