Hills Like White Elephants

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Recommended: my analysis of hills like white elephants

“Hills like White Elephants”, a short story written by American author and journalist, Ernest Hemingway, is about a couple facing a sort of crisis in their relationship. The story goes on with a lady and a man name Jig, who are conversing about something very important, but they never really get to what they mean to say. For a story to go on in such a manner, and for the readers to comprehend it, there must be a clear understanding of the genres of the story. A genre is a kind of writing that has special characteristics that distinguish it from other kinds of writing (“Learning about Genre”). In other words, a genre is a guide to understanding what the story is actually trying to portray. In “Hills like White Elephants,” Hemmingway’s style of writing falls under these two genres— Minimalism and Principles of iceberg.
“Less is more”, said by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is the most important part of the genre minimalism. In a story with the genre of minimalism, minimalist writers allow context of the story to dictate meanings. One of the first sign of minimal context, is when the girl wanted to try a drink call Anis del toro. The alcoholic beverage Anis del toro, has a very high level of alcohol per volume, so just a few sips could lead to death. Hemingway bringing up this very alcoholic drink, is a way of introducing the setting of the story. The drink is mostly well-known in Spain.
As the story develops, there comes a point of realization that Ernest Hemingway never told the readers the age of the characters nor their actual relationship. All the readers have is that it was an American man and a girl. Lines such as, “I love you” and “I care about you,” hints that the two people could very well be a couple. As far as their ages, we...

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...orks Cited

"A FEW WORDS ABOUT MINIMALISM." The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
"Anis Del Toro." The Dispersion. N.p., 10 Jan. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
"Genre Fictions." Albemarle County Public Schools. Albemarle County Public Schools, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
"Learning About Genre." Learning about Genre@WhereWritersLearn.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
Littleton, Trent. "Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" - a Critical Analysis." Yahoo
Contributor Network. Yahoo, 30 Aug. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
"Minimalism." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
"READING." Ernest Hemingway's style of writing. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
"The Principle of Iceberg (Ernest Hemingway)." Literautas If you like writing RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
"White elephant." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Apr. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.

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