ipl-logo

Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

487 Words2 Pages

In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants, a couple is having a disagreement. The main characters, The American and Jig, go back and forth about "an operation" and never reach a clear agreement. The resolution shows that Jig is willing to have the operation to keep The American. One possible theme of this story shows how blinding love can be to the point where someone may hurt themselves to please the one they love.

The author uses third person dramatic to tell this story. This point of view does not allow readers to know what the main characters are thinking. This kept readers on edge waiting to find out more details. If this story was told in third person omniscient, it would have been interesting, and reader's questions would be answered. It would have ruined the ending. In third person dramatic readers are left wondering, what next? A different point of view may have revealed what the characters were going to do.

The setting takes place at a train station in a valley. The author used setting to create verisimilitude. This allowed the story to seem realistic and credible. It also underscored …show more content…

The biggest symbol being the railroads. The railroads represent the crossroads the couple is at. They are at a cross road in their relationship and at the train station. Crossroads are a universal symbol, because railroads are all over the world and are used as representations of differences. Another symbol is the "air". The American told Jig the operation involved letting air in. That symbolized a possible abortion about to happen. The "air" and cross road tie into each other. If the American did not want Jig to get an abortion, then they would not be at cross roads. The air is a contextual symbol, because abortion is not legal everywhere so not everyone would know what that means. These symbols allowed the reader to conclude the American wanted Jig to have an abortion and she was not sure about doing

Show More
Related

Symbolism In Mildred D. Taylor's Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry

503 Words | 3 Pages

Symbolism shows up again later on in the book providing context/background information as they cross the Soldier’s Bridge. The symbolism that shows up here isn’t exactly the Soldier’s Bridge, but how people were identified based on if they had a car, what type of car they had, and what color they were. An example of this is the Soldier’s Bridge. “More than once when I had been in the wagon with Mama or Big Ma, we had to back off the bridge when a white family started across after we were already on it.” (pg 138)

Read More

Examples Of Ambiguity In Hills Like White Elephant By Ernest Hemingway

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

Symbolism In Greasy Lake

550 Words | 3 Pages

The narrator uses symbolism in many aspects of the story. The first and most noticeable symbols are the cars. Early on in the story we are told that the narrator drives his mother's Bel Air which

Read More

Symbolism In The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

664 Words | 3 Pages

The first symbol is the coke can and coins, this symbol shows significznt support to the setting of The Road. The The Road, all life has been lost, nothing is left and all we see is the ash and rubble

Read More

Lack Of Communication In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

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.

Read More

Hills Like White Elephants Jig Character Analysis

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).

Read More

Relationships In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

853 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

The Dialogue In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

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

Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

1013 Words | 5 Pages

Symbols are often placed in the surrounding scenery of a story to give it more than just a visual effect but also an indirect reference to a deeper meaning that can be interpreted. As seen in the title, symbolism is used throughout the short story, “Hills like White Elephants”. Ernest Hemingway’s use of symbolism along with the description of the setting helps to give a visual representation of the conflict between the American and the girl as their conversation continues on the subject of abortion. In the near beginning of the story, Jig, the girl, states that the far off hills “look like white elephants” (Charters 475).

Read More

Theme Of Disconnection In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

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

Hills Like White Elephants Literary Criticism

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.

Read More

Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway

663 Words | 3 Pages

The story titled, “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway is about a young American man and a woman, who is waiting at a railway station for a train that will take them to Madrid. They are drinking liquor as they wait and discusses what the American man says will be "a simple operation" for the girl. The man, while urging the girl to have the operation, says again and again that he really doesn 't want her to do it if she really doesn 't want to. However, he clearly is insisting that she do so. The girl is trying to decline to have the operation but the couple keeps arguing.

Read More

Story Of An Hour Symbolism Essay

1054 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the story, there are symbols that significantly expressed the setting and the primary characters involved. Examples of the symbols could include: a heart as it represents Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition as well as her variant emotions; the window, whether it be opened or closed, could represent Mrs. Mallard’s freedom and life in a sense that she wanted to pass before she found new hope through the observance of the sky, and lastly, the chair which could represent Mrs. Mallard’s freedom and newfound independence after being oppressed within her relationship and society’s expectations of women in that period of time. References to the symbolism of the heart could be found throughout the story

Read More

Abortion In Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway

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

Informative Speech On Asthma

352 Words | 2 Pages

Asthma is a serious non communicable disease which plagues many people. There are many types of asthma; I happen to suffer from exercise induced asthma as well as many of my friends and some of my family members. Even though I don’t believe my symptoms flair up as often as other people, I still believe that for me and for other people that have it, asthma is still a huge problem. I’ve also participated in a 5 k for asthma. Asthma has many symptoms and can cause many problems.

Read More

More about Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

Related Topics

Open Document