Analysis Of Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway

Subject : English 1 Name : Sithandwa Khuzwayo

Tutor : Vinolia Mohube Student no : 17k2764

Time/Date : 11h25 - Wednesday Due Date : 31 March 2017

Lecturer : Prof. Spencer Tutorial Group: G

Joseph M. Flora claims that short stories “take a slight situation and read in it the profundities of life”. Write a close analysis of any ONE of the short stories which you have studied in this course, showing how it demonstrates the validity of Flora’s contention.

Ernest Hemingway once compared

He draws our attention to the surroundings and atmosphere of the place. He is very descriptive on describing the plot and setting. One could argue that, other than being so descriptive on the surroundings, wouldn’t it be better if he was more explicit about the characters behaviour, characteristics and personalities? The reason for not being descriptive on the characters personality is to challenge the reader’s imaginative creativity with the given facts. The first line speaks of mountains which were long and white. Furthermore, the two people were on the side which had no shade and no trees. (Hemingway, Hills like white elephants, 2003) This suggests an image of negativity. The assumption is that the American and the girl are not in a good space. The long and white mountains is a suggestion of the state of their relationship. It is to solidify that their relationship is not a good space. It seems to be steep like mountains and dry. (Hemingway, Hills like white elephants, 2003). Ernest Hemingway once stated that the more you strip away from a short story the better it becomes. (Hemingway, Death in the afternoon, 1932) Considering that the place they are departing from is in the valley, assumes that the departure is not of a peaceful manner. A valley is the bottom part of the mountain which consists of darkness – this suggests that the departure of the couple is one of a bad note. Though it

There appears to be a lack of sense of responsibility from the couple. No one wants to explicitly say what should be the verdict (though the American suggests that the girl should have an abortion, he then also says that it is her decision to make. This can be seen as the man giving her false power over the matter) because no one wants to be held responsible for commissioning an act which is deemed immoral, especially in America where the issue of abortion was trending with controversy.(Marvin, Olasky, “Abortion News in the late 1920s: A new York City Case Study) When the man is back from fetching the bags, he sits alone by the bar and sees other passengers who are ready to depart and sums it as the reasonable thing to do. This is probably the crux of how the man views the girl. The use of “reasonably” in the text argues that the girl is unreasonable. It’s an implication that the girl is irrational with her thinking and logic. Due to the girl not subscribing to the man’s terms, he deems her unreasonable and irrational. (Prof. Spencer. Lecturer on Hills Like White Elephants. Department of English, Rhodes University: 1 March 2017)

Sometimes a story has limited content because it requires the reader to make more out of what is given. Truly, it is when we seek for deeper meanings that we can find the profundities of life from short stories. By looking at the text