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Relationships In Ernest Hemingway's The Hills Like White Elephants

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Internal Pressures of Relationships
It is human nature to show our emotions in the presence of our significant other. We seek them for support and devotion, as well as trust and loyalty. The problems that couples endure are ones that they should endure together and not without one another. In Ernest Hemingway’s story, “The Hills Like White Elephants,” the author shows us that there can be many internal conflicts with our closest companions that arise throughout the course of time while reading his story. And as time goes by, we tend subconsciously know that we have the excuse of only being human, we tend to neglect exactly how we have gotten ourselves into a situation that has negatively impacted our life with our significant others’. The troubles that are faced require a variety of responsibilities that couples generally need to apply to their problems in order to come out on top of a bad situation. In doing so, it allows us to feel …show more content…

“Doesn’t it mean anything to you,” she asks, implying to the American that he must think deeper than the surface to find the importance of not doing the operation versus going through with it. Unfortunately, we see that the American does not desire to have a baby in this moment but has a hard time clearly sharing his opinion to the girl. He beats around the bush; so to speak, and instead promises her that she can have the whole world once she does the operation (76). His main concern is sharing the lifestyle of traveling and experiencing all that the world has to offer while Jig is more concerned with what may or may not happen if the operation is done. She tries to communicate her view of the situation; however, the man implies that the pregnancy is “…the only thing that’s made [them] unhappy” and that they will “…be fine afterward,” as if nothing has happened (Hemingway

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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

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In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, there is a relationship unfolding, a complex relationship difficult to understand. The relationship is revealed by a conversation between a man and a woman, a topic of conversation that people rarely discussed in the period that the story was set. After researching interpretations, it is consistently said “She is pregnant, and he wants her to have an abortion” (Weeks 76), to which I agree that this conversation is about abortion. With the man seemingly pushing the topic and the girl hesitant and questionable, it is unsure as to the result of their conversation. However, it is my belief that she chose to follow her heart and not get the abortion.

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However this manipulation is unintentional as she doesn’t say that she will not go through with the surgery which is what the man has given her the opportunity to say. As the story continues, Jig realizes that the American man is set on her having the abortion; and therefore gives up on the idea of starting a family. The man says “We can go everywhere.” To which Jig replies “No, we can’t. It isn’t ours anymore.”

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Power is a fragile thing. It can be something physical and tangible or it can be something discarnate, something of the mind. Power can be fleeting; just because one side holds more power, doesn’t mean the other side is powerless, an idea exemplified in Hills Like White Elephants. Although the man hold more power within his relationship to the girl, she holds power in the fact that she understands their relationship is doomed. While he will be unable to comprehend the downward trajectory of their affair until it is too late, she knows that going through with it - whatever it is - will not save their relationship.

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In the end, the women choose to stop talking with the American man about the operation, he has pleaded his case. He has stated that this unborn child is, “the only thing that bothers us. It 's the only thing that 's made us unhappy." (Hemingway 2). Thus the result, she has chosen to proceed with this operation, despite her

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Relationships are the core of everything we do in life. We love someone, so we do something for them; we value someone 's opinion, so we respect them; we dislike someone, so we avoid them. Relationships cause people to act on their emotions which impact how and why they do the things they do. Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” is about a couple trying to come to a conclusion on a delicate matter. While the man strongly promotes his opinion the girl is hesitant but wants to do whatever will make him happy.

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The conflict is about an operation which the reader’s find out to be an abortion; back then abortions were illegal and dangerous. The American wanted to make the girl feel like it was her decision and she did not have to go through with it if she did not want to, but audience can tell he wanted her to get the abortion. Jig starts to see how ignorant and selfish the American is when he says, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in

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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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If analyzed in a more generic view, the short story can be used to show how a male and female stereotypically understand a subject. The American speaks more literal and materialistic as Jig is seen to speak in a more figurative and abstract manner. Ernest Hemingway’s use of symbolism gives the reader a more visual effect to the conflict between the man and the girl as well as the idea of their inner thoughts. The white rounded hills, the beads on the curtain hanging from the bar’s doorframe, and the cool shade and blazing light all represent different aspects of the two choices that the American and the girl have to decide on, just like the railroad tracks on either side of the

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The man acts like he would be fine with having the baby but it is obvious he doesn’t want it at all saying “I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple” (Hemingway 925). She likes the idea of having a baby throughout the story and the man realizes she wants to have it. At the end of the story he walks through the bar and has a drink by himself and “look[s] at the people” to get used to being in a bar by himself again (Hemingway 926). He is planning to break up with her because she wants to have the baby and he wants to live his life the way he has been.

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The readers read about a young couple who are not corresponding with each other when it comes to the abortion of their baby. The man is not ready to put his life on hold for a baby he does not want. The woman is ready to settle down for the baby, but she is willing to abort her baby for the price of their broken relationship that will probably end after the couple realized they should go their separate

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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

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If we observe their relationship, it seems like it is not going too well either. With attention to Jig’s view and the man’s view we can say that they both have a different attitude towards the abortion and their relationship. Remarkably, the girl’s thoughts change through their conversation. Renner divides the stages of the decision-making process into four – what he calls – ‘movements’. (28)

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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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“Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway: The Morality Within The Operation Ernest Hemingway created the iceberg theory, by which he expects the reader to know a great deal of information from the little he expresses. This style is evident in his short story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” because the information the reader must obtain is hidden underneath the surface. This writing style confuses the reader for the most part, but when the short story is given a chance, the reader connects to Hemingway’s use of a variety of essential elements to engage and understand the story. This connection formed is strengthened by the important combination of allusion and symbolism expressed within this great short story. Most of the short story focuses on the dialogue between a young couple of an American man and the girl, Jig, who remains nameless for most of the short story.

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