Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like White Elephants
Continuing the recent trend of short stories this is another selection from various suggestion lists. For next week I am reading Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains, I have already started but needed slightly longer to read it while having work and school assignments to manage.
Hills Like White Elephants is not like many of the other short stories that I have read and written about. Simply, it leaves much to the interpretation of the reader, in addition, it provides little context or background with the little there actually is requiring extensive extrapolation and analysis.
Set at a station in a valley by the Ebro river, one side of the valley is notable for the hills that look like said white elephants. The conversation takes place between ‘The American and the girl with him’, the status of relationship is unclear although it is generally accepted that the nature of the conversation concerns a possible abortion and the long term chances of the relationships. Finding out more about the story there is a critical understanding that the four possibilities could all be applied, having or not having the abortion and continuing or not continuing the relationship.
“It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,” the man said. “It’s not really an operation at all.”
The biggest issue with this story is that so much is open to interpretation that each and every interaction and detail can be subject to the readers perspective. The story has been interpreted as both anti-feminist and pro-feminist with the symbolism of ‘white elephant’ also consistently open to critical analysis.
I enjoyed reading the conversation that constitutes the story and it is clear that Hemingway carefully constructed each detail. Some critics even draw conclusions from the bead curtain and there are hugely symbolic elements that I was not aware of. Just the white elephant symbolism is meant to denote aspects of fertility as well as the unspoken issues that clearly exist within the relationship depicted within this story. It is not quite clear whether the abortion goes ahead or not but I was immediately struck by the juxtaposition of the girl and the man. The seeming innocence and youth of the girl juxtaposed with a cold logic and somewhat aloofness of the man. Critics point to a superficial relationship one in which an unwanted pregnancy has added the need for an emotional and real connection that the man is not interested in. I think it is difficult to miss the suggestion that the girl is significantly younger than the man, in this aspect, the relationship is exploitative.
As constantly suggested there is not a clear conclusion in regards to the decision of the girl or the man but that is part of what makes the story interesting. By the end it is clear the girl has made up her mind even if the reader is not entirely clear on exactly what decision this is. A follow up or sequel could very much have tied this story together but that is not the nature of Hemingway’s writing.
I think this a story that is ripe for literary analysis and it has already been pored over both such critics. It was helpful that I read the story prior to researching the analysis as I formed my own perspectives. Reading another’s opinion then made me revisit certain sections to understand these different perspectives. Considered one of the more significant short stories in literature, especially of Hemingway’s work this takes all of 20-30 minutes to read, however, reading opinions and re-reading certain sections and trying to form deeper understandings makes this a much more deeper and more involved story than on face value alone.
I am currently enjoying Mountains beyond Mountains for next week but this was a welcome break and encouraged me to think back to literature classes and deeper analysis of writing. The story is linked at the start.
The Weekly Book Report 