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Tension In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

523 Words3 Pages

In Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants," tension is created in the story through the juxtaposition of the conversation and the schedule of the oncoming train.Hemingway uses many examples of theme and setting to display the conversation through two characters. The setting and the environment around them is symbolic for Jig to make a decision. The American and Jig mainly discuss the thought to either have an abortion or to not have an abortion. One form of symbolism is when Jig says, "They look like white elephants" (1). White emphasizes that something is pure. The white elephant …show more content…

It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” (2). He is saying the operation will make things go to how things were before ,while Jig still believes that maybe it won’t change anything. The train symbolizes the time she has left to make a decision. The waitress says, “ The train comes in five minutes. What did she say ”(3) ? The train will soon be arriving and Jig knows she has to decide the outcome she will take. This shows the growth in her character. She ponders over the thought and by the end she finally has an answer. There is never a true defining moment where Jig agrees to not have the abortion, there is only factors that lead up to the defining moment of the train to arrive.In conclusion, Hemingway uses many themes and symbolisms to show the decision that has to be made. The two characters reveal the

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Examples Of Ambiguity In Hills Like White Elephant By Ernest 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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Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis

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.

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Religion In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

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In the story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, Jig turns to religion when making a life changing decision. Jig, a women, and an American man are at a Spanish train station while waiting for a train to Madrid. The women compares the hills nearby to white elephants, a symbol of overcoming obstacles and connected to fertility and knowledge. In document d, Jig is believed to be making a decision on whether to have an abortion or not.

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Hills Like White Elephant Literary Analysis

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Hills Like White Elephants Jig Character Analysis

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The American’s immediate fear is him having to marry Jig to “make an honest woman of her”, if she has the baby (Hannum). So the American starts talking about his love for Jig and claiming that the abortion is “perfectly simple,” just “to let the air in.” But Jig

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The conflict between the two characters is the issue of abortion and whether or not the girl will go through it. Hemingway does not tell us that the girl is pregnant but hints it throughout the story referring to “the operation” as having an abortion. From the start, you can take

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The Dialogue In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

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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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Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

1013 Words | 5 Pages

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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Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway

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A white elephant symbolizes something no one wants---in this case, the woman’s unborn child. The woman’s comment in the beginning of the story that the surrounding hills look like white elephants initially seems to be a casual, offhand remark, but it actually serves as a transition for her and the American man to discuss their baby and the possibility of having an abortion. The woman later in the story hints that the hill don’t really look like white elephants, a very subtle hint that perhaps means that she wants to keep the baby after all. The man misses this hint and the situation doesn’t get solved. “They’re lovely hills,” she said.

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