Function of Structural Elements’ Absence and Symbolism in “Hills Like White Elephants”
A typical well-written short story incorporates various literary elements into building up an underlying message from the author. Specifically, an author would strive to deftly utilize the essential structural elements of a story such as a well-developed plot, detailed characterization, and concrete settings in creating a compelling narrative. Or, an author may put emphasis on one particular literary element to convey the theme. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, a story that is centered around a couple’s conversation on the overarching issue of abortion, Ernest Hemingway successfully reveals the recklessness of contemporary young people and the imbalance …show more content…
In fact, throughout the story, the narrator or the characters never mention that “the operation” is an abortion operation. However, before the readers even start to read, Hemingway predisposes the readers to have a faint picture of pregnancy in their mind. The title, “Hills Like White Elephants”, symbolizes a lady’s baby bump. To the girl, the hills that look like elephants symbolize her hope to give birth to the baby. At the beginning of the story, the girl hints the man her desire to give birth to the baby by discussing the hills’ shape. ““They look like white elephants,” she said.” (Hemingway 273). Later, when the man insists on abortion and the girl shows her consent to his claim, she takes her comment back, symbolically indicating she gave up on giving birth. “They don’t really look like white elephants.” (Hemingway 274) “Elephant in the room” is an American idiom which refers to an impending trouble that no one wants to deal with. This connotation of elephant was employed in the symbolism of the man. To the American man, the “elephant” symbolizes a problem that he is unwilling to face – the baby. That’s the reason why the man rejected the girl’s comment on the hills that they look like elephants – to express his dissent against the girl’s will to give birth. This symbolism represents the disproportionate obligation two different genders have to assume in their relationships. For the female …show more content…
Among them are unconventional story structure without properly developed synopsis or characters and the symbolism of the elephants. Together, these devices formulate a seemingly blank yet didactic narrative that allows the readers explore into young generation’s plight of dilemma between hedonistic pursuit of physical pleasure and its undesired
A typical well-written short story incorporates various literary elements into building up an underlying message from the author. Specifically, an author would strive to deftly utilize the essential structural elements of a story such as a well-developed plot, detailed characterization, and concrete settings in creating a compelling narrative. Or, an author may put emphasis on one particular literary element to convey the theme. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, a story that is centered around a couple’s conversation on the overarching issue of abortion, Ernest Hemingway successfully reveals the recklessness of contemporary young people and the imbalance …show more content…
In fact, throughout the story, the narrator or the characters never mention that “the operation” is an abortion operation. However, before the readers even start to read, Hemingway predisposes the readers to have a faint picture of pregnancy in their mind. The title, “Hills Like White Elephants”, symbolizes a lady’s baby bump. To the girl, the hills that look like elephants symbolize her hope to give birth to the baby. At the beginning of the story, the girl hints the man her desire to give birth to the baby by discussing the hills’ shape. ““They look like white elephants,” she said.” (Hemingway 273). Later, when the man insists on abortion and the girl shows her consent to his claim, she takes her comment back, symbolically indicating she gave up on giving birth. “They don’t really look like white elephants.” (Hemingway 274) “Elephant in the room” is an American idiom which refers to an impending trouble that no one wants to deal with. This connotation of elephant was employed in the symbolism of the man. To the American man, the “elephant” symbolizes a problem that he is unwilling to face – the baby. That’s the reason why the man rejected the girl’s comment on the hills that they look like elephants – to express his dissent against the girl’s will to give birth. This symbolism represents the disproportionate obligation two different genders have to assume in their relationships. For the female …show more content…
Among them are unconventional story structure without properly developed synopsis or characters and the symbolism of the elephants. Together, these devices formulate a seemingly blank yet didactic narrative that allows the readers explore into young generation’s plight of dilemma between hedonistic pursuit of physical pleasure and its undesired