“Hills Like White Elephants” opens with a long description of the story's setting in a train station surrounded by hills, fields,
and trees in a valley in Spain
.
What is the setting of the Hills Like White Elephants?
Hemingway sets “Hills Like White Elephants” at
a train station
to highlight the fact that the relationship between the American man and the girl is at a crossroads. Planted in the middle of a desolate valley, the station isn't a final destination but merely a stopping point between Barcelona and Madrid.
Why is Hills Like White Elephants in Spain?
Ernest Hemingway's short story “Hills Like White Elephants” is set in Spain, and much is made in the story of the Spanish landscape. … The Spanish setting, because it
is hot and dry
, is a perfect setting for a story that involves the drinking of alcohol and a heated, tense conversation between two people.
Where does Hills Like White Elephants come from?
“Hills Like White Elephants” is
a short story by Ernest Hemingway
. It was first published in August 1927, in the literary magazine transition, then later in the 1927 short story collection Men Without Women.
What is the symbolic significance of the setting in Hills Like White Elephants?
The setting is important in “Hills Like White Elephants” because
it tells us so much about the relationship between Jig and the American
. The immediate setting of the train station in Spain means that the couple don't “belong” to this place, just as they don't “belong” together.
What does the railroad tracks symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?
The entire story takes place at a train station—a physical and metaphorical crossroads of railroad tracks in the couple's journey. Each track symbolizes
a possible life path
. They are waiting for a train that would take them to Madrid.
What do the white elephants symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?
A white elephant symbolizes
something no one wants
—in this story, the girl's unborn child. Comparing the hills—and, metaphorically, the baby—to elephants also recalls the expression “the elephant in the room,” a euphemism for something painfully obvious that no one wants to discuss. …
What is the ending of Hills Like White Elephants?
Abstract. 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.
What is happening between the two main characters in Hills Like White Elephants?
The relationship between the two characters in “Hills Like White Elephants” is
a romantic and sexual one
. An unnamed American man and a woman he calls Jig are involved, and she has become pregnant. The point of contention between them is that the man wants Jig to have an abortion, and Jig seems hesitant.
What is the conflict in Hills Like White Elephants?
Throughout “Hills Like White Elephants,” the dominant conflict that remains is
man vs. self
. The decision to have this be the conflict provides insight on the girl as a character and the relationship that she has with the man, as well as aiding in the resolution of the short story.
What are the symbols in Hills Like White Elephants?
- Barren/Fertile Land. As the story opens, we are introduced first and foremost to the setting's barren landscape, which is described as “brown and dry,” with “no shade” and “no trees.” Yet while the story feels as though… …
- Light. …
- Alcohol. …
- The Train Station.
Who is the main character in Hills Like White Elephants?
Jig
. Since Jig has a (nick)name and comes up with the title simile, we'll call her the main character.
What literary devices are used in Hills Like White Elephants?
Hemingway's work Hills Like White Elephants communicates several political viewpoints―such as abortion and nationalistic inferiority―and conveys conflict through the use of
imagery, symbolism, point-of-view, and setting
. In the beginning of the short passage, Hemingway presents multiple images to set the mood.
What does alcohol symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?
When reading Hills Like White Elephants, it is obvious that drinking alcohol is a large part of their relationship. … The symbolic part of the alcohol is that
it is the only functioning part of their relationship
. It gives the couple a short-term relief from their real life problems and realities.
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 symbolism of white elephants?
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.
