Expert: Josh Silverstein - 1/25/2005

Question
can you give me the analyses of this story and explanation of this story in more common words?

Answer
Hello,

In "Hills Like White Elephants," the narrative is almost all dialogue between Jig and the American man, so we must take our clues from them.

It appears that the American man is trying to persuade his partner to get an abortion. The topic of their conversation is never directly stated, only ambiguously implied by Hemingway. However, if we bring into play the symbolism of Jig's statement that the hills resemble white elephants, we might be able to make a more definitive case that this is in fact a story about unwanted pregnancy.

Some have interpreted the hills as representing the rounded shape of a pregnant woman's belly. A more interesting symbolism is not of the hills per se, but of the white elephants. In Webster's Dictionary, under "white elephant," one of the definitions reads:

"a property requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit."

This seems to describe how the American man might view children. In stating that the hills resemble white elephants, Jig also seems to be implying that she is not enthusiastically anticipating the birth of this child. She later, however, reverses her original observation, and in doing so, allows Hemingway to beautifully capture her indecision, as well as the general tension of the story itself.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Did you find this answer helpful?

If so, please support Timeless Hemingway by making a donation at:

http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P1DYI3KYM8MJF6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sincerely,


Josh Silverstein
Webmaster
Timeless Hemingway
http://www.timelesshemingway.com
Speed Address: http://www.timeh.com