HILLS LIKE ELEPHANTS. THE MAIN IDEA OF THE STORY AND ITS CONFLICTS.
Introduction:
background on both authors and texts
Summary of the text
Thesis statement: Jig and Paul being characters of different stories by different authors revolt against norms of the American patriarchal society in the first half of the 20th century.
The topic of homosexuality and alienation of the main character in “Paul’s Case”
Examples and explanations
Summary of the issues discussed in the story and conclusion
Difficulties of communication
Examples and explanations
summary of gender roles in the story
Symbols used in the story and their explanation
Examples and discussion
Summary of use of form and content of the story
Issues discussed in the story
Discussion of the issues
Summary of discussed issues
Conclusion.
Hills Like Elephants. The main idea of the story and its conflicts.
“Hills Like Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway and “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather are connected with similar ideas. Both of them cover the issue of gender though Cather’s short story concerns homosexuality while Hemingway’s one is more about gender roles in society.
Willa Cather was an American novelist born in 1873 in Virginia. She was awarded by Pulitzer Prize in 1922 for her novel about World War I “One of Ours”. Cather’s homosexuality is currently a well-known fact. She was the first American writer to bring the strong female characters in the literature. In fact, however, she made a great contribution to gay male literature as well. “Paul’s Case” also began Cather’s artistically mature career (Summers, 1990). The story is considered to have influenced Francis Scott Fitzgerald to write The Great Gatsby. This influence may be proved by the similarity of the issue concerning a young man living for beauty and inclined to think money a catalyst for his identity.
The short story “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather was first published in her debut collection The Troll Garden that included seven of her stories in 1905. Cather’s literary career was triggered by the collection. The story drew national attention in the same year when it was printed in McClure’s. It was reprinted in Youth and the Bright Medusa which included several Cather’s previously published stories from The Troll Garden.
”Hills Like White Elephants" written by Ernest Hemingway was first published in August 1927. The literary magazine "Transition" was the first to do it. The main focus of the story is on a conversation with an American man and a girl at the train station in Madrid. The title of the story is the result of the girl's comparison of nearby hills to white elephants. The author hides strong conflict between protagonists under a simple plot of the story (Shi, 2012). The topic of their discussion seems to be an abortion, though it is covert. In his short story, Hemingway discusses such issues as gender role, drugs and alcohol and so forth. Jig and Paul being characters of different stories by different authors revolt against norms of the American patriarchal society in the first half of the 20th century.
The plot of “Paul’s Case” is quite simple. It describes a young (approximately seventeen-year-old) and lonely boy living in Pittsburgh who dresses as a dandy and works in the local theater to escape his father and teachers. Then he moves to New York that was a symbol of sophistication of the time. Later he is forced to return to Pittsburgh and he commits suicide as the protest against the prospect of a mediocre life in the province (Rubin, p. 128).
Both short stories discuss themes of patriarchal society. The first story describes an alienation of homosexual individuals at the turn of the century. This is the story about transgression of the religious moral imperatives, gender, and sexual stereotypes. At the school, during the trial that concerns his behavior, his teachers claim about a “hysterically defiant manner of the boy’s” (Cather, p. 1). The teachers accuse Paul of these crimes which do not violate written laws. These crimes are the violation of unspoken norms of masculinity (Moore, p. 106). Paul’s effeminacy seems to be the main Paul’s crime from the teachers’ perspective. Descriptions of his manners and appearance are provided during the whole trial as an evidence. The teachers attack Paul without remorse and his English teacher is the main attacker. In their opinion, a commonplace physical behavior of Paul such as raising his eyebrows is the act of expressing fury and contempt. Paul is literally put on trial for his gender discrepancy. Cather does it purposely and compares the criminal’s relationship to the law and government and the deviant person’s relationship to the rules dictated by the dominant culture and society (Moore, 106).
Every character in Cather’s “Paul’s Case” seems to be a personification of gendered stereotypes. Paul lives in the society ruled by homogeneous and comprehensive gender identities and he feels unable to fit in them or even play a role. Cather has to hide Paul’s homosexuality from the common reader due to the norms of the society of the time and she does this job well. Simultaneously, his homosexuality must be seen for people concerned with the question. Cather understands Paul’s non-conformity, his denial to accept the societies’ rules of education, upbringing and stereotypes concerning gender identity.
Paul is distant from the American norms based on the Christian morality while the other characters of the story are their incarnation. Thus, he is alienated from the society. Paul’s breaking into his basement may be a metaphor for serious transgressions which meet his desires and identity hidden behind a prosaic one. There is a description of Paul’s own feelings about his illegal acts (“There he stood, holding his breath, terrified by the noise he had made” (Cather, p. 3)). This description stands for the dangers of fighting the stereotypes of a heteronormative society of the time. His suicide is some kind of rebellion against this society.
In conclusion, it is necessary to note that Willa Cather’s short story “Paul’s Case” is a story of a battle. This battle is more mental than physical. The main character feeling alienated from the society tries to escape from it by means of art and beauty but at the end the society catches him and he finally escapes from it committing suicide. The fact that the only way out for Paul was death proves that people in the United States were still intolerant to any deviations from obsolete patriarchal concepts at the beginning of the 20th century.
Hemingway in his “Hills Like White Elephants” covers the issue of gender roles, masculinity and dominance of a man over a woman. There are some examples to prove this fact.
The story depicts a couple in the relationships crisis. One may see the struggle to communicate with which both protagonists suffer. The solution of the conflict while finding a common ground is not clear due to the vague ending of the story. All kinds of translation games are seen the text while reading it more closely. An important fact is that the events take place in Spain, while the story is written in English. This adds to the complexity of situation implying the difference of male and female means of communication.
The difficulty of communication between men and women is an old issue. The 1970's research stated that the problem is that male and female individuals speak different languages. Thus, male and female characters speak a gender-marked language in the story.
While reading the Hemingway's story one may discover an evidence of gender-marked language. While both protagonists converse in English, they speak different languages subconsciously even using non-verbal actions determined by distinctive male and female forms of expression (Mantho, 2015).
According to the concept of gender-marked language, the male speakers speak straightforwardly and precisely. His role is to tell things as shortly as possible and such behavior doesn't explain the speaker's attitude towards the addressee. The main features of the male language are a low pitch, declarative structure of a sentence and so on. The female speaker's language is conversely imprecise and doesn't clarify the things told by her. The male language is transmitted by means of interjections. The language expresses concern in the interest of the male speaker in her (Smiley, 1988). Feminine language is more oriented on the relationships, while masculine one is on the goals. In "Hills Like White Elephants", Jig (one of the protagonists) tends to establish intimacy sharing emotions and telling jokes (Smiley, 1988).
The short story begins with minor interpersonal conflicts illustrating the "gender gap" between Jig and the American who wait for the train. First of these is Jig's remark about the hills. While describing them in this way Jig speaks a metaphorical language that makes little rational sense, typical for women. The usage of such means of communication is explained by Jig's concern about intimacy between her and the American. His short and firm reply about white elephants, "I've never seen one, (Hemingway, 1927)", contributes to the idea that he uses conversational tactics typical for men. The American finds her remark frivolous, expressing typical masculine discourse. And his following phrases refer to masculine model of communication, emphasizing the importance of evidence to determine the true fact (this is clearly seen in his irritated response with use of word "prove") (Mantho, 2015).
Thus, this may be concluded that Hemingway in his "Hills Like White Elephants" discusses the misunderstanding in communication between men and women who speak different languages subconsciously and due to this his work is very significant for understanding gender roles.
Moreover, Hemingway uses the form and content of the story to emphasize the emotions and provides hidden symbols in his work.
The events in "Hills Like White Elephants" seem to be boiled down and condensed. A powerful expression of ideas and feelings is achieved by the extreme shortness of the story. Due to a journalistic style of Hemingway's narration dialogue between two protagonists is reported cleanly and directly, without extended descriptions and excessive use of adjectives. This economy of words made Hemingway and his writing style famous. All the emotions are below the surface of the story, while the story seems to be narrated in a cold and detached way.
Reading the title of the story one may consider the comparison being based on the color to be a quite literal reference. This impression is emphasized in the first sentence describing "long and white" hills. The second appearance of the hills in the text describes the contrast between the hills and the country side, which is brown and dry. This may lead to the conclusion that the relationships between the man and the woman are currently dry and limited. This is the basis of the conflict and the idea of the story (Weeks, 1980).
A white elephant refers to a useless gift, particularly when the recipient of it is unable to keep it. The male protagonist is likely to be the girl's lover or even husband. He sees a white elephant in her pregnancy. This idea is supported by his frequent urges to have an abortion, though they may seem falsely supportive. The elephant may be a symbol of the situation when someone refuses to face an important topic or issue (referring to the expression 'avoiding the elephant in the room). The girl doesn't see a white elephant gift in her pregnancy. She obviously tries to avoid the discussion of the situation altogether when they come to talking about it (her begging phrase "Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?" (Hemingway, 1927) proves this idea).
The railway station is another symbol seen in the story. The symbol may be explained in the same way as the crossroads in other stories are (an important decision). The fact that the station is isolated may reflect the girl's loneliness facing the situation, though the American constantly tries to interfere.
The surrounding landscape may also serve as a symbol in the story. Rugged landscapes are frequently used and favored by Hemingway, and he uses it in his "Hills Like White Elephants". The contrast between two sides of the tracks (on the one side the "there was no shade and no trees" while on the other "were fields of grain and trees along the bank of the Ebro (Hemingway, 1927)"). Barren and fertile they symbolize possible outcomes of the situation the protagonists face in the story.
The events of the story remind the reader of an iceberg, the biggest part of which is hidden under the sea just like the real theme and idea of the story is hidden under a simple plot.
The significance of these symbols is explained by the fact that they provide the reader with the main ideas of the story which will be discussed further
In addition, the author of “Hills Like White Elephants” discusses some significant issues and themes and emphasizes their importance to the reader.
Hemingway in his "Hills Like White Elephants" comes to the theme of loss. The events which take place in the story may be regarded as a clue to the future course of their relationship and their unborn child's fate (Shi, 2012). Thus, the loss of a child may be a possible consequence. The theme of loss is also related to love between both characters.
Hemingway also comes to the question of gender roles and difficulty of intersexual communication in the story. The means of the expression of the issue are transmitted through dialogs and expressions of characters (the American uses typically male language while the woman speaks a typical female language). Through all these features one may observe the gender gap between interlocutors and the dominant position of the American over the girl.
The problem of choice is also present in the story. As it was mentioned before, the lonely station in Spain stands for two ways of solution. This symbol is close to the crossroads as a literary symbol frequently used by other authors.
In fact, Hemingway reveals a multitude of issues in "Hills Like White Elephants", though the story is extremely short. In spite of firmness and journalism of Hemingway's narration, one may see a great number of themes and ideas in the story. The story almost thoroughly consists of a dialogue. This proves that dialogue is more efficient than a conversation in real life.
As it may be concluded, “Hills Like White Elephants” is a short masterpiece. In spite of its extreme briefness, it reveals a great number of issues, using symbols. The biggest part of the story is a dialogue between two people. This dialogue is of great significance because it contains a lot of ideas which may be crucial for a person.
"Hills Like White Elephants" is a small miracle. Hemingway's dialogue sets the scene, delineates the characters, fills in the background story, propels the action forward, creates the crisis and resolves the story (L'heureux, 2011).
References
Weeks, L. E. (1980). Hemingway Hills: Symbolism in" Hills Like White Elephants".
Studies in Short Fiction, 17(1), 75.
Cather, W. (2012). Paul's Case and Other Stories. Courier Corporation.
Hemingway, E. (1927). Hills like white elephants. The complete short stories of
Ernest Hemingway, 211-14.
Smiley, P. (1988). Gender-Linked Miscommunication in “Hills Like White Elephants”.
Shi, Y. (2012). The Style and the Theme of Loss in Hemingway’ s Hills Like White
Elephants.
Mantho, M. (2015). Gender Gaps in Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants".
L’Heureux, J. (2011). Talk That Walks. How Hemingway's dialogue powers a story.
Retrieved on July 26, 2016 from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704422204576130681760339992
Moore, W.T. (2014). The Execution of a Homosexual in Cather's “Paul's Case”
Summers, C. J. (1990). A Losing Game in the End": Aestheticism and
Homosexuality in Cather's" Paul's Case. MFS Modern Fiction Studies, 36(1), 103-119.
Nardin, J. (2008). Homosexual Identities in Willa Cather's ‘Paul's Case’. Literature & History, 17(2), 31-46.
