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Analyzing Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway

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Analyzing “Hills Like White Elephants” “Hills like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemingway is a drama-filled short story about a man, who is unnamed throughout the story, and woman named Jig who are in Spain to get an abortion. The story takes place at train station somewhere in between Barcelona and Madrid in the very early twentieth century. This story is very non-traditional for the time in which this story took place because abortions were illegal and socially unaccepted at that time. The story seems very complex at first because the narrator gives us very limited information on the situation that’s going on, but because of all the detailed symbolisms that the author gives us it makes the reading much more understandable and interesting. One of the biggest and most important symbolisms to me in this story is the setting because it gives us the most information on what’s truly going on. The story starts at a café at a train station in between Barcelona and Madrid where the man and Jig are waiting for …show more content…

Although the author gives us limited information and doesn’t tell us directly that this story is about an abortion, he truly portrays everything through his detailed symbolisms. The significance of “Hills like White Elephants” is Jig’s battle throughout the story because at first she easily influenced by the man, and goes along with what the man wants, but near the end she enforces that she’s tired of the man talking, and this shows us she’s becoming more independent with her decision-making by saying, “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” I would highly recommend this short story because it’s full of drama and the complexity will make you think deeper, and maybe you will develop your own theories on what the story means. “Hills like White Elephants” is definitely a good

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