An  analysis of Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants  i

Table of contents

1  Introduction  1

2  Modern dialogue - the structure of the short story  2

3  Hills and junction - the strong prominence of place and positioning  3

4  Repetition, manipulation and sarcasm - the language of the  

characters   6

5  Conclusion  7

Bibliography   ii

An analysis of Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants” 1

1 Introduction

Hypothesis:

The female character in Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants” represents the inferior part in the relationship and finally agrees to the male’s wish of an abortion, does not she?

Can the reader of “Hills like White Elephants” experience the success of the male character, known as “the American”, or the triumph of Jig, the female character, at the end of the story?

The argument of the American couple waiting at a junction between Barcelona and Madrid represents the centre of Ernest Hemingway’s short story. Hemingway published this short story as part of the story collection “Men without Women” in 1927 (ANONYMOUS, 1996). Therefore, it can be assumed that the setting of the story is also conceived for the 1920ies. It is never directly mentioned that both discuss the abortion of their unborn child, although it becomes clear through implications within the text. Whereas the man tries to convince her in a manipulating manner to undergo surgery, she dreams of a future with the child (HEMINGWAY, 1956: 249ff). LAMB even states that: “Much of the conversation is so obscure that on the literal level it can be comprehended only in light of the entire story” (LAMB, 1996: 469). Several metaphors, images and other literary devices, such as the simile being present in the title and in its several repetitions in the story, add to the reader’s perception of the shown conflict.

Apparently, the male character represents the dominant part in the relationship and the successful one in the conversation. As the girl states “But I don’t care about me. And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine” (HEMINGWAY, 1956: 251) after being talked at by her boyfriend, it seems that she gives up and sacrifices her wishes. However, scholars discuss whether the American or the girl can force their individual points in the end. The aim of this research paper is to examine this question. An analysis of the structure of the short story, the importance of place and positioning as well as the language of both characters will support the clarification of the hypothesis mentioned above regarding the tri-

An analysis of Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants” 2

umph of the man. Nevertheless, there could be another reading, too. Probably his female counterpart is more influential than it seems to be at first sight.

2 Modern dialogue - the structure of the short story

“Hills like White Elephants” consists mainly of the dialogue between the male and the female character. There are only a few narrated segments in the story, “rather like stage directions in their length and frequency of occurrence” (HOL-LANDER, 1985: 213), such as the introductory part. Although this descriptive element introduces the reader to the setting of the short story, it cannot be regarded as a drama-like exposition. It does not inform the reader about the characters, their motives or about previous actions. Its task is rather to set the mood and to establish the landscape as a platform for the conflict of the characters.

The American and the girl as well as the underlying conflict become characterised by the content and the manner of the conversation. LAMB calls Hemingway’s mode of writing, in which the dialogue receives an essential role in the story’s composition, “modern dialogue” (LAMB, 1996: 454). In the context of the modern short story, which demands radical compression, a high degree of suggestiveness and implication, the modern dialogue implicates subtly the relationship between characters. For example the first interaction between the American and the girl about the choice of drink, in which the female character asks the man (HEMINGWAY, 1956: 249), implies that she lacks any autonomy. Moreover, his indirect request to drink beer by saying “It’s pretty hot” (HEMINGWAY, 1956: 249) shows his manipulating character (LAMB, 1996: 454f, 469, 474).

Hemingway creates a real-life conversation in this short story, in which the couple talks to each other as if they know each other well (LAMB, 1996: 455). The central conflict of abortion is never mentioned by name because both characters already know which problem they have to discuss like it is the case in reallife talks. Consequently, the reader cannot grasp the story’s wider meaning without developing this conflict out of the situational and linguistic context.