“Hills Like White Elephants”
Author: Ernest Hemingway Biography: Ernest Hemingway is the author and a discharged sergeant in the American army. He was born in 1899 in Illinois and died in 1961. He was significant as an author. He vastly affected modern novels, and due to his contribution, he was awarded the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes. His major works are The Old Man and The Sea, The Sun Also Rises, and “Hills Like White Elephant”. The Date of Publication: August, 1921 POV: From the point of third person, the author describes the girl’s psychology. Tone: It is very serious. Themes: Conflict between two people. Symbol: In this story, the biggest symbol is the ‘White Elephant’. In Buddhism, the white elephant stands for holiness. Maya, mother of Buddha, dreamed about a white elephant when she gave birth to Buddha. Therefore, among Buddhists, the white elephant was a sacred animal. However, also, it had the meaning of nuisance. In the past, among West South Asian countries, it was the custom to give a white elephant to other countries as a way of showing their appreciation, but for the country which obtained white elephant, it was a quite a nuisance. It was because the elephant lives over seventy years and eats tons of prey each day. It was hard to deal with, but also they could not just throw it away since it was a gift. Thus, it has a meaning of the nuisance, but it also cannot be easily thrown away. The second symbol is the hill. In any parts, there are not direct descriptions that the girl is pregnant, but from the guy’s words like “it is an awfully simple operation, Jig” the reader can slightly presume that the girl is pregnant. The hill looks like a pregnant woman’s belly; Hemingway tries to express her pregnancy through the hill. Motif: The guy tries to assure the girl several times, and he keeps mentioning that they will be happy even after the operation. However, if the guy truly wants to become happy with the girl, he should not mention an abortion. Underlying meaning: Especially, the white elephant is essential in this story and it has a dual meaning for the two main characters. Probably for the guy, the girl’s pregnancy is a nuisance, but for the girl, it could be the sacred gift of their love.
1 Comment
Sabatino
1/31/2017 01:35:03 pm
Nice insights in this post! I'll ask that you provide the full title for each blog post. So this one would read: Writing About Hills Like White Elephants.
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Jacob (Chan Woo Kim)
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