The setting of “Hills Like White Elephants” in a railroad station exemplifies this sense of being “lost.” A railroad station is not a permanent place anyone inhabits but
a place one passes through in transit to somewhere else
. This lack of permanence is emblematic of the relationship between Jig and the man.
What does the Valley symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?
In his short story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway also uses landscape features in a meaningful way. The author's depiction of Ebro valley in this literary work is symbolic of
a choice to have a child, and the dry, treeless land on the opposite side is representative of the life after abortion
.
What is the symbolic meaning of white elephant?
The white elephant—which was more often than not stricken with albinism, and thus more a ruddy-pink color—was, and remains to this day,
a symbol of success
. To possess a white elephant connoted political power, wealth and prosperity, great wisdom, and the love of one's people.
How are the two landscapes in Hills Like White Elephants symbolic?
In “Hills Like White Elephants,” the brown and dry landscape that the couple awaits their train on
symbolizes the dismal state of their relationship and implies they choose not to have their child
.
How does the setting of Hills Like White Elephants contribute to the overall mood of the text?
How does the setting contribute to the overall mood of the text?
The lush landscape enhances the fertility of the woman. The train station enhances the excitement for travel between the couple
. The desolate background heightens the tension and emptiness between the couple.
What is the significance of white elephant in Hills Like White Elephants?
A white elephant is a gift that turns out to be more like a burden. It is an allusion to a practice once used by the King of Siam. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” it symbolizes
Jig's feelings about her unborn child and the American man
. She sees the baby as a potential gift, but he sees the baby as a potential burden.
What do hills symbolize?
Hills carry their own significance least of which is the concept of
higher and lower levels of land
– the latter can contain swamps, people, darkness, fields, heat, unpleasantness, life whilst the former can suggest isolation, life, death, thin air, purity, clear views to name a few.
What literary devices are used in Hills Like White Elephants?
In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Ernest Hemingway is using
personification and metaphors
to paint us a picture of a troubled relationship between a couple who are trying to find a solution to a problem that can't seem to agree on a solution.
What is the main conflict in 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 obviously wants—and pressures—Jig to have an abortion while Jig is reluctant to go through with the procedure.
What is the most important symbol in the story Hills Like White Elephants?
I would argue that the most important symbol in this novel is
that of the white elephants of the title
. This is because it seems to sum up so much of the difference between Jig and her partner and the way that she is so desperate to do anything to try and save what seems to be a hopeless relationship.
What are the hills in Hills Like White Elephants?
In the story, Hemingway refers to the Ebro River and to the bare, sterile-looking mountains on one side of the train station and to the fertile plains on the other side of the train station.
The hills of Spain
, to the girl, are like white elephants in their bareness and round, protruding shape.
What happens at the end of Hills Like White Elephants?
The ending of Hemingway's 1927 story, “Hills Like White Elephants” was interpreted for decades in one way:
the female protagonist surrenders to her partner's wishes that she undergo abortion
. … Hemingway's story “Hills Like White Elephants” is often included in curricula of literature and creative writing.
What is the irony in Hills Like White Elephants?
The irony of the title, then, is that
the man “buys” a white elephant believing that the action under consideration can return him and his girlfriend to their former relationship, but the girl, like the reader, knows they will never be the same
, for she turns from the vision of life, fields of grain and trees, and …
What is the metaphor in Hills Like White Elephants?
White elephants are symbols of anything of great value that is not wanted. The hills may be “like” white elephants, but the white elephants are metaphors
for the unwanted baby which the man is pressuring the girl to abort
. It is obvious throughout the story that the girl wants the baby and the man doesn't.
How is foreshadowing used in Hills Like White Elephants?
In “Hills Like White Elephants” how does Hemingway use foreshadowing when the girl gazes out at the fertile landscape of grain fields and the tree-lined banks of the Ebro River? … As
it darkens the view of the fertile field below, it predicts the death of the girl's fetus if she gives in to the American's wishes
.
What is the resolution of Hills Like White Elephants?
“Hills Like White Elephants” is a very short story. Only about one thousand words, the story itself is comprised almost entirely of dialogue. Although there is a situation, there is no plot; although there are words spoken between the main characters,
there is no resolution.
