What are some symbols in Hills Like White Elephants?
The first example of symbolism in the short story is the white hills that the woman says look like elephants: “They look like white elephants,” she said (Hemingway 229). A white elephant is a symbol of a possession that cannot be gotten rid of and has a great cost to keep around.
What are white elephants a symbol of?
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 is characterization used in Hills Like White Elephants?
Each character has traits. First, the characterization of the Girl shows that she is aperson who is always pessimistic with her condition, stubborn and she can becategorized as an emotionally unstable person. Second, the American’scharacterization shows that he is fickle, egoist, and he is also an irresponsibleperson.
What is the metaphorical meaning of Hills Like White Elephants?
The meaning behind Hills Like White Elephants is that the man in the story is trying to convince the girl to have an abortion. The “white elephants” is a play on the idea of a white elephant, something that a person has, but wants to get rid of even at great expense.
What do beaded curtains symbolize?
Strings of beads are familiar infant’s playthings; thus, to the woman the curtain may symbolize the unborn child. Such a thought would be no less likely in her mind, as she handles the beads, than her earlier perception of the distant hills as white elephants.
What do the bags symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?
Hills Like White Elephants In the story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, the author uses the luggage to symbolize the hard decision that the American and Jig face in regards to having the abortion.
Which character is more reasonable in Hills Like White Elephants?
The man is the more reasonable out of the two because he is telling the girl many reasons why they cannot and should not have the baby but he does not say it in a manner that is disrespectful to the girl.
What is the relationship between the two characters in Hills Like White Elephants?
“Hills like White Elephants” suggests a relationship between the meaning of white elephants and the man’s at- titude toward the unborn child. The relationship presents the representa- tion of boredom, desperateness of life, the sense of lost happiness, and the awareness of the failure of love.
What does the bamboo curtain represent in Hills Like White Elephants?
The Bamboo Bead Curtain. This symbol is overshadowed by the hills and elephants, but the bamboo curtain is still powerful. It sets us up to think about boundaries, thresholds, and separations – all the issues the couple is facing.
Why does the man order for the girl every time they order drinks?
Why does the man order for the girl every time they order drinks? The man is a controlling person and won’t let the girl talk for herself and the girl does not speak Spanish. What does the man tell the girl they could have if she had the operation?
How does the man manipulate the girl in Hills Like White Elephants?
Relationships In Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants. The man is manipulating her through his words to get his girl to go through with the operation.
What does Hills Like White Elephants say about the gender roles?
Hemingway presents women as feminine objects regarded by men as passive and insipid tools in Hills Like White Elephants. As a central though unspoken theme in this story, women are portrayed as helpless and unstable. The weakness of women is contrasted with the power and clear-thinking male characters.
What are the man and woman talking about in Hills Like White Elephants?
A Story That Takes on an Emotional Conversation on Abortion The man is attempting to convince the woman to get an abortion, but the woman is ambivalent about it. The story’s tension comes from their terse, barbed dialogue.
What does bamboo symbolize?
Bamboo is a symbol of longevity because of its durability, strength, flexibility, and resilience. It survives in the harshest conditions, still standing tall and staying green year-round. When the storm comes, bamboo bends with the wind.
What does alcohol symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?
Alcohol is not portrayed as a good thing. 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 does the man tell the girl that they could have if she had the operation in Hills Like White Elephants?
What does the man tell the girl they could have if she had the operation? The whole world. The man is desperate to talk Jig into the abortion so he promises her the whole world. She argues that they can’t have the whole world because once it’s gone they can’t have it back.
How does Hemingway characterize the American and the girl?
Hemingway portrays the American as a rugged man’s man—knowledgeable, worldly, and always in control of himself and the situation at hand. Even when vexed or confused, he maintains his cool and feigns indifference, such as when he tells the girl he doesn’t care whether she has the operation.
What is the main theme of Hills Like White Elephants?
unwanted pregnancy
The underlying theme of Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ deals with the difficulties a couple, particularly the female, has in facing an unexpected and ultimately unwanted pregnancy.