HILLS LIKE WHITE ELEPHANTS

BY: ERNEST HEMINGWAY (1927)

Prepared by: Gresola, Princess M.T. 31401418

ABOUT THE AUTHOR• Born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park,

Illinois• Was an American novelist, short

story writer, and journalist. • In 1921, he married HADLEY

RICHARDSON, the first of his four wives.• Survived two successive plane

crushes when he went on safari • Committed suicide in the summer of

1961

SUMMARY

• The story opens with a description of the view of the river ebro, and the white hills (mountains) beyond it, from a train station in spain. An american man and a woman are having some beers outside the station bar as they wait for the train from barcelona to madrid.

• As the couple drinks, the woman tells that man that the hills in the distance remind her of "white elephants." This sparks a little argument between them, which the woman sidesteps by pointing out that something has been painted on the beaded curtain that hangs over the doorway of the bar. The painting advertises a liquor called anis del toro, which they decide to try.

SUMMARY

• Their conversation remains tense, and soon the man begins trying to convince the woman, jig, to have an abortion, but only, he says, if she wants to. She wants to know if this will solve their problems, and get their relationship back on track. He tells her that their relationship is on track, but that he is distracted because of his "worry" over the pregnancy. She agrees to have the abortion, but says she is only agreeing because she no longer cares about herself. The man says she shouldn’t do it for that reason. 

SUMMARY• She expresses despair over the situation and a feeling that all is

now lost. The man tries to reassure her that this is not the case, and finally tells her (without actually saying it) that he is willing to marry her instead, but makes it clear he would prefer that she have the abortion. She becomes anxious and asks him to stop talking. He responds by saying he doesn’t want her to have the abortion if she doesn’t want it. Jig threatens to scream.• The woman who has been serving their drinks tells them that

the train will soon arrive, and the man gets up and takes their luggage over to the train stop. Then he goes into the bar and has another anis del toro. When he gets back to jig, sitting at the table outside, she gives him a smile. He asks her if she "feel[s]" better," and she responds by insinuating she never felt bad in the first place. And that’s the end of the story.

LITERARY FRAMEWORKCharacaters

• Jig – often seen as a victim of the man – a woman forced into having an abortion against her will. Since the ending is wide open, and we don’t know what either of the characters does in the long run, such interpretations miss the point of the story.

• The American Man – often vilified as an insensitive, uncaring man who bullies Jig into an abortion, the American is another unusual character. It's possible that we know even less about him than we do about Jig, and perhaps he's even more mysterious.

Setting

• A train station, overlooking the Ebro River

• Somewhere between Barcelona, Spain and Madrid, Spain

PLOTClimax

Conflict

Initial Situation

Complication Suspense

Conclusion

Denouement

PLOT

• Initial situation – the initial situation is really a view of some hill, but we thought we’d just skip right to the bar, which is where we will stay throughout the story. There isn’t much more to the initial situation than that. The exotic spanish setting and all the stylistic frills are incidental. The conversation that makes up this story could have happened anywhere, anytime.• Conflict – jig’s seemingly innocent statement that the hills

are like white elephants quickly turns into a competition with the man over who has travelled more.

PLOT

• Complication – turns out the hills are a metaphor for pregnancy, which is a little more important than previous travel experience. The man complicates the already complicated situation by saying that an abortion is not an operation. Well, jig seems to think differently, which leads to the climax.• Climax – if the seven pleases aren’t climactic enough for you,

then toss in jig’s threat to scream. It’s an intense moment, maybe even a little shocking. We suspect she means it, too, and we wonder if things might have escalated further if the woman serving their drinks hadn’t intervened with an update on the train’s arrival.

PLOT• Suspense – when the man walks off with the suitcase, we

wonder for a moment if he will disappear, just keep on walking, bags and all. When we see him headed back we wonder if jig will still be there waiting. The story doesn’t give us much time for suspense, but it’s definitely there.• Denouement – the action is winding down when the man has a

drink at the bar, and when he’s walking back to jig, and then when he walks through the curtain. At the same time, all closure is suspended; we don’t know quite how things will end.• Conclusion – not a very dramatic finale, unless you pay

attention to the undertones of the mini-conversation jig and the man have at the very end of the story. It’s also rather dramatic to leave us hanging about absolutely everything.

THEME

THE CHOICES YOU MADE IN LIFE, MAKE SURE IT WILL MAKE YOU FEEL HAPPY.