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Hemingway's Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants

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Hemingway’s symbolism in Hills Like White Elephants Ernest Hemingway among the best of authors of his time, uses a quite different approach to his writings. His style to of writing is often vague and unclear. Hemmingway only gives a bit of content about the story, and the rest is hidden or missing entirely. The audiences are therefore forced to read more carefully and piece together the story. The style of writing he uses is known as the iceberg theory. This minimalistic style of writing is very abundant in his short story Hills like white elephants. In this short story Hemmingway uses many forms of symbolism as clues to illustrate and get a reader to think past the simplicity. Alcohol is a sense of relief and relaxation in many cases. Alike …show more content…

jig and the American begin to argue back-and-forth about an abortion he is proposing. But the setting plays a very important part as well. They are sitting in between two different landscapes. Representing both characters in the middle of a life changing decision This is significantly showing symbolism comparing life to both types of environmental scenes. One side of the landscape is dry and barren and unsuitable for life which is closely connected to what her life would be if she goes with the operation. On the opposite side of them there is a beautiful lush green fertile for wildlife. Since they don't know what to do, Hemingway set them in the middle of both. Hemmingway uses symbolism as a way to further enhance and illustrate possibilities of the outcome story. He is minimalistic not giving many details about what evidently happens. By examples of symbolism like alcohol and scenery setting, we can tell the couple relatively young in age and irresponsible. This is perfect example of a woman maturing and a boy never wanting to grow up. Through all of this Hemmingway gives readers many textual examples to see the story from a different point of view into

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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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Christian Carasa English Composition 28 April 2016 Research Paper In the short story, “The Hills Like White Elephants,” an assortment of symbolic and scenic settings are integrated into the story by Hemingway. Hemingway uses symbols to teach the reader situations people could come across throughout life. The use of symbols in “Hills Like White Elephants” is very important to the plot line and to the fundamental meaning of the story. Through this use of symbolism, the reader can begin to reveal the concealed themes in this short story.

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When first reading “Hills Like White Elephants,” the miscommunication and unintentional manipulation between characters, (an American man and a young woman who we can assume to be in a brief relationship with each other), may not be initially clear to the reader. The reader may first find the American man in the story to be harsh, controlling, and manipulative. However, after a closer second read one comes to realize that these assumptions about his character have come from simple miscommunication between characters. Hemingway refers to the female in the story specifically as a girl, not a woman, so we can infer that there is an age difference between the two characters which is also a contributing factor. As well, it becomes clear that the

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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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The American tries to convince himself that they will “ ‘be fine afterward. Just like [they] were before’’,but the girl shows her uncertainty asking him “‘What makes you think so’”(48-49)? The girl expresses her concern if “‘[they will] be happy and [if] things will be like they were’” (57-58).

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Nevertheless, Ernest Hemingway soon shows that this relationship contains a rift. This becomes apparent once they try conversing to one another. The girl attempts to spark a conversation by mentioning that the hills look like white elephants, but this topic soon turns hostile with the American’s replies. How this conversation is handled already shows that the couple “are trapped in a state of imbalance and disagreement” from the beginning (Link). The problem with the conversation is that the American’s personality of being simple and serious.

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Through his protagonist, Jake, Hemingway advocates for a different kind of masculinity, one associated with silence and stoicism rather than noise and performance. Hemingway’s hero is a literal embodiment of his iceberg principle, practicing stoicism and making for a lack of spoken language with action. Attention is drawn in the text to moments that seem to receive little attention, mainly Jake’s war wound. As a critical part of the text and an important symbol in his relationship with Brett, Jake’s impotence following an injury in the war is a silent space in the story. The silence around the wound acts to draw attention and curiosity from readers, and as part of the 7/8 below the surface, it becomes a critical motif in the work.

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in the essay " hills like White Elephant " the author uses a hesitant and confused tone to express and reaveal the complexities of loss. Earnest Hemingway show the primarily conversation between the American man and his girlfriend, neither of the speakers truly communicates with the other in agreement avoiding responsibility or blame . Both talk, but neither listens or understands the other’s point of view. Hemingway also used figurative languages and context clues that we can infer from the stories that jig the female has a very low self esteem when she said in page 477 "and if i do it you'll be happy and things will go back to like they were before " this show she is very insecure about her self she is less assertive and persuasive.

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Important parts of the story are not discovered instantly. In the story, Hills Like White Elephants, symbolism is used to describe an unstable relationship between a man and women. Symbolism is portrayed in Hills Like White Elephants through the couple’s consumption of alcohol, the setting and mood of the story, the white elephant, the elephant in the room and the number two. When reading Hills Like White Elephants, it is obvious that drinking alcohol is a large part of their relationship. Alcohol is not portrayed as a good thing.

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In the beginning of the story they sit drinking at a table outside a bar, and after a while the woman goes to the end of the station but she soon returns and participates in the dialogue. The man then carries their bags to the other side of the rails before he returns to and goes inside the bar for a drink. As the story ends, the man goes back outside and finishes his dialogue with the woman. The dialogue between the couple tangibly represents the mindset of what has been called The Lost Generation in the “Roaring Twenties”.

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“Hills Like White Elephants” may be a short story about two people just talking in a bar of a station, but behind every word Hemingway uses lies a deeper meaning. It is necessary to point out that omitting further information is something that is typical to Hemingway’s writing style. The reader has to contemplate what the author wants to portray in his story in the first place. Although the author probably had one meaning in mind, the metaphors can be interpreted in many ways. While reading the story, what came up to my mind was whether the author’s personal life had to do something with it or not.

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According to Smiley, “The dialogue contains the essence of the story's power; for to read Jig's and the American conversation is to recognize the powerless frustration of parallel interchanges” (2). The girl's character passes changes throughout the story. It appears that “Hemingway works out the story's conflict, which revolves around the development of his female character” (Renner 28). The girl gains power and frees herself from the following the American man. In the beginning of the story, the girl take the initiative to speak which leads to the discussion: “'what should we drink?'

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The novel, The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway, describes the life of some people from the Lost Generation in post-World War I Europe, but mostly in Paris, France and Pamplona, Spain. This novel rotates around Jacob, or Jake, Barnes’, the narrator’s, life; which mostly includes drinking with his friends, Robert Cohn, a Jewish man who is often verbally abused by his “friends”, Ashley Brett, an attractive woman who Jake is in love with, Bill Gorton, a good friend of Jake’s, and a couple others. Their life in dull Paris seems to revolve around spending money and drinking, but when they go to colorful Pamplona, Spain, they have an amazing time during the fun-filled fiesta. Ernest Hemingway uses the “iceberg theory” when he presents Jake Barnes to the reader; he does not directly tell you a lot about Jake, but through Jake’s thoughts and emotions, one can tell that he was injured in the war, he is not a very religious person, he would rather do what he loves, instead of what he must, and he does not like to be honest with himself, despite the fact that he is one of the more honest characters in the novel. Ernest Hemingway does not directly let the reader know that Jake is injured in a special place; he allows the reader to interpret that from Jake’s thoughts and memories.

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