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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

"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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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."...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...