More Than What Meets the Eye

Although the subject of disagreement is not once made directly obvious to the reader, it is known and understood because of symbolic words and meanings in the story. Right at the beginning of the story the animosity is felt, through the way the characters speak to each other. Statements like ‘Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything”,(350) indicates the defensive and agitated talk of the characters. The simple comment about the w

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If “Jig” were to be referred to as a woman, then the reader would not perceive the female character as a confused and in a sense, manipulated girl; but as a woman who was sure of herself and whatever decisions she would make in her life. Because she is the “girl” in the story, it allows the setting of the story to become more vivid and the characters to be visualized in an animated way. The man uses a form of reverse psychology on the girl by saying “if you don’t want to you don’t have to. With an understanding of what the man is trying to persuade the girl into doing, feelings of anger and harsh criticism of the American’s persona clouded my thoughts.

Hemingway never refers to “Jig” as a woman, suggesting that she is a young girl that is involved with an older man susceptible to his wishes. Whether she chooses to keep the unborn child or abort it, whatever she decides will forever impact her life. She is conscious of the fact that if she fails to appease him and have the abortion, their relationship will change drastically for the worst, or end indefinitely. ”(351) He is making her believe that he believes that the “operation” is the best thing to do, but if she doesn’t want to then he will put his wishes aside for her, which makes the girl feel guilty and selfish for wanting to keep the baby. ” It leads me to believe that he wants no part of this pregnancy because he was happy before it. It continued to be interesting from start to finish because direct information was not provided by the author to the reader; the reader had to understand and visualize what was going on through the symbolic language the story was written in.

“Hills Like White Elephants” tells a short story of what a couple of lovers are going through, in a time of their life where a child seems to be the biggest burden of all. hite elephants made by the girl annoyed the man and that is shown by his responses to her. When she asks him “And if I do it then you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?” (351) exposes her fear of losing him if she decides to keep the child.

There are many things that I feel the story conveys to the reader, and also evokes from the reader. I think that both the man and the girl have come to the realization of what their relationship really signifies and they are both afraid of the outcome, but I sense it more in the girl than in the American.

Common topics in this essay:
Jig Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway, White Elephants, story written, white elephants, Hills White, short story, hills white elephants, language story, happy youll, hills white, woman girl, girl story,

Approximate Word count = 940
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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