Ernerst Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” file:///C:/Users/AmyDave/Downloads/hemingway-hills-like-white-elephants.pdf [Open with a clear introduction of what piece is being analyzed, followed by a concise explanation of the main theme or topic being explored] Written in 1927, Ernest Hemingway’s short fiction, “Hills Like White Elephants” explores a sensitive subject by circling it, and never identifying or addressing it directly. [Clarify any main characters] The story opens with “the American and the girl.” Only once in the story is the woman’s name (or nickname) — “Jig” — spoken. The American remains unnamed, but he drives the conversation as it circles around what is addressed indirectly: the woman’s imminent elective surgery to terminate a pregnancy. [It is helpful to highlight whether evidence of the main theme is addressed directly or indirectly] Though the pregnancy is not referenced explicitly, there are continuous moments in the pair’s conversation that alludes to it. [Include direct references to the story, with explanation of why the reference is important] Several times the man reassures the woman that he will support whatever she decides; he says, “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do,” and, “I’m perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you.” Clearly, the American is not intent on forcing his lover to give up the baby, though he does not hesitate to convince her either. He tells her, “I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in, and then it’s all perfectly natural.” His admonition that the surgery is “really an awfully simple operation,” is meant to deflect any anxiety or reservations she might be having in ending her pregnancy. [The entirety of this first paragraph collects, displays, and describes evidence to indicate the theme of the story] [This next paragraph relates to the previous one, but builds on it — there is more to the story] In addition to addressing the surgery itself, the man and the woman circle around their expectations of what will happen if she goes through with it. He tells her, “We’ll be fine afterwards. Just like before.” She responds a short while later: “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were, and you’ll love me.” [Analysis of the previous quotations] The couple are obviously experiencing a moment of crisis, in which they have recently lived an adventurous existence together, but are now hampered by this unexpected development. Even their bags, sitting on the train station platform, have “all the labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.” The two clearly live a nomadic, carefree life, and the man is not terribly interested in taking up the responsibility of parenthood. [Both have expectations of how their relationship will be repaired, but there are also questions of who really wants what] The woman asks him, “Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along,” and while the man responds first with “Of course it does,” he hastily follows up with the declaration that “I don’t want anybody but you. I don’t want anyone else,” meaning a child. Hemingway’s short story sets the reader down in the middle of an ongoing, complicated dialogue between the two main characters. There are other indications that there is more being told, however, which is portrayed in the surrounding background. [Setting often provides ample details to analyze in terms of symbolic relevance] The scene alongside the train station where the couple sits contains “no shade and no trees.” It is dry and barren. Alternately, on the other side of the station, the view is much different. There are “fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain, and [the girl] saw the river through the trees.” The land on this side appears lush, alive, and fertile. For Hemingway to have the woman be the lens through which the reader experiences this view perhaps reveals her desire to be fertile or possibly to be in a state of suspended fertility, though not pregnancy itself. [The title of the story is referenced in the story, a clear indicator of significance] Near the opening of the story, the woman comments that the “hills look like white elephants,” which likely refers to the ancient tradition in Thailand of a white elephant being gifted to someone with whom the king was displeased — a rare white elephant would seem to be an honour, however it would be so costly to upkeep so as to ruin the owner financially. The man in Hemingway’s story says, “I’ve never seen one,” to which the woman replies: “No, you wouldn't have.” [Next follows analysis of this symbol] If the white elephant is representative of taking up the responsibility of a child, then the woman is well aware that the man would never intentionally do so. [Don’t neglect the ending, even if you are uncertain of its meaning] The short story does not end with a clear indication of the woman’s decision. When the American returns from taking the bags to the other side of the train station, he asks her if she feels better, to which she replies: “I feel fine...There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” Her response potentially reveals that she wants the child, that she is not sick and in need of fixing; she has looked to the fields of growing wheat, the river running through the forest, and she is content with her state of being. Conversely, perhaps she is fine with the decision to terminate, though Hemingway obviously did not intend a straightforward conclusion to a complex situation.