Hills like White Elephants is a story full of strong metaphors. One cannot fully understand the metaphors and symbolism without knowing information behind the story. The United States was just experiencing the Great Depression when the story took place. The man in the relationship is American, and he is facing a personally large issue as well. The woman in the story, Jig, represents everybody that was affected by the economic crash. She has to live with the effect of the mishap more than the man does.
The title in itself plays a huge role in the interpretation of the story. The white elephants represent the looming abortion. While a child is generally a blessing, he can also be a burden if the parents are unable to care for the child. The struggle between the man and the woman is also something to take into consideration. The simple gender roles play an important part in the struggle over the decision. Also, the individuals represent different countries. The man is American, but the couple is now in Spain. Leaving America during such a hard time represents their reluctance to handle a difficult situation.
Thesis: This paper will explore the depths of Hemingway’s story by analyzing the story and the syntax and also by looking at the autobiographical and cultural influences of the time period and era.
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3 comments:
Stephanie,
It looks like you are on track. Make sure that you plan the structure of your paper carefully. You have the characters handling three large issues, two of which a culturally determined: dealing with a very personal issue in a relationship (decision on the abortion), dealing with great economical depression of a huge country, and dealing with gender roles and expectations. The plot of the story does not necessarily readily address all the three. Some things are on the surface (the personal issue), while the cultural issues help see what motivates each character and also why certain things remain unsaid in the story…
Also, the word “syntax” in your thesis is out of place: this term is used in theoretical analyses of sentence structure in reference to cognitive processes, not language use and language structure, as they are analyzed in literary criticism. I assume, you were going analyze sentence structure in the latter sense:-)
I agree that knowledge of the information behind the story makes for a better understanding. In what ways was Jig affected by the economic crash, in terms of living with the effect of the mishap? The representation of the white elephants and how it relates to what the couple is going through is a good idea to elaborate on as well.
This is interesting. I never saw/noticed some of the points you bring out in your thesis and introduction. Good start!
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