Hills Like White Elephants Questions and Answers
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...
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
Why is Jig given a name but not the American in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
Ernest Hemingway's short story “Hills Like White Elephants” concentrates on a conversation between an American man and Jig, his girlfriend. Jig, apparently, is a nickname of some sort, but it is...
Hills Like White Elephants
Are Jig and the American married? Most readers seem to take it for granted that the couple in "Hills Like White...
It occurred to me that some people who followed this discussion assumed the couple were not married because Hemingway calls her "the girl." But notice that there is a third character involved in...
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
Why does the girl say, “That’s all what we do, isn’t it--look at things and try new things?"
The girl obviously wants to have the baby. The man obviously does not want her to have the baby, although he knows very well that she wants to have it. She knows that he doesn't want a baby because...
Hills Like White Elephants
In the short story "Hills Like White Elephants" where is the Climax (turning point or most intense moment of the story)?
The short story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway does not have a plot in the traditional sense of the term. Two people, a man and a woman, wait at a railway station in the valley of...
Hills Like White Elephants
What does the idea of "labels from all the hotels where they had spent nights" reflect about the couple?
The labels on the luggage "from all the hotels where they had spent nights" suggests to me that this couple has been together for a long time and that they are either married or have been...
Hills Like White Elephants
Do the hills in the story have any symbolic significance?
In "Hills Like White Elephants," the hills are symbolic of the relationship between the couple as well as the couple's unborn child. When the woman comments that the hills near the station where...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the character Jig like in Ernest Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants"?
"Jig" is the name given to the girl in Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." The American, her lover, calls her that toward the beginning of the story, but Hemingway refers to her as...
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
In what ways is the dialogue at the very end of Ernest Hemingway's story "Hills Like White Elephants" ironic?
Irony is a major feature of Ernest Hemingway’s extremely brief short story titled “Hills Like White Elephants,” and the ending of the story is especially ironic. In this tale, an American male,...
Hills Like White Elephants
How do the descriptions of the landscape relate to the conversation between the two travelers? What about the...
A woman named Jig and her unnamed boyfriend are waiting at a train station in Spain for their next train. In the distance, the hills in the valley are described as long and white. The location of...
Hills Like White Elephants
What are the plot and climax of the story?
A man and woman (Jig) are waiting at a train station in Zaragoza, Spain. We can surmise that they are headed for Madrid from the text. They drink beer and an Anis drink. They note that the hills...
Hills Like White Elephants
Where would you like to have more information (besides "he said" and "she said")? Hemingway once...
Hemingway reveals his much about his characters through his use of dialogue and description of their actions and reactions. Readers can make educated assumptions about a character's personality...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is significance has the man's drinking an Anis by himself before rejoining the girl at the end of the story?
They used to have the slang term "dick smithing" to describe what the American is doing inside the saloon. Typically a man might go into the kitchen to mix drinks for himself, his wife, and their...
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
In Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants," why is the American in Spain?
Americans were also living in Europe because the cost of living was cheap, and Spain was probably the cheapest of all. When the man calls the waitress to order two Anis del Toros, she thinks they...
Hills Like White Elephants
Who is the speaker in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
The speaker in this excellent short story is a character who is external to the story, and not involved in it. As a third person narrator, the speaker is notable by his extremely detached...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," why does the woman say "It isn't ours anymore"?
Jig's statement about that which has passed encompasses so much about the relationship she shares with the American and her own life. The point in the story in which she says this is the point...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," how sincere is the man in his insistence that he would not have the girl undergo the...
While it is certainly obvious that the American wants the girl to have the abortion, he is not totally insincere in telling her that he will accept her decision. Proof of this is to be found in the...
Hills Like White Elephants
Describe the setting of "Hills Like White Elephants" and try to explain its function.
"Hills Like White Elephants" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway that is ultimately about whether or not one of the two main characters will get an abortion. Most of the story is told through the...
Hills Like White Elephants
How do I talk about how Hemingway's use of third person point of view in "Hills Like White Elephants" impacts...
The point of view employed by Hemingway in this story is called third person objective. This means that the narrator is not a participant in the story's events and does not use the first person...
Hills Like White Elephants
The number two is used ten times in the story. What is the significance of this repetition? Does it suggest anything...
The story revolves around the conflict between a man and a woman, who are faced with the decision of what to do about a pregnancy. They view the situation differently, and they communicate...
Hills Like White Elephants
In Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants," why is the operation not named in the story?
In "Hills Like White Elephants," Hemingway puts the reader in the position of a voyeur and an eavesdropper. The reader can only obtain information from what is done and said by the two principal...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants", what can we infer about Jig's willingness to undergo the operation after the...
Jig obviously wants to have the baby and keep it. The American cannot understand the physical and psychological changes that take place in a woman when she becomes pregnant, and she can't explain...
Hills Like White Elephants
In Hills Like White Elephants, are both characters static, and is there indirect characterization?
As with most of Hemingway's work, there is much indirect characterization and plot progression in his story "Hills Like White Elephants." This operates on what Hemingway calls—and what many critics...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," which of the two characters is more "reasonable"?
This is an excellent question. What is remarkable about this great short story is the way that so much is reported through the characters' dialogue alone - there is very little authorial...
Hills Like White Elephants
Who are the two main characters in "Hills Like White Elephants?"
Hemingway begins his story with a description of the bleak, hot, dry setting, which is obviously in Spain. He chose not to explain much about his two main characters, but it would seem that he...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the tone of communication in Ernest Hemingway's story Hills like White Elephants?
Ernest Hemingway’s short story Hills like White Elephants is easily one of the more stilted and melancholy of his work. The plot, about a man and woman, the latter apparently pregnant, waiting for...
Hills Like White Elephants
How does Hemingway indicate tone in "Hills Like White Elephants"?
In order to understand how an author indicates tone in a work, you need to have a correct understanding of the concept of tone in literature. Tone in literature is the attitude, opinion, assessment...
Hills Like White Elephants
How does the railroad station setting parallel the message or concerns of the story?
I like to read the train station setting as a metaphorical parallel to the situation of the couple. The young woman in the story is pregnant and so is dealing with a "scheduled arrival". Unless...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," Hemingway conveys his point through setting and symbolism. Describe what could be...
This is a story about the psychological separation of an American man and his girlfriend, Jig. She is pregnant. She wants to keep the baby and settle down. Her boyfriend wants her to have an...
Hills Like White Elephants
In the short story "Hills Like White Elephants" the woman says: "And we could have everything and every day we make...
Much remains unstated in the story. The American man and the girl he calls Jig are having a serious but unproductive conversation in a cafe. They are clearly at cross purposes. The man keeps...
Hills Like White Elephants
What would the couple in “Hills Like White Elephants” do after getting on the train? Answer question.
In Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants," much of the meaning comes from what is not said. After their conversation at a table outside the train station, the man and the woman are...
Hills Like White Elephants
What are the themes of the short story "Hills Like White Elephants"? Can you please tell me all the themes???
In the famous short story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, a man and a woman sit together at a station in Spain waiting for a train. While they wait, they have a conversation. The...
Hills Like White Elephants
How does Jig feel about motherhood?
Determining the definitive "feeling" that Jig has about motherhood is difficult because of the style in which the story is written. However, there are a few places in the awkward conversation...
Hills Like White Elephants
What are the three main points of "Hills Like White Elephants" and two pieces of evidence for each point?
First, this story conveys the idea that it is often difficult for human beings to honestly communicate their feelings to one another. Jig, the girl, struggles with this, as does the American man....
Hills Like White Elephants
What differences in the characters' underlying attitudes and values emerge from their conversation? Which character...
The man who is described only as the American is confronted by a problem which threatens his way of life. The "girl" is pregnant and he wants her to have an abortion. She is obviously the more...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is a good thesis statement for Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants"?
A story, however short, is seldom written to demonstrate a thesis in the same way as an academic essay, so there may be a variety of plausible answers to this, based on the reaction of individual...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants," does the American man love Jig?
In “Hills Like White Elephants,” the relationship between the American and Jig seems to be based more on emotional dependency than authentic love. Consider how Jig asks the American if he loves...
Hills Like White Elephants
Please point out what aspects of the plot, dialogue or technique mark this story "Hills Like White Elephants" as an...
The plot of this story feels so fragmented because we are left to read between the lines, inferring lots of information based on what little is actually made explicit. We only have a vague sense...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway, what are two different language devices used to develop the...
Two language devices that Ernest Hemingway employs in his short story, "Hills Like White Elephants," are symbolism and understatement. Through the use of dialogue and the symbolism of the white...
Hills Like White Elephants
I would like to ask what is the conclusion of the story?
I would like to add a little bit of Hemingway's personal background to help understand the unsettled, and unsettling, conclusion, of "Hills." Hemingway had to deal with the problem of abortion...
Hills Like White Elephants
Why does Hemingway use "Hills Like White Elephants" for his title?
The hills represent objectification and symbolize permanency while simultaneously symbolizing illusion, specifically, the illusion of how one thing can be reminiscent of another wholly dissimilar...
Hills Like White Elephants
What are Jig’s wishes?
Jig's wishes are unclear in this story. She constantly asks her male companion what he wants to do in regard to her pregnancy, and she says, "I don't care about me." Later, however, she seems to...
Hills Like White Elephants
How is love portrayed in this short story? How is it relevant to readers in modern times?
In this short story, love is portrayed as a risky endeavor, fraught with difficult decisions. In the story, the tension between the couple is palpable. There is every indication that the man wants...
Hills Like White Elephants
In "Hills Like White Elephants" Jig uses sarcasm in her dialogue. What does this indicate about her as a person?
You are right to indicate that in the early part of this story and the conversation that we are privy to between Jig and her American partner, she uses sarcasm. Consider the following example. When...
Hills Like White Elephants
What is the significance of the title Hills Like White Elephants?
The title of the short story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Hemingway is significant because it is the topic of conversation between the two characters represented in the story, the girl and the...
Hills Like White Elephants
Is the story "Hills like White Elephants" told objectively? The story appears to be told objectively, but is it?...
You have asked more than one question and so I have edited it down to what enotes allows. When we consider this story what is highly interesting is the fact that it is almost entirely told through...
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