Abortion In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

Words: 607
Pages: 3
Open Document
The young couple in Hemingway’s Hills like White Elephants has come to a bump in the road with their relationship. Their relationship seems foreign just like the new country they are traveling to. It seems to Jig that the American is no longer who she though he was. Is was apparent the relationship between the two characters was becoming more. In fact, it was stated that the only they can really do together is try different beers. To begin the conversation, they talk about beer. To avoid talking about the baby, they contemplate beers. They no longer have anything in common with each other. As they decide what to do with their child, the foreignness of their relationship is resembled in the foreign country, language, beers, their dance around …show more content…
The figure of speech “the elephant in the room” refers to the topic of conversation no one really wants to talk about but is too big to ignore and push aside. For the couple, their elephant is the baby and abortion. It is all they are thinking about but everything they never want to speak about. Another way one could interpret Jig’s comparison of the abortion to her comment “hills like white elephants” could be simply the white elephant. A white elephant is a way of saying something nobody wants. The fact that the American did not pick up on Jig and the double meaning of Jig’s comment could say that he was only half-heartedly into listening to Jig. The American is not putting the effort into the relationship. He only began to talk about the abortion once Jig had revoked her comment calling the hills white elephants and amending it to saying the hills do not look like elephants (showing her indecisiveness on the abortion). They are feeling like they barely know the other person. Jig is confused as to how the American could be alright with killing their own child. They are becoming so foreign they are unable to directly bring up the issues in their relationship to sort them
Show More

Related Documents: Abortion In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

The Role Of Abortion In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

Abortion has always been a difficult topic to discuss. While some are open to discussing it, others are very secretive and uncomfortable about talking about their personal experience. Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” brings abortion into a light that many choose to steer away from. This short story inspired other authors to discuss the topic and give the readers an idea of what many people go through in this situation. Russell Bank’s “Black Man and White Woman in a Dark Green Rowboat”…

Words 1546 - Pages 7

Hills Like A White Elephant Symbolism Essay

Ernest Hemingway is a master of omission. This is true in the short story "Hills Like White Elephants." Hemingway's style reveals more than it conceals. Hemingway never disclosed the conflict between the two main characters but,it is deciphered that the argument was about an abortion. Using the symbols of alcohol,hills like a white elephants and the train to decipher what the short story concealed. Ernest Hemingway used alcohol as one symbol to reveal what the story concealed. The main characters…

Words 628 - Pages 3

Ernest Hemingway's A Canary For One And Hills Like White Elephants

Ernest Hemingway's short stories A Canary for One and Hills like White Elephants are both written omitting all unnecessary details, forcing the reader to look more deeply into the story. This is known as Hemingway’s Iceberg theory. Rather than using words and explaining the story Hemingway's writing style is similar to an iceberg, for every part shown there are seven-eighths still underwater. A Canary for One is a story about a loss of love as an American couple plans to take up separate residences…

Words 343 - Pages 2

Hills Like White Elephants Criticism

Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story about a couple having drinks while waiting for the train. This narrative is written as if the reader is overhearing a conversation the two people are having. Although this narrative is concise in the way it is presented, it gives the reader a very affective glimpse at a prominent issue. There are some thoughts that cannot be expressed in any other way but through literature. Modern and postmodern writers are known for creating those…

Words 974 - Pages 4

Essay on Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants: An Analysis

Ernest Hemingway’s short story is about choices being made and dealing with the action later. In the story “Hills like White Elephants” Jig and the American are discussing what readers think is an abortion, although the characters never mention the word. The American gives this operation away with saying, “But, I don’t want anyone but you.” While they are waiting for the train the couple argues back and forth over getting this operation getting done. Although, many suggest this is on abortion…

Words 406 - Pages 2

Theme Analysis - Abortions" Essay

Paula Bowers D. Rury ENGL 1302 18 April 2013 Theme Analysis – Abortion Hills Like White Elephants The story begins with the introduction of the American; a rugged, testosterone-driven man, who has loved his way across Spain with Jig. Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” takes place in 1927, while abortions were legal with a doctor’s referral, birth control was not, and discussing birth control (or sex education) was considered pornographic and a federal crime. The topic…

Words 1193 - Pages 5

Analysis Of Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

“Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story, written by Ernest Hemingway, about an American and his girlfriend, Jig. The couple is sitting outside a train station, waiting on the arrival of the next train to Madrid. The story primarily focuses on an operation the American is trying to convince Jig to have. As the story progresses, given the reader reads in between the lines, we learn that the operation being contemplated is an abortion. Although he says time and time again, “I don’t want you to…

Words 649 - Pages 3

Essay on Hills Like White Elephants

Brandon Garrity English 122 Ernist Hemingway: Hills Like White Elephants “Hills like white elephants”, this is a term not many may understand. The term “White Elephants” has an underlying meaning of something that is unwanted or not needed. This short story starts out in a train station surrounded by hills, fields, and trees in a valley in Spain. A man known simply as the American and his girlfriend sit at a table outside the station, waiting for a train to Madrid. They order beer and speak…

Words 866 - Pages 4

Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway: Literary Analysis

Intro to Literature 19 March 2017 Puzzles Pieces Hills Like White Elephants is a puzzling short story. Ernest Hemingway uses both figurative and literal pieces to tell this story. The reader must then take those pieces and put them together. This paper will summarize how the characters in this story are on an emotional journey in search of freedom. Here is a summary of the short story. The short story, Hills Like White Elephants, is about a couple. The couple has traveled to Spain from…

Words 558 - Pages 3

Hills Like White Elephants Symbolism Essay

For centuries, abortion has served as a focal point of explosive controversy, effectively highlighting the morally ambiguous dichotomy between creating life and ending it. In Ernest Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants," our protagonist, Jig, serves as a microcosm of all expectant mothers who face this quandary. She struggles to deal with the moral and emotional ramifications associated with abortion, and is petrified of losing the man she loves. However, upon closer examination,…

Words 1125 - Pages 5