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Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants&# 038; Quo Essay, Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants&# 038; Quo Symbolism in Hills Like White Elephants Often while reading a short story, it is necessary to take a deep look into the symbolism of the story to understand everything that the author intended for the reader to understand. This is the case in the short story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway. Hemingway uses symbolism to show the almost one-sided nature of the characters relationship and to show how Jig feels torn between her desire to keep the child and her need to please the man whereas the man cares nothing for either her or the child. While reading the story one begins to get a feeling that the love that Jig and the man (he remains nameless in the story) supposedly shared predominately remains unrequited by the man. Hemingway shows this by the fact that Jig tries to do everything possible to make the man happy, whereas the man seems to be doing everything possible to get himself out of the situation he has gotten into. They seem to have fallen into the popular girl falls in love, girl gets pregnant, guy is not in love scenario.
The main place that this is shown is in the conversation that takes place between line forty-two and line fifty-four. The man tries to talk her into having an abortion by saying things like, It s really an awfully simple operation. Jig, on the other hand, is only concerned with their future together. The man is not only the older of the two but also the dominant person in this relationship. The very first time the couple is mentioned they are referred to as the American and the girl with him. With this one sentence Hemingway not only shows us that Jig is young by referring to her as a girl, but also introduces the thought of the dependence she has on him by saying the girl with him.
All this leads up to the central theme of the story the pregnancy. Although both agree that the pregnancy ought to be terminated, their reasons are vastly different. Hemingway lets the audience know that the pregnancy is unwanted in the title Hills Like White Elephants. Hills refer to the shape of the belly of a pregnant woman, and White Elephants is an idiom that refers to useless or unwanted things. In this case, the unwanted thing is the fetus they are going to get rid of Jig wants the baby deep down inside, but decides to carry out the abortion to keep the man happy. The reader knows that Jig is ready for something new after reading lines thirty-three and thirty-four: I wanted to try this new drink.
That s all we do, isn t it look at things and try new drinks? The word all catches the readers attention. Jig uses the word all in her response in a desperate attempt to show that she is bored of a life that consists of nothing but alcohol, hotels and looking at things. She uses this word in the same way we use the word all to play down the significance of an issue: Is that all you wanted?
The reader further realizes that she truly wants the baby when she is looking at fields of grain, the trees, and the mountains across the Ebro and says, And we could have all this and we could have everything and everyday we make it more impossible. The life on the other side of the Ebro symbolizes the life inside of her and everyday they get closer to the abortion it becomes less and less likely that they will ever see this life. One can tell she is carrying it out only to appease the man when she says, Then I ll do it. Because I don t care about me. This was said in response to a conversation in which the man was assuring her everything would be all right after she had the abortion. It is obvious that the American just wants to get rid of the baby as soon as possible.
The reader can tell that the only thing on the man s mind is the abortion by closely following the dialogue of the story. The only time he gets more involved in the conversation other than a simple answer to Jig s questions is when they are talking about the abortion. He also repeatedly says how simple the operation is and how everything will be OK after the abortion. In conclusion, Hemingway s careful selection of his words and phrases in this short story to allow the reader to realize much more than is stated, making it all the more deep and symbolic. His portrayal of an innocent girl in love and the stereotypical nameless (apparently not inadvertently, as he seems to be a metaphor for all men) man truly reaches deep into the human psyche and reveals that which many who choose to view society favorably attempt to ignore.
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Research essay sample on Hills Like White Elephants Short Story
