Questions and Answers for Hills Like White Elephants
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the main conflict in the story "Hills Like White Elephants"?
The main conflict in the story “Hills Like White Elephants” is the debate between the man and his girlfriend Jig over whether or not to abort their unborn baby that Jig is carrying. The man...
Hills Like White Elephants
Why does Hemingway use the title "Hills Like White Elephants" in the short story, "Hills Like White Elephants"?
This is an interesting question that has more than one answer. The best and most accurate way to understand Hemingway's title is as a double symbol that also represents the overarching theme of the...
Hills Like White Elephants
From what point of view is "Hills Like White Elephants" told?
This story is narrated form a third-person objective point of view. This means that the narrator is not a participant in the events that take place and does not use first-person pronouns like I or...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the symbolism of the anise / licorice / absinthe ?
The short story “Hills like white elephants” talks about a girl called Jig who is waiting to take the express to Madrid with her American boyfriend. As they wait, they talk about an operation that...
Hills Like White Elephants
What does the name Jig mean in "Hills Like White Elephants" and why does he call her that?
The jig is a dance in Ireland. Giving the girl the nickname of Jig may suggest that she is from Ireland and that she is, or has been, a lively, spirited girl, since the jig is an extremely lively...
Hills Like White Elephants
What does a white elephant symbolize in the story?
It's notable that Jig later changes her mind about the surrounding hills looking like white elephants. As has already been noted elsewhere, a white elephant is something that no one wants....
Hills Like White Elephants
What is so important about the setting in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
There are several aspects of the setting in this story that carry meaning or produce significant effects. First, the young woman called "Jig" and the "American" man are at a train station, a place...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the irony in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
With irony being a contrast between what a character thinks and what the reader or audience know to be true, the reader must seek the difference between what the characters think and what he/she...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," what is the tone of communication between the two main characters?
Tone of communication refers to the way in which what one is saying comes across. I would argue that, in "Hills Like White Elephants," the woman's tone is imaginative and lighthearted, showcasing a...
Hills Like White Elephants
Are there any metaphors in the story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway?
There are several metaphors and similes in Hemingway's story. The most prominent one is the hills, which Jig compares to white elephants. The hills represent many possible things, one of which is a...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the relationship between the man and the girl in the short story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest...
"The American and the girl with him" are introduced in this curiously off-hand phrase, as though it is merely an accident that they happen to be together. We are told almost nothing about them. The...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is a good thesis statement for a critical analysis of symbolism in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
I agree with an earlier answer that the place to start is with figuring out what you think the story means, and what the themes are. For me, the thing that is interesting about Hemingway is how,...
Hills Like White Elephants
Is the title "Hills Like White Elephants" symbolism or a metaphor?
In order for something to be a symbol, it must be have both literal meaning and figurative meaning. Therefore, there would actually have to be white elephants present in some literal way, and then...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the "awfully simple operation"? Why is it not named? What different attitudes are taken toward it by the man...
This story has often been discussed in eNotes. I think most readers have agreed that the man and woman are going to Madrid for her to get an abortion. They have evidently been discussing the matter...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the relationship between the two characters in the story "Hills Like White Elephants"? What is the point of...
To say the least, the relationship between Jig and the unnamed American man waiting for the train with her is complicated. They have clearly been in a romantic and sexual relationship, which has...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the irony of the story "Hills Like White Elephants"?
I think another irony in the story has to do with the fact that these two individuals, Jig (the girl) and her lover, only known as "The American," have clearly been physically intimate with each...
Hills Like White Elephants
Hills Like White Elephants Conflict
One of the most basic conflicts present in the Hemingway short story is how two people balance the demands of their own needs with the realities of their relationship. I think that Hemingway draws...
Hills Like White Elephants
The number two is used many times in "Hills Like White Elephants." What is the significance of this repetition?
Hemingway use the number two for two purposes (no play on words intended). The first relates to the American man and the girl, whom he calls Jig, being a couple. This reinforces the man's...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the couple arguing about in Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"? How does the iceberg technique affect...
Jig and the American never actually name the subject of their conversation. The closest they get is by referring to some kind of medical procedure, what the man calls "an awfully simply operation."...
Hills Like White Elephants
In Ernest Heminway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants," why does Jig often express herself sarcastically...
In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” the young woman called “Jig” is being pressured by her older male companion, usually called simply “the man,” to have an abortion....
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," does the sympathy of the author lie more with one character than with the other? The...
The narrator conveys more sympathy for Jig, the woman, than for the man. Jig wants to give birth to the "elephant" in the room, which is her unborn child. She has made this clear to her partner but...
Hills Like White Elephants
What was Hemingway's purpose in writing the story "Hills Like White Elephants?" (For an author's purpose essay.)...
Hemingway had at least two purposes in writing "Hills Like White Elephants." First, as in all of his writing, he reacted against the ornate writing style of his Victorian and Edwardian predecessors...
Hills Like White Elephants
Why do you think it is about an abortion?
The reason we can claim this story conversation, or dialogue, is about an abortion is because the American man gives a clue to the topic substance. He says, "It's just to let the air in." "It's...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants" the American orders two big beers. The price is "four reales." How much would that...
Now, this is an interesting question. The Real (plural: Reales) is a unit of Spanish currency used from the mid-14th century to 1864, when it was replaced by the escudo, and then by the peseta in...
Hills Like White Elephants
What's the purpose of the trip the two travelers are taking in "Hills Like White Elephants?"
The American and Jig have been leading a casual lifestyle in which they travel leisurely and party. As Jig notes, "I wanted to try this new drink. That's all we do, isn't it--look at things and...
Hills Like White Elephants
I need help with this quote from "Hills Like White Elephants": "Yes," said the girl. "Everything tastes of...
To understand why the woman, Jig, makes the comment about everything tasting like licorice and why this annoys her boyfriend, we have to understand that Jig is bitter. She is pregnant. Her...
Hills Like White Elephants
What do we know about the man and the girl's past life, and what has happened to the quality of their relationship?
We know that the young woman, called Jig, and the American man now have to "try and have a fine time." It isn't something that comes easily to them now, though it might once have. Jig tries to say...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is/are suggested by the names the two characters are given in "Hills Like White Elephants"? Writer first...
The man in the story is referred to as "the man" or "the American" his companion is referred to as "the girl". The idea that the man is a "man" while his companion is a "girl" suggests that she is...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like white Elephants," how does Hemingway indicate the characters' tone for insincerity, self-deception,...
Tone in literature can have two manifestations. The first, and most often referred to, is the author's tone. This expresses the author's feeling for the subject at hand. It is usually made clear in...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," what is the purpose of the trip the two travelers are taking?
The purpose of the trip is not mentioned directly in the text of "Hills Like White Elephants." As in many of Hemingway's stories (e.g. "The Killers"), the reader is put in the position of an...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the point of view in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
I think that the third person narrative point of view is used in a stellar manner in Hemingway's short story. One of the elements that makes the third person point of view so effective is that it...
Hills Like White Elephants
Rewrite the ending to "Hills like White Elephants."
The ending of Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” is a bit ambiguous. While it is implied that the couple’s conflict was resolved, it is open for interpretation and thus one could...
Hills Like White Elephants
What do the 3 different landscapes in “Hills Like White Elephants” symbolize?
In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway uses the three different terrains to symbolize the state of the couple’s relationship and in particular Jig’s illusions about her life. When the story...
Hills Like White Elephants
What literary devices are used?
One of the chief literary devices Hemingway uses in "Hills like White Elephants" is dialogue. The story consists almost entirely of a dialogue between a man and woman waiting for a train. We never...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," why is the man called "the American"?
The American seems to be referred to in this way to emphasize the idea that he is somehow representative of America and American values during this time period. He is interested in drinking,...
Hills Like White Elephants
In the story Hills Like White Elephants what kind of resolution does the story offer?
I think that part of the story's beauty is that it really does not offer a resolution. In a commitment to present consciousness as it is, Hemingway does not capitulate to traditional storytelling...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," did the woman go for an abortion?
The dialogue between the American and Jig makes it clear that she doesn't understand a word of Spanish. This means that she is most likely a native English speaker but probably not an American....
Hills Like White Elephants
How would you describe the characters in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
In “Hills Like White Elephants” the American man, and the woman, “Jig,” are a couple sitting outside a café’ drinking beer while they await a train. These characters are discussing a pregnancy and...
Hills Like White Elephants
What are the implications of the prominent dialogue in Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"?
Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" focuses on the dialogue between a man and a woman while they are waiting for a train. The dialogue at first appears to be innocuous small talk...
Hills Like White Elephants
What are some examples of argumentative themes in "Hills Like White Elephants"? I am having trouble coming up with an...
Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" is quite an elusive and challenging story; however, arguments can be made about the American's intentions. it's just a matter of reading between the lines....
Hills Like White Elephants
How is the American man manipulative and selfish in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
In Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants," the American man is selfish because he has no interest in understanding the woman's point of view. The abortion probably needs to be discussed, and one...
Hills Like White Elephants
How does Hemingway create tension in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
One of the main ways that Hemingway creates tension in this unforgettable and, in many ways, uncompromising story is through his use of dialogue. It is clear that what is going on beneath the...
Hills Like White Elephants
How can I use the lack of or the presence of names in "What We Talk About" and in "Hills Like White...
The female character in "Hills" actually does have a name -- "Jig" -- but it is used very sparingly by the male, and it may be a nickname rather than a proper name. Hemingway...
Hills Like White Elephants
Much of the conversation seems to be about trivial things. What purposes does this conversation serve? "Hills Like...
As is so typical of Ernest Hemingway's minimalist style, much of the meaning of "Hills Like White Elephants" comes from what is not said and what lies beneath the surface--his renowned "iceberg...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the point of the comparison of the hills to white elephants in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
Hemingway attached great importance to making the reader feel present at the scene of the story. He was willing to sacrifice the who-what-where-why-when of an event in order to go straight after...
Hills Like White Elephants
What do the images lilke the bead-curtain, white hills, dry plains, etc., convey about the incident in the short...
The most interesting and most touching image in the story has to do with the bead-curtain. At one point Jig reaches out and rolls a couple of these wooden beads back and forth between her fingers....
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the “awfully simple operation,” why is it unnamed, and how do the man and girl each feel about it?
ok! now that abortion is been discussed, what other social issues are mentioned in the story? The story was first published in 1927, so another issue besides abortion is societal attitudes toward...
Hills Like White Elephants
How would you describe the dialogue in “Hills Like White Elephants”? What does it sound like to your ear? Give an...
The conversation between Jig and her American boyfriend sounds flat, tense, angry, and jaded. They keep repeating the same statements over and over and never seem to get anywhere. For example, the...
Hills Like White Elephants
From a feminist point of view, what does it mean to be Jig in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
In Hemingway's story, "Hills Like White Elephants," Jig finds herself defined and differentiated with reference to her lover. For while she "just know[s] things," the man presents reasons to her...
Hills Like White Elephants
What purpose do the hills, railroad tracks, station, and precise time reference in the first paragraph serve?
The setting and reference to the hills that look like white elephants reinforce that the Jig is pregnant. The lovers are sitting in the shade just outside the station. Beyond them is the light and...
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