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The power of dialogue in Ernest Hemingway short story

            At first, I think "Hills like white elephants" is a very confusing story, I just can see it is a conversation between a man and a girl which they are hesitated in doing one thing, obviously, they have opposite point of view in that issue. However, I changed my opinion that after I realized it is a story about abortion. In my perspective, Ernest Hemingway was making a great metaphor on this story and using a dialogue to express two different points of view on abortion.
             Actually, their conversation was about doing an abortion surgery or not which imply the different opinion of unexpected pregnancy. A young Spanish girl in the story who regarded pregnancy as a beautiful aspect of life, we can see that she described the fetus as "lovely hill". However, her lover v/s the American man did not feel the same way, he thought the unwanted baby was just a limit of his further life and it would bring him inconvenience. Also, he did not want to bear any additional responsibility and retained his freedom.
             Therefore, he tried to spread his philosophy of hedonism on sterile and persuaded the girl to do abortion. He kept emphasizing that abortion is not a complicated surgery. "It's not really an operation at all.". He further indoctrinated his perspective by insincerity phrases "I think it's the best thing to do, but I dont want you to do it if you dont really want to.". "I wont worry about that because it's perfectly simple." He used the words to cover his selfishness and kept saying this kind of phrases many times. The truth is he tried to use "Double talk" to force the girl to do what he wants.
             In my interpretation, I think the man is trying to escape the responsibility of being a father. Also, he never considered what the girl would suffer if she going to do abortion. "It's really not anything, it's just to let the air in." what he talking about is let operation tool into her uterus and remove the fetus.


Essays Related to The power of dialogue in Ernest Hemingway short story

1. Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway In the sixty two years of Ernest Hemingway's life he produced a literary reputation that went unmatched in the twentieth century. He was looked at from many different respects from writers and critics alike: "an old wise man, a brilliant stylist, a "culture hero," a fraud and a phony, an anti-intellectual, a courageous man who took chances with the violent world around him, a drinker with a metal stomach, a fun loving ... Hemingway was a firm believer in keeping writing "short and to the point." He felt very little need for all the specific details that so many other writers ...

  • Word Count: 2253
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Hemingway's style

... or his injury. This was seen earlier in the novel when Jake met a streetwalker and rejected her advances by saying that he was sick and no more. Along with the use of the sparse and unadorned prose style, Hemingway rarely uses any figurative language to communicate the action of the novel. Instead, he uses direct and short sentences. The dialogue is brief and the characters rarely speak more than a sentence or two at ... in Stockholm- in the New York Times Book Review (7 November 1954) in Conversations with Ernest Hemingway. Ed. Matthew Bruccoli. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi...

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3. Aspects of Initiation in Hemin

... can be regarded as stories of initiation. As the above citation shows, the possibility of reading Hemingway′s short fiction as stories of initiation is supported in literary theory. There are, however, some controversies on this topic, which can be seen in the essay "What is an Initiation Story?" by Mordecai Marcus (1976), for example. The following report will deal with three selected short stories by Ernest Hemingway focussing on the protagonist Nick Adams, namely ,,Indian ... ′ (Muller 41). The motive of the journey reflects this structure, as the innocent protagonist leaves home ...

  • Word Count: 5305
  • Approx Pages: 21
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Literary Analysis - Hills Like White Elephants

... as we study the meanings of certain parts of the dialogue we begin to understand the true meaning of their conversation. We notice that they have conflicting feelings about the girl having an abortion. There is a type of power struggle between them where it is evident that the girl relies and strives for her paramour's guidance through this big decision process. Although Ernest Hemingway uses unclear and ambiguous language throughout this short story, it becomes ... than it shows on the surface. He uses metaphors, such as the title, and other literary devices to give hints to the meanin...

  • Word Count: 888
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Literary Analysis - Hills Like White Elephants

... bead curtain in the beginning is overshadowed by the hills and background, though provides symbolism as one could interpret it acts as diving structure between being stuck in or out of the bar and signifying the pregnancy dividing the couple. All of these distinctive examples of symbolism emphasize the thoughts and outlooks of Jig and The American. "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway is a fascinating story that revolves around the controversial issue of unplanned pregnancy ... it evident that recognizing his use of particular themes and symbols through dialogue is essential...

  • Word Count: 1134
  • Approx Pages: 5
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  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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