Category: Hills Like White Elephants

Introduction

Why ‘I live at the P.O’ and ‘Hills like White Elephants’ are two short stories based on different issues. The following discussion will compare and contrast these two short stories.

Summary of Why I live at P.O

In this story Stella is the younger sister of Eudora. She was recently married to Mr. Whitaker but they later separated. Eudora complains that prior to her sister’s marriage; she was relating with Mr. Whitaker. However, their relationship did not last for long since Stella revealed to Mr. Whitaker her sisters negative issues, which contributed to the termination of their relationship.

After the separation, Stella went back home with a child, Shirley-T, whom she claimed was adopted. One day while they were taking their meal at the table, Eudora commented that Shirley looked like Papa-Daddy, only that she had no beard. The statement annoyed Stella so much that she turned Papa-Daddy against Eudora. Their grandfather got offended and stopped eating. Stella made him believe that he was insulted by her sister because of his beard. He could not understand why Eudora said that he should cut his beard ( Welty, 1941, par. 5).

According to Papa-Daddy, he thought that Eudora did not appreciate his efforts to get her a job as a postmistress. From his annoyance, he left to go and sit outside. The argument was caused by Stella who made her grandfather believe that he was offended by Erodora. After sometime, uncle Rondo Arrived and Eudora told him what had happened. He then went outside to talk to Papa-Daddy who was sleeping on a hammock. The two had a conversation; meanwhile Eudora went upstairs to Speak to Stella who was staring through the window. She claimed that uncle Rondo was wearing part of her trousseau out in the broad daylight. Stella and her sister got into a brief argument again as the issue of the child came up again. Eudora left her sister’s room and went downstairs where their mum was. Uncle Rondo was always on Eudora’s side though Stella also influenced his negative attitude towards her sister. Stella told their uncle that her sister had criticized what he was wearing. Everyone in the house was against Eudora and all of them were on Stella’s side ( Welty, 1941, par. 6).

It was at this point that Eudora decided to go and live at the Post Office, since everyone opposed her. She went to the extent of accusing that Shirley-T had no manners as she was sticking out the tongue at her in a horrible way. As she left the house, she knew that something had gone wrong between Stella and Mr. Whitaker. She even told her family about what she thought of the two. Uncle Rondo, Stella and Papa Daddy did not oppose the shifting. Papa Daddy even said he would not go to the Post Office where her grandchild was going to stay. For Mama, all she wanted was for Eudora to apologize to her sister although it was in vain. She left her home and got assistance from a ‘girl’ whom she met. Eudora moved into her new home where she liked having everything she wanted like radio and a sewing machine. She was happy with her new home ( Welty, 1941, par. 7).

The other story, Hills like White Elephants, is about an American man who had gone with a certain girl to a place where they had drinks. They were sited outside the main building where they could view their scenery clearly. Across the place where they were sited, they could see hills which the girl said looked like white elephants. They sipped their drinks while admiring their scenery, but at one point they had a minor argument (Hemmingway, 1927, par. 8).

Comparison

Comparing the first story (Why I live at the P.O) and the second one (Hills like White Elephants); one observes that in both stories, there is an element of conflict. In story Hills like White Elephants, the American man and the girl argued briefly. Similarly in the other story Why I live at the P.O, there is also an element of conflict where Stella often quarreled with her sister Eudora. In addition, both stories used past and present tenses to express their plot. Moreover, both stories used direct quotations evident in the presence of direct speech in the stories.

Contrast

In the story Why I live at the P.O, the playwright had given names to the characters, while in the other story Hills like White Elephants, no names have been given to characters. In additional, in the story Why I live at the P.O is more of a narrative, as the narrator is the one who narates the story. On the other hand, in the story Hills like White Elephants it is a story told by a third person. More than three characters can be observed from Why I live at the P.O., they include Stella, Papa, Sheila-T and Uncle Rondo. There is also an aspect of separation as Stella left her husband to go and stay with her family. The Eudora also left her family to go and stay at the Post Office. In Hills like White Elephants, there were only three characters; the man, the girl and the lady who served. Even though there was a bit of argument, the man and the girl did not separate, unlike in victims in the story Why I live at the P.O.V.

References

Hemmingway, E. (1927).Hills Like White Elephants. Web.

Welty, E. (1941).Why I live at the P.O. Southern U.S: Mississippi. Web.

The Theme of Love

There is love in the three short stories. In the “Two Kinds” there is some love between the mother (Suyuan) and daughter (Jing Mei) (Tan, 2006). In the “Hill’s Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway some love abounds between the American man and the pregnant girl.

This story is about the way self-interest can ruin the love that people have nurtured for a long time. In “the fall of the house of usher” there is love between Roderick and his twin sister Madeline. The love has also been strengthened by their illnesses. This paper specifically discuses the theme of love in the three short stories. More especially, the way love is advanced or frustrated by the characters.

The “Two Kinds”

Love that is evidenced in this short story is parental love. This love is depicted in the way the mother prevails upon her daughter to succeed in her studies. This is depicted in the way her mother says, “If you work hard you can achieve your dream here in America,” she added, “of course, you could be prodigy too” (Tan, 2006, p. 132).

However, the daughter took her mothers advice literally. She responded, “You want me to be someone I’m not,” she continued, “I will never be the kind of daughter you want me to be.” “Only two daughters,” she shouted, “those who are obedient and those who can follow their mind, the only daughter who can live in this house is the obedient one” (Tan, 2006, p. 132).

In as much Jing-mei was feeling that her mother never loved her because she was dictating or forcing her to do things she did not like, their bond was strong (Tan, 2006). This is seen in the way she reacted when her mother passed on. Jing-mei started to recognize that what her mother was telling her was right.

The death of her mother functioned as an eye opener for her. In the story it indicated that “she looked back over the music that she had previously rejected and discovered something that she had never noticed” (Tan, 2006). The two songs were the “Perfectly Contented,” the “Pleading Child.” However, upon examining these songs, she realized that they were two different parts of just one song.

It is motherly love that her mother does not want her daughter to go through the sufferings such as—the misfortune of losing kids, the fear and privations of conflicts, as well as the challenges encountered when settling in a different culture (Tan, 2006). That is why her mother has taken the initiative to ensure that her daughter becomes a genius and standing tall amongst other children in America.

Apparently, from her conduct, she is not a genius. This is because geniuses have innate abilities and work only under slight guidance or supervision. As the author indicates, Jing-mei even refused to practice the piano. If she were a genius, this should have been something that would have fascinated her.

The fall of the house of usher

Love is evident in this short story (Poe, 2011). More especially is revealed in the way characters deal with situations or they way react when dealing with their spouses. In the poem “The Raven,” Poe’s love is reveled. Poe’s love for his beloved wife, Virginia, is revealed when she died.

It is indicated that Poe was traumatized by her demise. It is also indicated that her death became an everyday motif in his undertaking. This statement stresses the degree of love that the two had. In other words, it was almost inseparable and no of them could do without the other.

There is also brotherly love in this novel. There is a strong love between Roderick and his sister, Madeleine. It is indicated that Roderick “affectionately loved his sister” (p. 42). There affection is also based on the fact that they are twins. As the author puts, they have “an outstanding semblance” (p. 46). That is, they behaved in a way that someone could easily say they had one soul in two different bodies.

“Hill Like White Elephants”

This short story revolves around the theme of love and responsibility (Benson, 1990). The author has used abortion to show how much the American man loves her pregnant girlfriend named Jig. However, the love showed by the American man is selfish. That is, he does not extent it beyond his girlfriend. This is evidenced when the boyfriend says, “Ill stay with you.” He also added, “I do not want anyone else, but you” (p.161).

Basing on this utterance, it is also clear that the American man is taking advantage of the love he has for his girlfriend to convince her to have the abortion. However, the girlfriend does not actually feel the same as she loves both of them. This is evident from the way she turned him down saying, “Would you please stop talking” (p. 298). Generally, this shows that her love is not selfish and that she is the man’s superior in sensitivity, imagination and above all, capacity for love.

Conclusion

As it has been established in the discussion, the theme of love is espoused in the three novels. In the “Hill Like White Elephants,” both the American man and his girlfriend show love to each other but the pregnancy is threatening their peaceful affection. Their love is therefore selfish or situational.

In the “Two Kinds,” parental love dominates. The mother feels that she has the responsibility to guide her daughter to success. Her dominance of over her daughter is also threatening their affection. The daughter feels that she is not being given space to enjoy life like other kids. However, in the end, the daughter realizes that her mother was somehow right.

In the “fall of the house of usher,” is a sad story of two twins who share brotherly love. Their situation has brought them together more than ever. Poe also has strong love for his beloved wife, Virginia. This is evidenced when she died as it was hard for Poe to forget her both in his personal and work life.

References

Benson, J. (1990). New critical approaches to the short stories of Ernest Hemingway. Durham: Duke University Press.

Poe, E. (2011). The fall of the House of Usher. New York: Books of Wonder.

Tan, A. (2006). The joy luck club. New York: Penguin Books.

Introduction

A young woman was discussing an operation with her companion at a cafe. Suddenly, she looked out of the window and said that the hills were like white elephants. What did Hemingway want to say by that? Is it a social or philosophical dilemma? The text of The Hills like White Elephants by Hemingway is overwhelmed with symbolism, which indicates hard decision characters have to make due to their careless life and unwillingness to become parents.

Analysis

Kenneth Johnston wrote one of the fascinating reviews of the novel by Hemingway. Therefore, all the following conclusions correspond to his opinion and statements. The only thing that was discovered is the meaning of the idiom “the hills like white elephants,” which refers to something precious, but useless (Robertson 40). Hence, these people were discussing an abortion that the woman was about to make.

Although Hemingway did not provide a single word or a hint to describe the subject of these people’s conversation, every reader intuitively understood the subject of the characters’ conversation. “It is really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It is not really an operation at all” – these words made the topic somewhat clear because the man wanted his girlfriend to make an abortion, but he did not want to push on her in order not to be guilty (Johnston 234). A person is able to see the hidden message due to such words and phrases as “operation,” “injection,” “everything is going to be all right,” and so on.

Some people were able to see symbolism in the text of The Hills like White Elephants by Hemingway (Bausch 7). For instance, an image of a white elephant and hills prefigures the female’s breasts and abdomen during her pregnancy. The pale white color of the shining hills is associated with an infant’s skin. Moreover, the main characters were having their conversation at the train station, which was situated on the edge of a barren on one side and flourishing trees on the other. “Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro” (Hemingway 1). Hemingway was using the landscape in order to depict a separation between the young people or to demonstrate the possible consequences of the forthcoming operation.

The phrase “the hills like white elephants” is very frequent in young people’s conversation. It appeared for the first time when the young lady looked out of the window, and her companion replied that he had never seen white elephants in his life.

This dialogue emphasizes that the white elephants were only the tip of the iceberg (Johnston 234). Meanwhile, the subject of this conflict was changed – the couple started to discuss their attitudes towards the operation question. Hence, this could be considered as a primary verbal type of a quarrel between two people – it was not a dispute anymore. The white elephants were not mentioned after this dialogue. Furthermore, it remains a metonymic concept of the novel, which depicts an idea of loneliness.

The further context of The Hills like White Elephants by Hemingway, was formed with pretermission figure, which caused many controversies between people who analyzed this novel. Some say that the railroad, along with the dramatic situation, refers to some tragedy or any other deplorable epilog (Tyler 134). “And we could have everything, and every day we make it more possible” (Hemingway 2).

The main characters of Hemingway’s novel were very tempted to commit suicide, but they had enough volition to hold themselves from this unreasonable action. The general picture of this dialogue implied that Jig’s agreement for the operation would change the plot because she was lible to go into hysteria due to her companion’s persistence. Nevertheless, Jig did not get emotional and remained confident with a forced smile on her face.

Jig only smiled at the waitress at the local cafe and at her companion who asked her if she was fine at the end of the story. She replied that nothing concerned her and that she felt great. Hemingway’s novel has a structure of a dramatic text because all the descriptions were reduced to a minimum. A sudden smile on the character’s face was considered as a non-verbal communication gesture, which implied a lighter flow of this conversation (Gale Cengage Learning 5).

Jig’s gesture of looking away had the same purpose. The last two episodes were taken into account because the young lady did not have an eye contact with her companion, as she was looking at the hills. Jig’s observations were described a lot, whereas the American man’s sight was mentioned only twice in the novel. His eyes said that he was not very confident, but he continued insisting on his viewpoint. “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” (Hemingway 3). Finally, Jig asked the young man to stop talking, which made him staring at their suitcases. This gesture could emphasize that the man agreed to a compromise.

Writing Process Summation

There are several reasons why I chose this story. The first argument is a genius writer of this novel, Ernest Hemingway – his creations are always extremely interesting to read. Besides, the novel The Hills like White Elephants is somewhat mysterious because people usually read it over multiple times in order to understand the message of the story. In fact, it was complicated for me understand the message at the first time, so I discussed this question with people online.

I arrived at my understanding and assertion about this poem due to the conclusions of people who analyzed it before. I watched a few screen adaptations online, which gave me a better image of the scene at the railroad station. The main point that I reflected in this essay was about Hemingway’s “iceberg principle” of writing. It means that he did not describe every detail of the scene – he just provided one-eighth of the picture, so other seven eights were left to be discovered by a reader. Another point is that the constant conflict identifies the whole perspective of the plot because there is no logical conclusion or epilog along with a destructive final.

My revision of this novel was accomplished by consulting various online sources that discussed this story. There were many interesting thoughts expressed on different websites and articles, but I considered only accredited authorities’ works. The only thing I want a reader to see from my essay is a desire to read the original version of this novel. In my opinion, every person has to see an authentic material at the first time because then a reader will have many questions in his or her mind.

Conclusion

The Hills like White Elephants by Hemingway is a symbolical novel, which has to be read several times in order to understand the main point and the meaning of all the words said by the main characters. The author wants a reader to read between the lines to see the situation as it is. The message of this novel can be understood in various ways by different people. The story is supposed to address a reader’s mind because it does not provide any details, which makes all people imagine the situation differently and to draw a parallel between this novel and one’s life.

Works Cited

Bausch, Richard. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. W.W. Norton and Company, 2015.

Gale Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”. The Gale Group. 2016.

Robertson, Deborah. Semantic Congruence and Simile Construction in three Ernest Hemingway Short Stories. California State University, 2014.

Tyler, Lisa. “Hemingway Lives!: Why Reading Ernest Hemingway Matters Today by Clancy Sigal.” The Hemingway Review, vol. 34, no. 2, 2015, pp. 132–135.

Annotated Bibliography

Hemingway, Ernest. Hills like White Elephants. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1927.

This book is a primary source for this paper.

Johnston, Kenneth. “Hills Like White Elephants’: Lean, Vintage Hemingway.” Studies in American Fiction, vol. 10, no. 2, 1982, pp. 233–238.

This article contains analysis and description almost of every detail in the Hemingway’s novel. The analysis is very deep and followed by various theories about nature and characters of the story’s young people. “The man, identified only as an American, is the villain of the piece. He is a selfish, insensitive, emotional bully, the eternal adolescent who refuses to put down roots or to shoulder the responsibilities which are rightfully his” (Johnston). The article is very useful for analysis of the novel because it enlightens the situation at the railroad café from different perspectives, which helps to have a full image of the scene. This article is a trustworthy academically source because it was used by the majority of scholars for their academic papers. Besides, it was written not so long after the novel’s publication. Therefore, this is one of the first secondary sources and reviews on this story.

The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” relationships between a young girl and her boyfriend who try to solve the problem of romantic love and further relations. This short story is based on symbolism and vivid images which add emotional tension to the story. Two academic essays, Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” by K. Bernardo and Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” and the tradition of the American in Europe by D. Grant propose different Apaches to symbolic interpretations and themes, thus they underline a unique nature and outstanding style of Hemingway and his literary vision.

Bernardo concentrates on symbolic interpretations and visual images used to define the meaning of the short story. He underlines that what reader is not amazed at the end of “Hills Like White Elephants” to learn that thirty-five minutes have passed while Jig and her man wait for the train to Madrid, a detail that suggests long silences between sparse dialogue, and hints at the lack of connection between the two. The early versions of that story put Jig and the American man on the train for which they only wait in the finished version. In contrast to Bernardo, Grant concentrates on traditions and language usage. The author underlines that in the dialogue the reader has no indication of authorial privilege. Focusing on both Hemingway’s evolution as a writer and on the writing process itself, a number of seminal studies have emerged over the past decade that traces the transformation of jotted notes into finished art. At this point, however, we stand upon the threshold of discovery. The construction of a comprehensive view of Hemingway’s stylistic development, evolving aesthetic, and philosophy of composition not only presents new directions for study but will also establish the theoretical framework necessary for a fresh examination of the entire Hemingway canon, seeming oddities and all. Their function is to determine, again, whether the ruthless, aggressive component of man’s need to create form and/or take life is dominant by nature or conditioning, and (this time) whether or not a woman can discover in herself the capacity to experience such aggression, so as to participate in man’s endeavor rather than merely appreciate its necessity in another.

Bernardo gives attention to details while Grant proposes to readers a general overview of the text and its cultural meaning. Bernardo writes: “It is clear that Jig does not want to have an abortion – not from what she says, of course, but from the pressure, the man applies to talk her into it” (Bernardo n.d.). Bernardo underlines that the young girl is in practice torn apart by needs simultaneously to compete and nurture. And though she incorporates both drives in a nearly incredible symbiosis with Grant’s interpretations, not even their remarkable concord of interests holds them together. In a bold, final attempt to resolve creatively the impasse of differing primary concerns between the sexes, these speculative portrayals of sexual atavism push human nature beyond its limits.

In contrast to Bernardo, Grant proposes to readers a cultural analysis of the text and interprets its meaning in terms of social relations and interactions. Hemingway’s characters look to Europe for an escape from an American mode of time” (Grant 1998). The authors construe in the fragments as a whole a thrust toward closure based upon classical resignation, beyond reliance even upon Hemingway’s customary mysticism. This would be an advance. Bernardo and Grant underline that for the resolutions of his other mature works, profound as they are, sustain his muted romanticism by the reassurance of epiphany — by transcending those contradictions in the human breast that render all quests for concord in love “unfinding,” and the maker’s quest for intimations of order “unrealizable” in the end. It is to that “country” beyond the material realm that the major direct his now-detached gaze at the end.

The main similarity is that both essays interpret the state of the young girl as pregnancy, thus there is a clear explanation of this situation. “This textual suggestion that the abortion will be the demarcating event bound to form the dividing line between their past and future experience is what the man seeks to neutralize by depicting the operation as a natural process of healing and restoration” (Grant 1998). He is reconciled to the spare compensation of going through the motions of commitment in an apparently random world, simply because this is the “country” in which we have been placed and in which we must participate with the resolution if we are to demonstrate our full detachment from the dashed dreams of mortal life. Only thus can we prove the true situation to all that men and women hope to gain by embraces.

In sum, both academic essays pay attention to symbolic details and the unique theme of abortion thus they follow different approaches and interpretations of the text. The distinctions in expression are even more important, however than the conventions held in common. The words communicate a sense of inevitable and unendurable loss which is a much more powerful rendering of the damnation theme than anything in the short story. The two most conventional reactions to adversity registered by an understanding of isolation are wrath and despair. The strength of this tradition helped to perpetuate the formal, lyrical expression of sorrow. Within a dramatic context representing the providential order that governed all things and all mankind, there arose a dramaturgical method that staged evil as something comic, not only for reasons grounded in the philosophy of human relations but for the more practical homiletic purpose of engaging the least sophisticated of minds.

Works Cited

1. Bernardo, K. Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”.
2. Grant, D. Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” and the tradition of the American in Europe. Studies in Short Fiction. 1998.
3. Hemingway, E. Hills Like White Elephants.