`` Hills Like White Elephants `` An Omniscient Third...

Ernest Hemmingway’s â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants† is narrated in an omniscient third-person point of view. Hemingway’s minimalistic style doesn’t discuss many characters in the story, but rather focuses on their engagements and discourse. The narrator in this story gives little to no insight into what is happening. However, with this style of writing, Hemingway is able to present many themes that are apparent throughout the short story. One of the themes I have chosen to focus on is alcohol. Alcohol is highlighted throughout the two-character’s serious discussion. The conversation is full of tension regarding the operation that the man wants the girl to undergo. With all this tension, the alcohol seems to act as a distraction or escape†¦show more content†¦Drinking is the only source of relief that the man and the girl can find from both the harsh, hot sunlight and the complications of their own relationship. A rather simple quote fr om Jig, â€Å"Let’s drink beer† is actually an indicator to other portions of the story where Jig steers the action with her speech. Jig is actually the one doing much of the decision making in the story. This could be because the American is obviously asking Jig to perform an operation that he knows is in his favor, while Jig is still uncertain. This in hand allows Jig to hold most of the power throughout the story. On page 643, Jig makes a seemingly mean comment on the surface. â€Å"They look like white elephants,† she said. â€Å"I’ve never seen one,† the man drank his beer. â€Å"No, you wouldn’t have.† As we soon learn she becomes very disappointed in the American because he wants her to have an abortion and doesn’t want to marry her. Yet, her jab has nothing to do with that. It is more of a subtle, underhand approach, as she attempts to belittle the man, because he hasn’t traveled as much as she has. But even more than that, the context behind the white elephants mentioned, is in reference to the hills they see. In general, a white elephant signifies something that no one wants, and in this novelette it is the unborn child. Initially her comment seems to be casual, but it actually forms a segue for her and the man to discuss theShow MoreRelatedEng 125 Week 2 Assignment with Reference Page882 Words   |  4 Pagesgenre of this short story is very much similar to the genre of a how simple short stories are told and it has managed to create a real conversation which is set in a fairly realistic place, although the entire scenario is fictional. The â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants† is about a frustrating talk between the two couple in which the American man is trying to convince her girlfriend on not having a baby as it may ruin their happy life. By the highlighting the symbols, it is clarified that the girl is pregnantRead More Comparing Where Are you going, Where Have You Been and Hills Like White Elephants1320 Words   |  6 Pagesstories often use good technical writing skills. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast two short stories: Where Are you going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway. The comparison and contrast will be done based on their use of plot, point of view and character development. The short story where are you going, where have you been is about a teenage girl who is, vain, self-doubting and affixed in the present. She does not know anythingRead MoreRoman Fever and Hills Like White Elephants Essay2110 Words   |  9 Pagesof carefully developing their unique characters and through point of view, both Edith Wharton and Ernest Hemingway ultimately convey the significant revelation in the short stories, â€Å"Roman Fever† and â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants† respectively. The use of these two literary techniques is essential because they provide the readers with the necessary clues to realize the ultimate revelations. â€Å"Roman Fever† and â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants† are two stories that on surface seem very different from oneRead More Comparison of Hemingways Hills Like White Elephants and Cat In The Rain1013 Words   |  5 PagesComparison of Hemingways Hills Like White Elephants and Cat In The Rain Cat In The Rain is set in an Italian hotel where we meet an American couple. Outside a cat is trapped in the rain, and the wife wants to save it. When she goes to get it, it is gone but the maid later brings her one. The point of view in the story is a third person narrator, but the perspective changes going from the wife to the husband and an objective narrator who tells it like it is. The story is told retrospectivelyRead MoreHills like white elephant5316 Words   |  22 PagesHills Like White Elephants: The Jilting of Jig Hashmi, Nilofer. The Hemingway Review, Volume 23, Number 1, Fall 2003, pp. 72-83 (Article) Published by University of Idaho Department of English DOI: 10.1353/hem.2004.0009 For additional information about this article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hem/summary/v023/23.1hashmi.html Access Provided by Chulalongkorn University at 11/21/11 7:26AM GMT â€Å"hills like white elephants†: T h e j i lt i n g of j i g nilofer hashmi Georgia SouthernRead MoreANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesexplicitly dramatized or presented in an early scene or chapter. Some conflicts, in fact, are never made explicit and must be inferred by the reader from what the characters do or say as the plot unfolds (as, for example, in Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†). Conflict, then, is the basic opposition, or tension, that sets the plot in motion; it engages the reader, builds the suspense or mystery of the work, and arouses expectation for the vents that are to follow. The plot of the traditionalRead MoreThe Most Dangerous Game8910 Words   |  36 Pagesand the idea or intent in his mind. It includes the author’s POV and is HOW the author tells the story. Look for 1st, 3rd or 3rd person omniscient narration. Look for clues of an unreliable narrator such as blatant, untrue statements, the claim to be mentally ill and delusional and elements of the story that suggest the narrator may have a distorted or biased point-of-view. Tone vs. Mood First to clarify the difference between tone and mood: The tone is the authors attitude, stated or implied