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Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway

'Hills Like White Elephants' is a short story by Ernest Hemingway, first published in 1927. In the short story a man and a woman have a conversation while they wait for a train to Madrid.
Painting: We see a desert landscape. There are prickly plants close to the viewer, and the mountain ridges in the background are jagged. We see the ocean in the distance.
Spanish Mountains by Dora Carrington, 1924. Bilete: Dora Carrington / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
What is a white elephant?

The term white elephant has several meanings:

  1. An Asian elephant of pale colouring that is sometimes venerated in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Myanmar

  2. A property requiring a lot of care and expense while yielding little profit

  3. An object no longer of value to its owner but of value to others

  4. Something of little or no value

Origin:
The phrase ‘white elephant’ originates from Siam (Thailand). White or pale elephants were highly prized and revered, and whenever they were discovered they automatically became the King’s possession. However, white elephants were practically useless. As they were deemed to be sacred, they required special food and housing, and they weren't used for work. The story goes that the kings of Siam would give white elephants as gifts to anyone who had displeased them or fallen out of favour. The unfortunate recipient would be unable to get rid of the animal and it could ruin the owner who had to pay to lavishly house and keep it.

Read:

By following the link below, you will open a pdf file of Ernest Hemingway's short story 'Hills Like White Elephants'. You will also find the short story by searching for it online.

In this short story, there is a lot that is said between the lines, so you should read the story more than once. First, read the text quietly on your own. Then read it in a group and divide the dialogue between you.

Clicking this link opens a pdf file of Ernest Hemingway's short story 'Hills Like White Elephants'

Discuss:

Work with a partner or in a group. Discuss the questions below.

  1. The story takes place at a railway station in Spain. The station is placed between two railway lines, with trains going in each direction. What is the symbolic meaning of this setting and how does it help explain the message of the story?

  2. There is very little context or background information about the characters, and very few character descriptions in the short story. Why do you think Hemingway has chosen to present the characters in this way? From the information you are given, what can you assume about the characters?

  3. In the story the male character is referred to as a ‘man’, while the female character is a ‘girl’ – what does this suggest about their relationship?

  4. What kind of operation is the couple talking about? What is the unwanted gift (the white elephant) in the story?

  5. How would you describe the communication between the two characters? Do they communicate well? Do they actually listen to what the other person is saying?

  6. At what point in the dialogue do you notice the tension between the couple? At what point does it become confrontational?

  7. Elaborate on how the idiom 'white elephant' is used as a metaphor in the story. What makes us aware of the way the man and the woman think differently about 'the white elephant'?

  8. This is one of the world's most famous short stories. Why do you think it is so popular?

  9. What did you like about the short story?

  10. What did you not like about the short story?

Analyse:

  • Study the information about Ernest Hemingway's writing style in the expandable box below.

  • Study the short story carefully and find examples that are typical of Ernest Hemingway's writing.

  • Write a short text about Ernest Hemingway's writing style in 'Hills Like White Elephants'.

Hemingway's writing style

Hemingway's uses few words; he does not embellish the narrative with a lot of description. Ernest Hemingway used a writing technique he described as the iceberg principle, or the iceberg theory. He believed that not everything had to be explained by the author; the reader would be able to infer a lot of information from what the author chose to put into a story. He would reveal only 'the tip of the iceberg' leaving it up to the reader to decide for themselves how much was hidden beneath the surface.

Hemingway is considered a masculine writer, and his works usually focus on the male experience of life. His protagonists are men who are individualists and adventurers, and many critics have suggested that there is a strong autobiographical element in Hemingway's writing.

Code switching often occurs in Hemingway's work; he borrows words or sentence structures from other languages, for example Spanish, Italian, or German.

Act out:

Make a stage adaptation of the short story. Rewrite the story into a manuscript for a short play with dialogues for the characters. Learn the lines by heart and rehearse the dialogue with your group.

Make a film of your performance or act it out in front of your class. It could also be recorded as a radio play, using sounds and background music to set the atmosphere.

Write:

Choose one of the tasks.

  1. Use the short story as inspiration to write your own short story set in our time.

  2. What do you think happens next? Continue the story, from either the girl or the man's perspective.

  3. Write a literary analysis of the short story where you focus on its themes and symbols.

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