Hills Like White Elephants

Suzanne · Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:37 pm

Anyone interested in a little Hemingway?

http://www.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Blackboa ... hants.html

Mr. Pessimistic · Wed Mar 17, 2010 9:05 pm

I read this short abot 10 years ago...what a engaging story. I still think of it til this day, specifically the line "its just to let the air in". Powerful statement with simple phrasing.

Mr. P.

Interbane · Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:54 pm

What is the operation for? This seems like a very simple puzzle with an answer that's evading me.

xkimberleyx · Thu Mar 18, 2010 6:28 am


	Interbane wrote: What is the operation for? This seems like a very simple puzzle with an answer that's evading me.

The girl in the story is pregnant and the operation is an abortion.
"It's really not anything. It's just to let the air in."

hmrush · Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:32 am

This short story really changed the way I looked at dialogue. I am a huge Hemingway fan, and I loved his use of dialogue in A Farewell to Arms but Hills Like White Elephants completely amazed me. There are very few lines in the story that are not dialogue and yet it reads so well and so much is understood without the need to say very much about the surrounding situation.

blankspace101 · Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:41 pm

I've never read anything from Hemingway before. I can't understand why I would deprive myself of such amazingly speechless examples of literature! Ok, I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but I am certain I will be researching some Hemingway literature in my very near future! lol Thanks!

Suzanne · Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:53 pm

I read this story for an English Lit class, one of the questions that was brought up was about the ages of the male and the female. Who do you think is older?

Mr. Pessimistic · Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:07 pm


	Suzanne wrote: I read this story for an English Lit class, one of the questions that was brought up was about the ages of the male and the female. Who do you think is older?

The male is obviously he elder. He is more manipulative and unimpressed by the girls assertion that they can 'have the whole world' (a very naieve assertion) and he is obviously using a mature manipulation throughout the story: "I dont want you to if you dont want to", "you know I love you", etc.

He is also knowledgeable about the drinks whereas she is ignorant. The girl is obviously bored with the stagnation of their relationship: "thats all we do...look at things and try new drinks" and she wants more. This to me implies youth and a yearning for excitment. She is very impressed with the surroundings whereas he seems indifferent.

Just my thoughts.

blankspace101 · Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:12 am

Mr. Pessimistic wrote:


	Suzanne wrote: I read this story for an English Lit class, one of the questions that was brought up was about the ages of the male and the female. Who do you think is older?

The male is obviously he elder. He is more manipulative and unimpressed by the girls assertion that they can 'have the whole world' (a very naieve assertion) and he is obviously using a mature manipulation throughout the story: "I dont want you to if you dont want to", "you know I love you", etc.

He is also knowledgeable about the drinks whereas she is ignorant. The girl is obviously bored with the stagnation of their relationship: "thats all we do...look at things and try new drinks" and she wants more. This to me implies youth and a yearning for excitment. She is very impressed with the surroundings whereas he seems indifferent.

Just my thoughts.

I had the sense throughout reading this that the male was in fact older but couldn't figure out why I had thought that. This makes complete sense to me.

Theomanic · Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:34 pm

I really enjoyed this short story. It was written so clearly and precisely I'm in awe. It is rare to read something so cleanly written and yet with subtlety. It reminds me of The Great Gatsby in the layered approach. On the surface it seems like a really simple little story, but as one examines the levels of imagery it starts to have a much deeper meaning.

Suzanne · Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:56 am


	Theomanic wrote: I really enjoyed this short story. It was written so clearly and precisely I'm in awe. It is rare to read something so cleanly written and yet with subtlety. It reminds me of The Great Gatsby in the layered approach. On the surface it seems like a really simple little story, but as one examines the levels of imagery it starts to have a much deeper meaning.

I couldn't agree more, this story, to me at least, seems so different in writing style to Hemingways novels.

I asked the question, who was older, the male or female, because when I read this story and discussed it in class, my opinion was different than most of the class. Typical!

The use of the word “girl” is deceiving, and I believe it is used as a tool to show the man’s condescension towards the “girl” and the relationship. It is my belief that the “girl” may be older than the man, if not older, they are close in age. This may be her last chance to have a baby, but she realizes that the “man” wants his carefree lifestyle and she will lose him if she does in fact have the child. The “procedure” may not be what scares her, losing him may scare her more.

This of course leads me to another question. Does she indeed have the procedure? This of course requires speculation on the part of the reader, and how the reader interpreted the story. White elephants typically represent something special. The "girl" sees the train going towards these hills like white elephants, and she wants to be on that train. I think she chooses to have the baby. The relationship she will have with the child, will certainly be longer than the relationship she has with the man.

BTW, nice to hear from you Mr. P.

froglipz · Sun Apr 11, 2010 1:26 pm

I think the girl is younger, she does seem to be seeing things with a fresher perspective, and naive-er outlook. He is a little more cynical and jaded, and he is taking a patronizing tone with her.

My first impression was of a lobotomy, which by the end of the story it was clear that I was wrong, but then it made it difficult for me to get to what it really was.

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