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Hills Like White Elephants | Leitmotif and Irony in Hemingway’s ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants’’
In the following essay, Reid Maynard explores the ironic manner in which symbols of unity operate in ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants.’’
Ernest Hemingway’s short story ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants’’ is about a selfish man who wants his girl friend to have an abortion so that they can continue to have fun and be unencumbered by a child. The man’s callousness and sterile view are contrasted with the girl’s sensitive, sensuous response to life. As an ironic contrast to their present disunified relationship, a leitmotif of oneness, or unity, threads through the story. This leitmotif takes the form of the repetition, with variation, of the word two.
Before considering scenic irony and the leitmotif...
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- Hills Like White Elephants: Introduction
- Hills Like White Elephants: Summary
- Hills Like White Elephants: Overview
- Hills Like White Elephants: Ernest Hemingway Biography
- Hills Like White Elephants: Characters
- Hills Like White Elephants: Themes
- Hills Like White Elephants: Style
- Hills Like White Elephants: Historical Context
- Hills Like White Elephants: Critical Overview
-
Hills Like White Elephants: Essays and Criticism
- Hemingway’s Use of Dialogue in ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants’’
- Hemingway’s Autobiographical Inspiration for ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants’’
- The Hemingway Heroine: Study in Female Characterization in “Hills Like White Elephants”
- Isolation and Estrangement in “Hills Like White Elephants”
- Tragic and Comic Elements of ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants’’
- ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants’’: Lean, Vintage Hemingway
- Hemingway Hills: Symbolism in ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants’’
- Leitmotif and Irony in Hemingway’s ‘‘Hills Like White Elephants’’
- Hills Like White Elephants: Compare and Contrast
- Hills Like White Elephants: Topics for Further Study
- Hills Like White Elephants: Media Adaptations
- Hills Like White Elephants: What Do I Read Next?
- Hills Like White Elephants: Bibliography and Further Reading
- Hills Like White Elephants: Pictures
- Copyright
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