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Comparing Jeremy And Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemmingway

813 Words4 Pages

Jeremy and “the American” In the two essays “The Love of My Life” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway the common thread and theme is unwanted pregnancies. While the male characters of both essays have been given a similar trial their circumstances differ a great deal. These circumstances are key in assessing the actions taken by our characters. Otherwise, it would be far too easy to condemn Jeremy for having committed neonaticide. In “Hills Like White Elephants” Hemmingway gives very little information regarding the male character referred to as “the American”. What is left is an ambiguous means of interpreting him. This is likely because “the American” is an entirely fictional character created for a target audience to identify with. Hemmingway has created a man’s man with very simple motives. While the female character, Jig, is having thoughts of a family and future “the American” is clearly set on ridding himself of this problem and aborting the child they had conceived. Though “the American” makes a meager attempt at showing his affection for “the girl” she ultimately understands that he does not wish to preserve their relationship. “the …show more content…

On the other hand in Hemmingway’s story “Hills like White Elephants”, “the American” wanted nothing more than to rid himself of any possible commitments. Though these two men have been placed in similar dilemmas there are key differences that set the two apart. One major factor is that the female, Jig from Hemmingway’s story actually desires to have a family while China, the girl from Boyle’s story wishes to continue perusing her education without the burden of a child. Also “the American” seemed the be a worldly man of means capable of caring for a child while Jeremy was still a teen incapable of caring for himself alone much less a

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Lane Jr. who's struggling with his faith will support and stand by Sheri and her decision concerning the pregnancy. Ernest Hemingway's" Hills Like White Elephants” allows his readers to come to the conclusion as to whether the couple in question will terminate or keep the unborn child. As Jig, and the American are

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1554 Words | 7 Pages

Throughout the short story (1), “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway is speaking about a seemingly unwanted pregnancy and a woman’s uneasiness with going through an abortion. However, Hemingway never explicitly says in this work of fiction (2) that it is about abortion or that the woman, Jig, is uncomfortable with it, but uses symbolism (3) to present this to the audience. At the time “Hills like White Elephants” was published, in 1927, abortion was illegal in most places and a very taboo subject that wasn’t to be openly discussed in public. Thus, Hemingway relied greatly upon the use of symbolism to get his message across for this reason as well as the third person narrator (4) that did not give insight into the character’s thoughts within this piece of literature (5) . He uses symbols such as the train station, white hills, the baggage, and the drinks to point towards the underlying internal conflict (6) of Jig’s decision that is being heavily influenced by the American man, who wants Jig to get the abortion.

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857 Words | 4 Pages

The author sets “Hills Like White Elephants” at a train station to highlight the fact that the relationship between the American man and the girl is at a crossroads. Planted in the middle of a desolate valley, the station isn’t a final destination but merely a stopping point between Barcelona and Madrid. Travelers, including the main characters, must therefore decide where to go and, in this case, whether to go with each other and continue their relationship. Moreover, the contrast between the white hills and barren valley possibly highlights the dichotomy between life and death, fertility and sterility, and mirrors the choice the girl faces between having the baby or having the abortion. The girl seems torn between the two landscapes, not only commenting on the beauty of the hills but also physically walking to the end of the platform and gazing out at the brown emptiness around the station.

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841 Words | 4 Pages

Images, and information; without it the entire person suffers. In his story “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway shows how the person truly never listens to one another. In the story, the American and the Girl who is called “Jig” by the American man are sitting outside a Spanish Café station waiting for the train to take them to Madrid. While waiting inside the Café they order some drinks and discuss about something which is not named. The girl starts commenting how the hills look like white elephants which then leads the American to start talking.

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754 Words | 4 Pages

Ernest Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants", published in 1927, portrays a tense conversation between a man, called "the American", and a girl named "Jig", the only named character, against the scenic backdrop of a train station on Ebro River with its dusty, white hills looming in the distance. Though their conversation never specifies what their conflict is, we can infer that they are speaking about the termination of a pregnancy i.e., an abortion, via the use of words like "operation". Through this conversation and the American's treatment of Jig, we see the catalyst for Jig's transformation from a naive little girl who cannot even order her own drinks into a determined young woman able to make her own serious decisions for

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1337 Words | 6 Pages

It is widely known that a lack of communication within a relationship almost always puts a detrimental strain on it. In Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, the narrative revolves around an unspoken conflict between a woman named Jig and her significant other, referred to as the American man. In the story, Jig and the American man are travelling in Spain. At a train station, they are talking about an “operation” (Hemingway 476) Jig is to have; one can infer they are talking about an abortion.

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699 Words | 3 Pages

In Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants”, the American and Jig are like parallel lines, they can never meet. As they struggle to find common ground, the very discussion that can bring them together only tears them apart. The relationship between Jig and the American is complex from the very beginning since their personalities, methods of communicating, and desires are different. The American represents infertility, selfishness and death but how can he not be when he’s a single man, traveling, trying new drinks, spending nights in hotels with no worry about money and now he has impregnated a women, of course he will lose his zest for her (Hannum).

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1004 Words | 5 Pages

Chopin may suggest that Mrs. Mallard feels restricted to live her life with a partner in her life. Hemmingway does not reveal the thoughts of the characters leaving readers at suspense. Readers must interpret what is going on between the girlfriend and her boyfriend in Hills Like White Elephants (Hemmingway). The white elephants in his story represent fertility. Both the woman and her boyfriend struggle to speak of abortion.

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1629 Words | 7 Pages

The dialogue in Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” reveals a man’s and a woman’s incongruent conflict on abortion, and the author’s fundamentally feminist position is visible in the portrayal of the woman’s independent choice of whether or not to keep the baby she is carrying. The plot is very simple in the story which is less than 1500 words long. A woman and a man spend less than an hour on a hot summers day at a Spanish train station in the valley of Ebro as they are waiting for a train heading for Madrid. Their dialogue takes up most of the space and only few major actions take place.

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1013 Words | 5 Pages

One main theme in Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is the idea of disconnection. In this story, we eavesdrop on a conversation held between both characters. In their dialogue, conflict is created as the characters face what most readers believe to be the obstacle of unexpected pregnancy. This is assumed through symbolism and the titles meaning. The term “white elephant” was used for an unwanted gift.

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496 Words | 2 Pages

Therefore, the narration is only limited to what the characters say and do. By not showing the character’s motives, mind-set and attitudes, Hemingway’s allows the reader to interpret this for themselves. The whole story is told as if you, the reader, is present at the scene and overhearing the couple’s conversation. Much of the story is told through the dialogue between Jig and The American, within the dialogue the couple discusses whether to have the operation or not: “"It's really an awfully simple operation, Jig," the man said. "It's not really an operation at all."”

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1098 Words | 5 Pages

Hills Like White Elephant is a short story by Earnest Hemingway from 1927. The story is talking about a failing relationship between an American man and his girlfriend. This couple is at a critical point on their lives. At the bar in a train station in Spain, the girl, Jig, does not want to end up her pregnancy, but she is going to sacrifice the baby to satisfied him. Because he is critical of the exploitation of his girl’s feelings concerning the continuation of unbalanced relationship.

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786 Words | 4 Pages

During the course of the story “Hills Like White Elephants” the author Ernest Hemingway uses symbolism to describe the the main idea of the girl having the “operation.” Hemingway uses the landscape, the white elephant, and the term “elephant in the room” to represent different aspects of the pregnancy and abortion. The landscape in the story represents choosing the abortion or choosing to keep the baby. The setting of the story is at a train station.

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1044 Words | 5 Pages

In his story “Hills Like White Elephants”, Ernest Hemingway points out the couple's inability to make the decision: whether to abort the unborn child or not. The reader finds that the story deals with couple's miscommunication through the conversation and the emotions that they express. One can observe that no descriptions are given to the characters, thus, Hemingway creates universal dilemma to focus on the crucial issue. In this way, Hemingway leads the reader to identify with his female character that undergoes a struggle.

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1108 Words | 5 Pages

However, the American man rejects the idea of family and selfishly attempts to convince her an abortion is a better solution. Weeks Jr. 77, analysis of the white elephant symbolism supports this theory. Hemingway sets “Hills Like White Elephants” at a train station; this motif symbolizes the state of the relationship between the American man and the girl is at a crossroads. Travelers, including the main characters, must, therefore, decide where to go and, in this case, whether to go with each other and continue their relationship or venture in opposite

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