Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway | Summary & Analysis
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- Опубліковано 12 лют 2020
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Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth analysis of the plot, characters, symbols, and themes of Ernest Hemingway's short story Hills Like White Elephants.
Download the free study guide and infographic for Hills Like White Elephants here: www.coursehero.com/lit/Hills-...
In one of Ernest Hemingway's most famous short stories, an American man and his female companion wait for a train in northern Spain.
Initially engaged in light banter over drinks, the conversation eventually drifts to a "surgical procedure" the girlfriend is considering. The American man urges her to have the surgery, dismissing it as ultimately inconsequential.
Though they are circumspect and don't discuss the specifics, it becomes clear through innuendo and metaphor that she is pregnant and her boyfriend wishes for her to have an abortion.
The hilly vista spread out before them recalls the swell of a pregnant woman's belly and her comparison of them to white elephants suggests that the baby is unwanted-white elephants suggest a valuable but burdensome gift.
Their ultimate decision is unclear, vividly illustrating the moral complexities of their situation.
American writer Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants was first published in 1927. Known for his concise style, Hemingway was one of America’s great fiction writers. His work, like Hills Like White Elephants, often drew on his experiences in Spain and his understanding of humanity to address what it means to be a man and to act ethically.
The short story Hills Like White Elephants contains many important symbols, including white elephants, representing the rare and sacred but possibly unwanted pregnancy. It also uses light and darkness, representing the division between the characters’ worlds and the woman's choice. Railroad tracks symbolize the characters’ paths in life. Important themes include communication, love, and gender.
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Cheers boss, you made my English homework a lot easier ;👍
agreed!
bro is singlehandedly saving my grade
😂
I found the 40 minute wait for the train indicative of the 40 weeks of pregnancy. Which leads me to believe when the train was 5 minutes away that she had decided to keep the baby.
I also found Barcelona and Madrid to sound like barren and motherhood in a way. They’d lined their bags up to head for Madrid in the end.
Other strange aspects to this story:
-The man is described as man and the pregnant woman as a “girl”. This implies she is not an adult.
-Abortions have been documented to cause 6 months of depression after the fact. It is a big deal !
-The man is in control of everything. The girl seems to be younger than him and depend on him for money, and communicating with others through their travels. She is somewhat trapped and in a land in which she seems completely dependent of the man...The man is in a position of power.
-They seem to be at a crossroads. Having travelled for a while, running away from the problem.
This also heightened her isolation
yes, patriarchy a strong theme here and not mentioned in the vid above but should be.
I just noticed she was drinking while pregnant too. Although, I don't know if they were informed in the 20's about drinking and pregnancy. Prolly not, or very little.
It is not just 6 months of depression post abortion, sadly it is a lifetime depression and trauma for a woman that often needs counselling and therapy for the rest of her adult life fact!
I read this story in high school and watched a few videos of analysis on this. If this story is about abortion, why is no one talking about the girl drinking alcohol while pregnant? Could that be why the Waitress asked, “with water?”
it was 1920 - nobody even understood hygiene then much less fetal alcohol syndrome, plus even if they were concerned about drinking during pregnancy since they were getting rid of the fetus anyway so it really didn't matter one way or another.
I think the symbolism of the water is that when added to Anis del Toro, a clear liquor, it turns it white. This is significant if you accept the hypothesis that the girl is Black, and the American is white.
It really pissed me off how he kept telling her he doesn't want her to do anything she doesn't want to but then kept manipulating her indirectly
Wonderful! You have incredibly helped me have a clearer picture of this short story. 💪
love the energy and attitude he comes with telling this. Really turned it into something i can listen to and absorb.
Thanks for your content man
This video was so helpful! I'm writing a paper on this story and it was great to get someone else's insight. Plus, I didn't realise they were talking about an actual operation when I read it. haha
You guys have helped me in HS and now I am in College thank you
Thanks for your explanation sir
That was very useful thank you
Thank you very much👍🏻
Let's advance an alternative hypothesis about the couple. Twice, the American calls the woman (girl) "Jig". This is not a known nickname or diminutive of any name at the time. However, in 1920s USA, "Jig" was a term for a Black person.
To support this, consider that, for example, Scott Joplin's band from around 1900 was known as a "Jig Band" and he played "Jig Piano". The pejorative term "Jigajig" referred to Black Americans at the time this piece was written in 1927, in much the same way as the "N word" was used until about the 1980s. (As an aside, consider the origin of the saying "The jig is up" in relation to the insidious practice of lynching Black Americans for real and imagined crimes. Billie Holliday's famous song "Strange Fruit" a case in point.)
The implication therefore is that the woman was Black, and the man wealthy and white. Hemingway could not make this explicit in 1927, but he could make it known to his intended readership by the use of the word "Jig" as code.
If you accept this hypothesis, then the relationship and the impact of the proposed "operation" take on a new dimension.
A wealthy white man and a Black woman travelling together at this time would be unremarkable, with the presumption she was his maid.
A white man travelling with a pregnant Black woman is an entirely different proposition in 1927, and in due course their mixed race baby would make it even more so. In order to "keep things as they are" therefore, the "operation" is required in order to save (his) face.
I'm about to die from my homework, you saved me. Thank you so much!
very insightful. Thanks for your efforts 🤗
thaaaaank you
pls why did i think the operation was a lobotomy at first sdkfskdjfh
lmaoooo
Don't feel bad. I thought it was euthanasia
not me thinking it was a boob job 😂
goat 😌
awesome voice sir
Man, I wish I had this when I read about this in 1st year university in 1999. wilkapedia wasn’t even as prominent either.
we are reading about it here in UKZN imagine and it is so helpful I'm also a first year
👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍
mrs.walker?
How can you tell its in the 1920??
Because the woman doesn't want an abortion, when modern women only want abortions lol. They don't make too many women like her anymore
there is an elephant in the room 👀👀👀
Anyone else think this guy’s voice is annoying😭 but still thanks for the help😍
Conflict abortion
So he doesn't want the baby but she does. Well, no man should be forced to look after a child but no woman should be forced to give up a child. Break up. Easy as that.
Hemingway has Always the same issue to tackle. Violence, love, death, suffering. Another story 'Up in Michigan, treats the similar theme. A man seduces a girl and takes her to bed. Women are portrayed as sufferers in the game. His is a macho world for sure...
I literally don’t understand the whole subject of English Literature appreciation. Like this story is decent but nothing special they are probably better stories told by 7 year olds. God I hate this subject and to this day still believe it is made up
I am on my second year and still believe that the writers wrote them randomly but we always seek something in their stories.
The writer: There was a table... ''Oh, what should I choose as a color? Yea yea let's go with red for this one its my favourite''
After 50 years, us, the students: The red color represents her passion about eating....
@@dogakams865 fr
Spot on.
the point isn't for th3m to be special it's to analyze them?
If you think about it, every subject is made up.
You have a right not to like this story or books or literature or short stories.
But no, a 7-year-old would not write like Hemingway.
I disagree - white elephants are expensive but troublesome items you cannot get rid of The elephant in the room
The White Elephant in the Room is the unborn baby - which is useless and expensive but you CAN get rid of
Hills - rounded like a pregnant tummy
So Rounded Pregnant tummies with babies in them which are troublesome and expensive and hard to get rid of even if you have an abortion - you never get 'rid' of it
anyway that's my take
This is one of the most boring stories I have ever studied