This literary analysis is about the reading, "Hills Like White Elephants." This story was written in 1926 by the author Ernest Hemingway. Although Hemingway was known for novels, he took a beginning as a short story writer. Hills Like White Elephants takes place at a railroad station bar in between Barcelona and Madrid of Spain.
When I read and analyzed the story, "Hills Like white Elephants," it was written in third person point of view. It is about a couple, referred to as the American man and the girl, whom are traveling to Madrid to abort a pregnancy, referred to as the "simple operation." It begins, the couple is in a bar, and they seem more so distant than close. As they continuously drink, they get a little more talkative. Based on the fact that there was not much caution for pregnant women signifies that the time the story was written was far back. In addition, during that time, it was possibly illegal to abort pregnancies, thus when the American man says, "They just let the air in.." it could possibly mean the way they abort the pregnancy. Based on the way the man abruptly brings up the operation, he doesn't want the baby. The girl is definitely hesitant, as she wants to be with the man but she also wants to keep the baby. The girl seems younger than the man, and it seems like the man is playing the girl. The girl seems desperate to keep the man that she is with. There is a lot of mention of the number two. The man holds two beads as he envisions just the two of them. The girl looks at two hills that look like white elephants. When mentioning white, it could signify purity and innocence, and the elephants could symbolize an annoyance or the two individuals that actually remain together whether it be the baby and the girl or the girl and the man. Towards the end, it seems like the girl is going to please the man in that she says she is fine, and they are getting ready to board the train.
The common theme is abortion. The common motif is two. Bottom line, the girl is really hesitant on aborting the baby, and she feels like she will regret the decision for a man who is definitely not ready to settle down for a family. She is at the same time desperate to make things work with him, especially that during this time, it was a very judgmental nature to be in relationships or have babies out of wedlock. It is a thought of wrongly that she is pregnant before getting married. The man seems to want to stay with her, but if she does abort the baby, it also may not work out between the two because they have nothing that keeps them together at that point. The girl seems immature, and if she did keep the baby it would be difficult for her. In both situations, it seems like elephants as in both situational endings, the outcome may be very annoying. In the end, we still do not know if she kept the baby or aborted it, and we have no idea about their relationship.
When I read and analyzed the story, "Hills Like white Elephants," it was written in third person point of view. It is about a couple, referred to as the American man and the girl, whom are traveling to Madrid to abort a pregnancy, referred to as the "simple operation." It begins, the couple is in a bar, and they seem more so distant than close. As they continuously drink, they get a little more talkative. Based on the fact that there was not much caution for pregnant women signifies that the time the story was written was far back. In addition, during that time, it was possibly illegal to abort pregnancies, thus when the American man says, "They just let the air in.." it could possibly mean the way they abort the pregnancy. Based on the way the man abruptly brings up the operation, he doesn't want the baby. The girl is definitely hesitant, as she wants to be with the man but she also wants to keep the baby. The girl seems younger than the man, and it seems like the man is playing the girl. The girl seems desperate to keep the man that she is with. There is a lot of mention of the number two. The man holds two beads as he envisions just the two of them. The girl looks at two hills that look like white elephants. When mentioning white, it could signify purity and innocence, and the elephants could symbolize an annoyance or the two individuals that actually remain together whether it be the baby and the girl or the girl and the man. Towards the end, it seems like the girl is going to please the man in that she says she is fine, and they are getting ready to board the train.
The common theme is abortion. The common motif is two. Bottom line, the girl is really hesitant on aborting the baby, and she feels like she will regret the decision for a man who is definitely not ready to settle down for a family. She is at the same time desperate to make things work with him, especially that during this time, it was a very judgmental nature to be in relationships or have babies out of wedlock. It is a thought of wrongly that she is pregnant before getting married. The man seems to want to stay with her, but if she does abort the baby, it also may not work out between the two because they have nothing that keeps them together at that point. The girl seems immature, and if she did keep the baby it would be difficult for her. In both situations, it seems like elephants as in both situational endings, the outcome may be very annoying. In the end, we still do not know if she kept the baby or aborted it, and we have no idea about their relationship.