This past week in English class was spent studying Modernism. We read several short stories, two by Ernest Hemingway and one by Virginia Woolf, and we learned about and discussed the modernist techniques and characteristics present in the stories.One story I was particularly fascinated with was “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. We spent most of our class discussion of the story talking not about the story itself, but the title instead. I was surprised by how much the title embodied both the plot of the story and modernist characteristics.
The title sums up the plot of the story very well. Hills are round and, so, serve as a metaphor for a pregnant belly. This refers to Jig being pregnant in the story and the debate over abortion that the story is about. The phrase “white elephant” also refers to this and is used as euphemism in the story. A white elephant is an unwanted gift which is exactly what the man feels the baby is and is why he wants Jig to have an abortion. Furthermore, it also is something that is more trouble than it is worth, which is also a description of a baby from some points of view. The title also contains several modernist techniques. One of these techniques used is language that is not transparent. The meaning of the title is not immediately obvious to the reader, but as they read the story and figure out the meaning of the story, the meaning of the title becomes apparent. This is also an example of impressionism because Hemingway expects you to pick up on clues in the text to figure out what the conversation is truly about and, consequently, what the title refers to. All of this depth to the title is why I found it interesting.
You did a good job of breaking down the title of this story and explaining evey element and how it pertained to the story. I too was suprised at how much of the story could be packed into just the title. I also liked how you mentioned the use of modernist techniques in the title such as impressionism and language is not transparent. I think that was very important and something we didn't specifically talk about in class.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting point. I agree with you that this particular title does add to this story a great deal. It has symbolic meaning in more than one way, and offers a clue to unravel some ambiguity left by the rest of the story. The title is very important to this particular story. However, I'm not sure that most titles have the amount of relevancy to the following story as this one does.
ReplyDeleteFantastic as always Andrew. It is very easy to overlook the importance of a title, as we get bogged down in the reading. Especially in Hemingway's short story, there are various levels where one really needs to think, and analyze to fully understand all of them.
ReplyDeleteFantastic as always Andrew. It is very easy to overlook the importance of a title, but with Hemingway's clever title in his short story, it is important to take a closer look. Even while other works of literature do not have as clever titles, each one still has an important connection to the story.
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