Hills Like White Elephants赏析

Discouraged by a troubled family background ,illness and the belief that he was losing his gift for writing, Hemingway shot himself to death in 1961.
• How is the "iceberg principle" used in Hemingway's works?
• Hemingway's theory of omission is widely referred to as the "iceberg principle." By omitting certain parts of a story, he actually strengthens that story. The writer must be conscious of these omissions and be writing true enough in order for the reader to sense the omitted parts. When the reader senses the omitted parts, a greater perception and understanding for the story can be achieved.
Iceberg Principle
Symbolism
• Hemingway disliked discussions regarding the symbolism in his works. The "iceberg principle," however, by its very nature, invites symbolic interpretations and Hemingway acknowledged this in his own subtle way.
Hills Like White Elephants
By Ernest Hemingway
Introduction to Ernest Hemingway
(1899-1961)
Introduction to Hemingway
Hemingway's birthplace in Oak Park, Illinois.
Hemingway fishing as a young boy.
The Kansas City Star building, where Hemingway took his first job as a cub reporter.
Biblioteka Baidu
Hemingway at the time of his graduation from high
Pulitzer Prize (1953)
❖ The Old Man and the Sea
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954
❖ "for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style"
Characters
Jig: Woman traveling in Europe with a male companion. The author does not disclose whether they are single, engaged, or married; however, it appears likely that they are girlfriend and boyfriend.
• White elephant metaphorically refers to some expensive presents with limited value.
• It may symbolize the baby, too costly to keep in that it demands not only material provision but also responsible nurture.
Features of his writing
• Colloquial style: influence from Mark Twain and his journalist career
• Concrete, specific, common-found words • Simple, short, even ungrammatical sentences • Direct, clear and positive style, yet highly
school, 1917
Hemingway in his World War I ambulance driver's uniform before his injuries.
Hemingway trying his hand at bullfighting in Spain
❖ Here, he can be seen (right of center, in white pants and dark sweater) confronting a charging bull.
• Yes, otherwise she would not have drunk so much. In addition, she always uses subjunctive mood to indicate the baby thing: “we could have al this”, “we could have everything.” “we could get along.”
The American: Man traveling with Jig.
The Woman: Waitress at the train station.
Study Questions for comprehension and consideration
• 1. What is a “white elephant ” according to the dictionary definition? What does a “white elephant” symbolize in the story?
• Physically it is quite dangerous for it was back in the 1920s’, when medical condition for an abortion was not what it is today. Besides, this operation is practiced illegally in Spain, a rigid, pious, roman Catholic country that equals abortion to murder.
• The emotional stress is also two-fold: the guilty of murdering your own child, and the preoccupation about the consequence of this “murdering”.
• 3. Has Jig made up her mind to do the abortion?
• Hills like white elephant physically resemble the fat white belly of a pregnant woman, a symbol of life, in contrast to the “brown and dry country”.
A lifelong bullfighting aficionado… two tickets to the upcoming bullfights in Pamplona were
found in his desk drawer after his death in 1961.
Hemingway showing off his marlin catch with his friend, American bullfighter Sidney Franklin
• 2. List the evidence that tells what kind of operation Jig is confronting. How risky is it physically and emotionally?
• Since the man says “it’s a simple operation”, “just let the air in”, plus their relationship of lovers, we readers may understand this is an abortion operation.
• No good writer ever prepared his symbols ahead of time and wrote his book about them, but out of a good book which is true to life symbols may arise and be profitably explored if not overemphasized.
Hills Like White Elephants 《白象似的群山》
Themes, Motifs, and Symbolism in “Hills Like White Elephants”
Setting
The action takes place in the mid1920s at a train station in Zaragoza, a major city in northeastern Spain on the Ebro River. Zaragoza is approximately 170 miles northeast of Madrid. The region around Zaragoza receives scant rainfall. The greenery observed by Jig may have flourished through irrigation.
connotative • The style was described as “iceberg” • The Nobel Prize Committee praised Hemingway
had “powerful style forming mastery of the art”.
Iceberg Principle
His Major Works
❖ 1925 In our time (published in Paris)
《在我们的时代里》（包括《印第安营寨》）
❖ 1926 Torrents of Spring 《春潮》 ❖ 1926 The Sun Also Rises 《太阳照常升起》 ❖ 1927 Men Without Women 《没有女人的男人》 ❖ 1929 A Farewell to Arms 《永别了，武器》 ❖ 1932 Death in the Afternoon 《午后之死》 ❖ 1933 Winner Take Nothing 《胜者无所得》 ❖ 1935 Green Hills of Africa 《非洲的青山》 ❖ 1937 To Have and Have Not 《富有与贫穷》 ❖ 1940 For Whom the Bell Tolls 《丧钟为谁而鸣》 ❖ 1950 Across the River and Into the Trees 《过河入林》 ❖ 1952 The Old Man and the Sea 《老人与海》