What is the Hills Like White Elephants summary?
“Hills Like White Elephants” is set in Spain. An American man and a girl are sitting at an outdoor café in a Spanish train station, waiting for a fast, non-stop train coming from Barcelona that will take them to Madrid, where the girl will have an abortion.
What is the main idea of Hills Like White Elephants?
The underlying theme of Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ deals with the difficulties a couple, particularly the female, has in facing an unexpected and ultimately unwanted pregnancy.
What is the story of the white elephant?
White Elephant – a useless gift So the cunning kings of Siam, as the story goes, used to give white elephants away to anyone who displeased them or had fallen out of favour so that they would be forced to spend a fortune keeping the precious animals.
What is the symbolic meaning of white elephant?
The white elephant—which was more often than not stricken with albinism, and thus more a ruddy-pink color—was, and remains to this day, a symbol of success. To possess a white elephant connoted political power, wealth and prosperity, great wisdom, and the love of one’s people.
What is the irony in Hills Like White Elephants?
The irony in the title of the story is that a white elephant is something that nobody wants. At first she compares them to hills because she does not want to keep the baby, but after, she says they don not look like white elephants at all symbolizing that she wants to keep the baby which is ironic.
Why is it called white elephant?
The term white elephant refers to an extravagant, impractical gift that cannot be easily disposed of. The phrase is said to come from the historic practice of the King of Siam (now Thailand) giving rare albino elephants to courtiers who had displeased him, so that they might be ruined by the animals’ upkeep costs.
Do white elephants exist?
White elephants, actually albinos, have for centuries been revered in Burma, Thailand, Laos and other Asian nations.
What happens at the end of Hills Like White Elephants?
The ending of Hemingway’s 1927 story, “Hills Like White Elephants” was interpreted for decades in one way: the female protagonist surrenders to her partner’s wishes that she undergo abortion.
What is an example of a white elephant?
The definition of a white elephant is a possession that is very expensive to maintain, or an article that is no longer wanted by the owner. A family home that you feel you have to keep but that is very expensive to maintain is an example of a white elephant.
Why is called white elephant?
What is called white elephant?
A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, scheme, business venture, facility, etc.