Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 584 views

    Hills Like White Elephants

    Uploaded by

    Peter Kokkinakos
    The document provides an analysis of Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants". It summarizes the plot, which depicts a couple at a train station bar in Spain discussing an abortion. Literary devices like themes, motifs and symbols are used to explore the central theme of whether the couple should have an abortion given their lack of communication. Specifically, references to "hills like white elephants" symbolize the potential abortion, with the girl unsure if she wants to go through with it.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Hills Like White Elephants

    Uploaded by

    Peter Kokkinakos
    584 views3 pages
    The document provides an analysis of Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants". It summarizes the plot, which depicts a couple at a train station bar in Spain discussing an abortion. Literary devices like themes, motifs and symbols are used to explore the central theme of whether the couple should have an abortion given their lack of communication. Specifically, references to "hills like white elephants" symbolize the potential abortion, with the girl unsure if she wants to go through with it.

    Copyright

    © Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document provides an analysis of Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants". It summarizes the plot, which depicts a couple at a train station bar in Spain discussing an abortion. Literary devices like themes, motifs and symbols are used to explore the central theme of whether the couple should have an abortion given their lack of communication. Specifically, references to "hills like white elephants" symbolize the potential abortion, with the girl unsure if she wants to go through with it.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    584 views3 pages

    Hills Like White Elephants

    Uploaded by

    Peter Kokkinakos
    The document provides an analysis of Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants". It summarizes the plot, which depicts a couple at a train station bar in Spain discussing an abortion. Literary devices like themes, motifs and symbols are used to explore the central theme of whether the couple should have an abortion given their lack of communication. Specifically, references to "hills like white elephants" symbolize the potential abortion, with the girl unsure if she wants to go through with it.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Kokkinakos 1 Peter Kokkinakos Professor Finklea ENC 1102 February 27, 2012 Abortion, Alcohol, & White Elephants

    Ernest Hemingways short story Hills Like White Elephants first published in 1927, depicts a couple in a bar at a train station in Spain. While waiting for their train, the man tries to pressure his girlfriend into having an abortion. Hemingway ties the central theme together with the use of literary devices such as: theme, motifs and, symbols. All these elements used together create an atmosphere that makes the reader think, and dig in deeper to fully understand the underlying themes and meaning in this short story. The setting for Hills Like White Elephants, takes place in Spain, at a bar in a train station. The characters are The American, The Girl and The Bartender. The Americans name is never revealed in the short story nor is the Bartender, and The Girls name, although The American calls The Girl Jig at one point in the story. The American throughout the story tries to convince The Girl into having an abortion but at the same time tries to play it off as if he doesnt care what decision she makes. The Girl on the other hand is not sure what to do. She seems to be very confused. She wants to please him by doing it, but then again she does not want to do it to please her self. The Bartender in the story serves The Man and The Girl their drinks. She doesnt really play a significant roll in the story. In Hills Like White Elephants, The American and The Girl tend to be drinking alcohol throughout their conversation about abortion. Alcohol is mentioned at the begging of the story What should we drink? the girl asked Though they are not directly talking about the subject it

    Kokkinakos 2 seems as if they are trying to avoid it by drinking. For instance The Girl asked for another drink during one of their conversation, Should we have another drink? this seems as if she is trying to avoid talking about the situation they are going through. The Girl is just trying to have a drink and ignore the subject. In the short story The Girl references that the hills overlooking the bar look like white elephants. After slowly reading through, the hills looking like white elephants tend to symbolize the baby. More specific, the hills that look like white elephants symbolize the abortion of the baby. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry. They look like white elephants, she said. A little bit farther into the book The Girl says to The American, They dont really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees. This comment means that she is not sure if she wants to have an abortion. In Ernest Hemingways short story Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway uses literary devices such as: theme, motifs, and symbols to tie the underlying theme in his short story. The theme of whether a couple that suffers from lack of communication should have an abortion or not.

    Kokkinakos 3 Works Cited Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. "Ernest Hemingway: Hills Like White Elephants." The Norton Introduction to Literature. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. 106-09. Print.

    You might also like