ipl-logo

Hills Like White Elephant And The Sea Change Essay

668 Words3 Pages

Ernest Hemingway exercises literary elements in the short short stories “Hills like white elephants” and The sea change”. Throughout the short stories there are many significant similarities as well as differences. Ambiguity can be defined as a word or expression thats can be understood in two or more possible way. Hemingway's simplistic style and use of literary elements such as setting, imagery and symbolism, and these are used to coincide with themes feeling and emotions that character might be expressing. One of thesingnificant similarities between the two short stories is role reversal.. Role reversal is a situation in which two people have chosen or been forced to exchange their duties and responsibilities, so that each is now doing what the other used to do. “Vice is a monster of so frightful mien As to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace.” “Hills like white elephant” is a short story written by Ernest hemingway that takes place at a train station in between Madrid and Barcelona. At the …show more content…

The difference between the two stories is the overall plot. Througought ‘Hills Like White Elephants” abortion was the topic of conversiotion. As for “The Sea Change” the topic was infidellity and homosexuallity. Both are ambigiuous and written unamously on purpose so one can connect the two. The two short stories are both written in third person from a male and female perspective. “Hills Like White Elephants’ the american man was trying to convince Jig why the abortion would be the best option. and refers to it as a simple procedure. While in “ The Sea change” the women is trying to convince phil that her love hasnt changed but she rather be with a women. The character from both stories are annonymouis for a reason. The reason being the hidden connection between the

Show More
Related
528 Words | 3 Pages

Literary Analysis #2 Hills Like White Elephants This short story by Ernest Hemmingway, is about a man and woman’s difference in opinion with one another. The couple is waiting on a train to arrive at the junction station to take them to Madrid, Spain so that the woman can have an operation. In this story, Hemmingway utilizes symbolism and clues to explain the plot of the story and the conflict the two characters are having.

Read More
333 Words | 2 Pages

Ernest Hemingway uses repetition and ambiguity in his story, “Hills like White Elephants'' to exhibit the idea that in order to maintain a healthy long-term relationship, communication and consideration of one another’s values are needed. Throughout this story, a couple, Jig and the American, are having an intense and emotional conversation about whether Jig should have an abortion. She displays very sensitive feelings about the procedure, and the American takes advantage of this by trying to manipulate her, repeatedly stating it is her choice: “if [she doesn’t] want to [she doesn’t] have to. [He] wouldn’t have [her] do it if [she] didn’t want to” (477). By doing this he falsely implies he has no opinion, but later contradicts himself by

Read More
461 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
1240 Words | 5 Pages

They never finished their discussion, leaving the readers confused about if the couple keeps the baby and starts a family. Or do they split up and begin living their own separate lives. It can become very confusing trying to understand what happens in between their relationship. The ending of “Hills like white Elephants” does not leave anything clear to the readers on the other hand while in “The Cask of Amontillado” it is easy for readers to understand what happens at the very end of the

Read More
578 Words | 3 Pages

“Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway” is about a young couple with very bad communication skills debating over a problematic issue or decision for abortion. The main focus is of this big decision that Jig has to make. In the conversation readers can see that the two individuals are on the edge in their relationship. The communication between the two is very one sided and argumentative with little to no progress. The narrator demonstrates the emotional emptiness between the two characters while a threat of a decision intervenes on their relationship affecting how it will change and what the future will hold for them.

Read More
681 Words | 3 Pages

Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” contains hidden, deeper meanings which are full of conscious and unconscious psychological processes. Hemingway represents in this piece, by explicating the text to explore the domineering ways of relationships, setting, imagery within the piece, and essentially abortion. In “Hills Like White Elephants” the American displays the manipulative and domineering side of relationships illuminating that the “couple” within neglect to realize the majestic gift; instead, they have childlike arguments about the “White Elephant” in the room. In “Hills Like White Elephants” the couple tends to use factors of manipulation to get what they both want.

Read More
688 Words | 3 Pages

CLAIM: “Hills Like White Elephants," “The Chrysanthemums,” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” were written to give social commentary on the strained relationship between men and women of the time by depicting women in lesser roles and unfairly dependant on men. Steinbeck, Hemingway, and Gilman understood the social injustice of gender roles in their society. In each story, women are written in a way which reflects their less influential positions. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway introduces the characters in his story as “man” and “girl” (1). By introducing the male character in this manner, he implies adulthood and importance.

Read More
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.

Read More
893 Words | 4 Pages

In the short story, “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway from the start makes us draw out our own conclusions and does not give us a great deal of information. For example, we are only told about two characters, an American man and a girl who are waiting for their train to arrive. Other than this, we are not told what relationship the characters share together or where their final destination is. The protagonist who is referred to as “the girl” is in the middle of a tragic situation which can take a turn for the best or the worst and her partner, the “American man” is not helping but making the situation more heated.

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More
663 Words | 3 Pages

“They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees.” Comparing the hills to the unborn baby, is a perfect symbol for a topic that is painfully obvious that no one wants to discuss. Overall the story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway is a difficult story to understand at first glance. However, reading the story a few times becomes easier to understand the story’s true purpose, which Hemingway illustrates wonderfully with symbolism and

Read More
1128 Words | 5 Pages

Symbolism plays a fundamental role in Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”. The different symbols used throughout the story are capable of subtly conveying intricate concepts to the readers of this recognized literary work. It then becomes essential for them to detect all these symbols, and discern the deep meanings which they hold in order to truly grasp the story’s message which the author intended to transmit. Without this insight, many first-time readers may view the story as a simple and casual dialog between two people, a man and a woman, waiting for a train from Barcelona to Madrid. Thus, they become unaware of the intense conflict the two main characters are actually facing, haunted by the difficult decision of terminating a pregnancy

Read More
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.

Read More
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.

Read More

More about Hills Like White Elephant And The Sea Change Essay

Related Topics

Open Document