Ending Explained! Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"
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- Опубліковано 14 лип 2024
- Most people are surprised to learn that a 1927 shorty story that seems to be about nothing is actually about abortion. Hemingway uses clever symbolism, subtext, and character in order to write a surprisingly modern story of longing and regret.
Want to check out more Hemingway short stories? Scribner published a great collection with all of Big Papa's short stories in one place:
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Note: this is an affiliate link,.So, if you buy this book through this link, then I will get a small commission. I would love that, but I would also love if you found it at a library or your local book store.
0:00 Introduction
2:08 A Shift in Conversation
3:27 Dialogue and What's Left Unsaid
6:30 Focusing on the Details
7:35 Characters and Setting
9:39 Conclusion or Lack Thereof?
The professor is cute with his lil chuckles haha thank you for the explanation very informative video wasn't aware white elephant meant an unwanted gift makes the title kinda sad
Thanks for the kind feedback!
Oh. That's what they were talking about. That actually makes a lot more sense. Thank you!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching!
thankyou for making this video. it helps a lot!
Thank you for checking it out! I'm glad it helped!
Thank you so much for your explanation! I am writing a critical analysis essay based on this particular story and you made me realize so many new things I hadn’t figured out!
P.s i fell in love with ur voice!!!! You are so cute
I'm glad it was able to help! Best of luck with your essay!
Every Time there's a good voice would you 'fall' in love...?
It’s so helpful for my learning !!
So glad to hear it!
Good interpretation ❤
Thank you so much!
Definitely have this new understanding of the text
Glad it could help!
this video has helped me with my essay! This story was very confusing to me.
So glad it helped! Best of luck with your essay!
Brilliant, thanks.
You're welcome!
In 1927 I don't think anyone was worried about drinking and being pregnant.
It wasn't scientifically proven, but people knew:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6405809/
LifeSaver honestly..
Glad it helped. Thank you for watching!
Many thanks for this.
Consider the additional depth in the story if we perceive the girl as Black and the American as a rich white man. I can expand on the reasons for this perception if you wish.
A second illumination for students might be an explanation of the nature of the "operation" in question.
In the 1920's, a common technique to induce a spontaneous abortion was to insert a long hollow needle through the cervix, puncturing the uterus in order to induce an infection, which would ultimately result in the expelling of the developing foetus. If this sounds brutal, primitive and dangerous for the woman, it's because it's all those. Deaths from the procedure were inadequately recorded because of the shame involved.
The American is minimising the risks, dismissing the procedure as 'perfectly natural', while the girl is more circumspect.
I gess what i got from this is we talk alot but we say nothing and what we say know one can know.
I think you're spot on. It's very difficult to truly talk to each other.
So what's the ending
Good question. The ending is really anti-climatic. I think the couple is ends the conversation worse off than when they started it.
Hey Man when the man said , '' They were all waiting reasonably for the train ''' what is the force of the word '' reasonably '' `?
Good question. It does feel like an odd word in the context of the story. Perhaps, and this is just me theorizing here, the force is that the whole conversation/waiting for the train is conducted very reasonably (no yelling or shouting or anything that would stand out in a public place). And yet, the topic demands a more unreasonable approach (it shouldn't be handled the same way they handle ordering a drink or waiting for a train).
Hope that helps!
@@OxfordCommaEducation Thanks a lot the i appreciate this , i have exam tomorrow and your video helped me a lot
@@adxkiller9973 Glad it helped. Good luck on your exam!
Why did the man leave in the first place?
Not sure... Do you mean at the end of the story?
8:00 Woman*
I'm my own worst editor...
I hate this stupid story😂
it aint that deep, chill, bro
yeah, not a deep subject matter at all.
@@OxfordCommaEducation it is, but e.h. doesnt make me wanna go to spain and drink away my problems and the story didnt make me go “what did i just read”, its pretty standard, especially for e.h, and also the “𝖜𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖆𝖞 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘” moment...
no..... many errors. White elephants? sigh not worth the trouble to go into details.
The speaker is wasting time. He doesnt understand the story,& its thème. First of all the title. White éléphant doesnt exist. It's s a myth. It's the girl in the story who refers to it several times. The question why she insists on this metaphor forms the main crux of the story. She is pregnant & regrets it. She wished If this hadnt happened. Like if she could transform hills into white éléphants in her imagination. The story is clothed in pure irony. That's the beauty of EH's fiction. All other minor détails like woman serving in the bar etc is not important & to high light them is just nonsensical...
There's a lot to unpack here. But I'm really curious what you think is ironic about it?
When the Stark reality is hidden there is irony. To elaborate it there is Hemingway 's iceberg theory. Only one third of the story is exposed. The rest 2/3 lies unexposed, underneath the surface. That's the irony I m talking about, the irony of life I mean...
@@dasfernandez1089 His iceberg theory disproves your original comment...
There is nothing in my comment to disapprove...@@OxfordCommaEducation