“Hills Like White
Elephants” by ERNEST HEMINGWAY
I Answer
questions 1 and 5 that appear at the end of the story.
II. Also
copy any sentence that shows denotation or connotation and explain it
in your own words.
Answer
questions 1 and 5 that appear at the end of the story.
1.From
what point of view is the story told?
The
story is told from the third person point of view, narrator.
2.Since
the story offers so little information about the back ground and
appearance of the characters, discuss the implications of such
details as are provided.
There
are few implications with regard to appearance of the characters:
The
female in the story is describe as a “girl” which could indicate
that she is young;
“The
American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside
the building.”;
she is rather passive and
young girl:
“ The
girl did not say anything” ;
she
lacks strong identity, indecisive, submissive:
“And
if I do it you ‘ll be happy and things will be like they were and
you ‘ll love me?”,
“I
know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are
like white elephants and you’ll like it?”
She
is conflicted within herself about the problem (abortion):
“Can
we maybe stop talking?”
“ Would
you please please please please please please please stop talking “
“I’d
scream,” the girl said.
She
is sarcastic:
“So
have I,” said the girl.” And afterward they were all so happy”
The
male character is described as a “man” and it indicates that he
is older then his girlfriend;
He
is American:
“The
American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside
the building.”;
speaks
Spanish, has a knowledge of Spanish liquors
“Dos
cervezas,’the man said into the curtain;
“Aris
del Toro . It’s a drink”:
through
the story line, with fake concern and support for the girl, he
opposes the idea of keeping her pregnancy. Trying to convince her to
do the abortion:
“ I
think it’s beast thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if
you don’t really want to.”;
He
is selfish- pregnancy of his girlfriend “bothers him, makes him
unhappy:
“That’s
the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made
us unhappy”;
He
is manipulative to achieve his goals (abortion), describing abortion
like something easy and simple:
“ It’s
really an awfully simple operation, Jig .It’s really not anything
. It’s just to let the air in.”
“ I’ve
known lots of people that have done it”;
He seems to be in charge of in
their relationship. We can see in handling their luggage, He takes
care of it and in ordering the drinks (he picks the drinks and orders
them):
“He
picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to
the other tracks.”
“ Let’s
drink beers”: “We want two Aris Toro”;
The bar lady: woman who speaks
only Spanish: When American man orders the drinks he asks for them in
Spanish:
“Dos
credenzas, the man said into curtain”;
Background of the story:
The realm of the story takes
place in Spain, :Ebro is a river in Zaragoza, using Spanish currency:
“The
hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white”
It’s a railway station:
“ ….express
from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this
junction for two minutes and went to Madrid”;
“ Four
reales”;
American orders Spanish
drinks and he also speaks to the bartender in Spanish language:
“Dos
cervezas,” the man said into the curtain.
“ Aris
del Torro. It’s a drink”.
3. How is the setting at
Spanish railroad crossing appropriate to the theme?
Spanish railroad crossing is
appropriate to the theme because it represent the crossroad in the
relationship between the girl and the man. Either they will keep the
unborn baby or do the abortion. On one side of railroad there are
white hills, dry area without shade and no trees-it might represent
the abortion ( lifeless); no future; painful process) and on the
other side were “fields of grain and trees “ and the river Ebro
–it might represent new born child, new life, future of another
being.
4. What is the significance of
the title?
White Elephant according to a
definition (Wikipedia.org) is a possession that is useless or
troublesome, unwanted, expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose
of.
The pregnancy and a child in the
girl’s womb is called white elephant and described as unwanted
pregnancy that creates conflict between the couple, makes them
troubled and divided.
The title “Hills like White
Elephants” reminds me also of the expression “big elephant in
the room”, which means that
there is a huge problem/ decision to be made between American
man and a girl. They both see it
and discussion about it is impossible to avoid, yet they still
pretend ( by drinking, talking
about surroundings) that everything is just fine. The white
elephant might represent the
decision: either do the abortion or keep the baby.
5. As the man drinks his Anis,
he thinks to himself, ”They were all waiting reasonably for the
train”. What is the force of the word reasonably”?
The force of the word
“reasonably” in man’s thought is really powerful. As we read
the story he behaves totally unreasonably toward his girlfriend. He
only saw the problem from his point of view and through the entire
story he was trying to convince her that the only way to solve it is
his way. Yet, at the end he is having thought about people waiting
reasonably for the train. In contrast to people’s behavior, he was
trying force his way or stop upcoming event. This though could
indicate that he realized that he was too selfish and manipulative
and unfair towards his girlfriend; that maybe he should back off
little bit and see what life will bring.
II.
Also copy any sentence that shows denotation or connotation and
explain it in your own words.
Connotations:
1.“Hills
Like White Elephants:
white elephant- something unwanted , undesired ,difficult to dispose
of; the hills might represents pregnant mother’s belly and the
child in her womb is a white elephant (unwanted possession ).
also “white” color means
something pure, innocent (a baby in a mother’s womb).
2. “Everything
tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you ‘ve waited so
long for, like
absinthe”
– Compering things to licorice or absinthe meaning that everything
so far the man ‘ve waited for is bitter.
3.”
It’s just to let the air in”-
means that something is very simple and easy. In this case is about
the abortion procedure which is described by the man as very simple,
fast and easy thing.
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