Hi Section 11 -- btw, you were all great in Monday's lecture.
So, another snow day ... I hope you are all enjoying your day off from school. I'd like for us to discuss "Hills Like White Elephants" on the blog. That way next Wed. we can move along since we've already missed two classes.
Let's talk about the tone of the story -- how does the dialogue "flow" and what does this lend to the story and what's going on?
Does the vagueness enter into what is really going on? What is the woman "afraid" of? Think about enslavement and how she is enslaved -- there are several issues going on here.
Look at this part of the dialogue:
"They look like white elephants," she said. "I've never seen one," the man drank his beer. "No, you wouldn't have." "I might have," the man said. "Just because you say I wouldn't have doesn't prove anything." The girl looked at the bead curtain. "They've painted something on it," she said. "What does it say?" "Anis del Toro. It's a drink." WHAT DOES THIS SAY ABOUT HIM?
"Could we try it?" WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE?
And, lastly, what about the line:"It isn't ours anymore,"
to what is she referring?
I'm excited to hear what you all have to say!!
RD
Just some notes from this passage that I was thinking of:
ReplyDelete"They look like white elephants"
-maybe this symbolizes the baby? Elephants are round and fat, like the 'hump' of a mother’s pregnant tummy. The color white doesn’t really make sense...unless you're talking about an albino elephant, but to me, the color 'white' is clean and pure like an unborn baby...but they aren’t that clean...so I don’t know.
"I’ve never seen one"
-I think this shows that the man is just brushing the whole abortion thing off. I can sort of see him just blowing it off as he takes another swig of beer. I can see that he couldn’t care less about the abortion.
"Anis Del Toro...it’s a drink...Could we try it?"
-From not knowing what the drink is, they obviously haven’t had it yet, and haven’t experienced it. Maybe with her asking 'Could we try it' she is sort of beating around the bush to what she really wants: "Could we try to have this baby?"
"It isn’t ours anymore"
-This, to me, shows that even though she has not had the abortion yet, it is like she did already in the man’s eyes. He proves that the decision is final, and he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. As if he had already disowned the baby.
Just some thoughts!
-Kassandra Brady
When I first read the story I did not see or understood that it was about abortion until we discuss it in lecture. So with this enlightenment, I read it again looking for the signes as to what the possible meanings could be. Stating the obvious there is conflict between the couple. He looks at the bags with all the hotel stamps on it as a reminder of his lifestyle of travelling that will change if he has a family. "Shadow of a cloud" represents uncertainties of the abortion, and happiness. The railroad represents moving foward rapidly together with the decision on having the child.
ReplyDeleteTo answer the question, his behavior shows how selfish he is by ignoring her thoughts, opinions, concerns of what will be or could be. She is good on highlighting his lack of focus on the issue on hand, the baby.She trys to relate to him and get her point across by talking his language, which she was discreet about, "Anis Del Toro...Could we try it?" his willingness to try a new drink, so why not a baby?
"They look like white elephants," she said. "I've never seen one," the man drank his beer. "No, you wouldn't have."
ReplyDeleteI think that this conversation and her description of the scenery around her is really the woman reflecting her views of an ideal life with a child and a perfect relationship onto the environment around her. The white elephants are really this idealized vision of a possible future she has. Even the description of the mountains enhances the metaphor, the mountains, or the future with the baby seeming pristine compared to the "brown and dry" country, or her current situation. She is disappointed in the man's unwillingness to see what she sees, prompting the response of "No, you wouldn't have."
At the end of the story, on page 542, the metaphor is reinforced when the woman looks out at the beautiful country and the mountains and says "And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible." She sees this perfect vision slipping through her fingers the more strained her relationship gets and the closer she gets to losing the baby.
Hills like White Elephants is rather interesting and I never would consider thinking of hills and white elephants in the same sentence. I wonder why he is using this metaphor. what is he using this for. I wonder if they really knew what they were talking about. As they were commenting on the hills I wonder what hemingway was trying to show. The symbolism is evident but I am not seeing what he is trying to show. I am thinking that because they are drinking, they are grasping reality in and out and not realising what they are seeing.
ReplyDeleteIliana Cartagena
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read this story it didn't occur to me that they were talking about abortion until I looked the story up online for further understanding. After reading what it was about I could see all the metaphors referred to an abortion and the conflicts of a woman and a man's view towards the procedure. Females feel it is their body and so it is up to them on whether or not they should get an abortion.They don't think of what the man might have to say about it, and usually feel that it isn't up to him to decide; at least for the most part. Based on the quote, "They look like white elephants," she said. "I've never seen one..." the man drank..., the lady sees the possibility of baring a child as she looks towards the hills as if looking beyond the present. It is as if she wants to keep the fetus but the man is indecisive about the situation. This shows how inconsiderate he is of her and his views on raising a family at that moment. Later she mentions, "It isn't ours anymore," she refers to her decision in proceeding with the abortion and no longer having the child that once belonged to him.
By describing the scenery as they are interacting i believe the woman is speaking of what she wants the future to be. Pure and white. Thats just the impression that i get. I also think that the fact that they are drinking alcoholic beverages throughout most of the story means that the woman already has her mind made up. If she wasn't thinking of aborting the child i think she would want what's best for it, and she wouldn't drink alcohol. I think this says a lot about the conversation she has with the man. is anything really negotiable?
ReplyDeleteJust something to think about.
Matt
Matt, very interesting comment you left. When I read the story it was very clear to me they were discussing an abortion. I thought it was rather ironic to discuss an abortion in a bar over beers. It is as fi she has her mind made up like Matt said. I looked further into Hemmingway. Hemmingway has a character in most of his short stories called the "Code Hero." A code hero is a man's man without many word who enjoys bull fighting and moves from one lov eaffair to another. I began to think that the man was a code hero. I don't know whether I think so or not. Something to think about.
ReplyDeleteAndrew (Cudge)