What is the main point of Hills Like White Elephants?

Hemingway sets “Hills Like White Elephants” at a train station to highlight the fact that the relationship between the American man and the girl is at a crossroads. Planted in the middle of a desolate valley, the station isn’t a final destination but merely a stopping point between Barcelona and Madrid.

What is the thesis of Hills Like White Elephants?

Thesis: In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway uses Jig’s refusal to communicate as a way of highlighting the American’s powerlessness. Thesis: In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway suggests that Jig’s ambiguous communication with the American is actually an effective power play.

What does the alcohol symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?

Both the American man and the girl drink alcohol throughout their conversation to avoid each other and the problems with their relationship. By the end of their conversation, both drink alone—the girl at the table and the man at the bar—suggesting that the two will end their relationship and go their separate ways.

What does the railroad tracks symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?

The entire story takes place at a train station—a physical and metaphorical crossroads of railroad tracks in the couple’s journey. Each track symbolizes a possible life path. They are waiting for a train that would take them to Madrid.

What do the white elephants symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?

A white elephant symbolizes something no one wants—in this story, the girl’s unborn child. Comparing the hills—and, metaphorically, the baby—to elephants also recalls the expression “the elephant in the room,” a euphemism for something painfully obvious that no one wants to discuss. …

What does the setting symbolize in Hills Like White Elephants?

The setting of “Hills Like White Elephants” in a railroad station exemplifies this sense of being “lost.” A railroad station is not a permanent place anyone inhabits but a place one passes through in transit to somewhere else. This lack of permanence is emblematic of the relationship between Jig and the man.

What does the woman in Hills Like White Elephants drink while they are talking?

Both the American man and the girl drink alcohol throughout their conversation to avoid each other and the problems with their relationship. They start drinking large beers the moment they arrive at the station as if hoping to fill their free time with anything but discussion.

What do they drink in Hills Like White Elephants?

“The Bittersweet Taste of Absinthe In Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants.

What does Hills Like White Elephants symbolize?

A white elephant symbolizes something no one wants—in this story, the girl’s unborn child.

What does absinthe symbolize?

Absinthe, an alcoholic drink introduced to France in the 1840s, developed a decadent though violent reputation. To some the drink symbolized creativity and liberation, and to others, madness and despair.

Is Hills Like White Elephants a metaphor?

In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Ernest Hemingway is using personification and metaphors to paint us a picture of a troubled relationship between a couple who are trying to find a solution to a problem that can’t seem to agree on a solution.