HillsLikeWhiteElephants赏析 ppt课件
Hills like White Elephants
Hills like White Elephants <白象似的群山>白象似的群山》是海明威短篇小说的经典之作，它写于1927年，收入海明威小说集《没有女人的男人》。
小说情节可以用一句话来概括：一个美国男人和一位姑娘在一个西班牙小站等火车，男人设法说服姑娘去做一个小手术。
是什么手术小说没有直接交代，但根据现实生活中的经验我们能够猜测那是一次人工流产。
整部小说基本上是由男人和姑娘的对话构成，开始的时候，姑娘似乎突发奇想，说远处群山的轮廓在阳光下“看上去像一群白象”。
但男人有些心不在焉，他开始了他自己所关注的话题――姑娘是否愿意去做手术。
姑娘对于这个话题显然是有所躲避的，男人一再解释和安慰：“那实在是一种非常简便的手术，没有什么大不了的。
”他以为这是最妥善的办法，但如果姑娘本人不是真心想做的，他也绝不勉强。
姑娘终于急了：“你再说我可要叫了。
”在这里，小说的内在紧张达到了高峰，男人就去放行李包等列车进站。
回来时问姑娘：“你觉得好些了吗？”姑娘向他投来一个微笑：“我觉得好极了。
”小说就这样在高峰处迅速滑下，戛然而止。
有评论者指出这这篇小说表现出了一种道德主义倾向，有人甚至说：“这个短篇是海明威或者其他任何人曾经写出的最可怕的故事之一。
”“堕胎”这二字未曾在小说说出，但堕胎的感觉――失落、困惑、发呆――渗入每个细微的、讲究风格的动作和字里行间。
米兰·昆德拉在《被背叛的遗嘱》一书中分析了《白象似的群山》，介绍了一本一位美国大学教授1985年写的海明威传记，传记把小说解释为一个自我中心的男人正强迫他的妻子去做流产，这些解释背后都隐含了道德判断，人们普遍同情姑娘，而谴责美国男人。
这些解释是否可靠呢？不尽然。
我们且看文本分析――小说是这样开始的：埃布罗河河谷的那一边，白色的山冈起伏连绵。
这一边，白地一片，没有树木，车站在阳光下两条铁路线中间。
紧靠着车站的一边，是一幢笼罩在闷热的阴影中的房屋，一串串竹珠子编成的门帘挂在酒吧间敞开着的门口挡苍蝇。
hillslikewhiteelephants白象似的群山海明威
Hills like White ElephantsErnest Hemingway1.The hills across the valley of the Ebrol1 were long and white. On thisside there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads2, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona3 would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction4 for two minutes and went on to Madrid.2."What should we drink?" the girl asked. She had taken off her hat andput it on the table.3."It's pretty hot, "the man said.4."Let's drink beer."5."Dos cervezas5," the man said into the curtain.6."Big ones?" a woman asked from the doorway.7."Yes. Two big ones."8.The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads6. She put thefelt pads and the beer glasses on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.9."They look like white elephants," she said.10."I've never seen one," the man drank his beer.11."No, you wouldn't have."12."I might have," the man said. "Just because you say I wouldn't havedoesn't prove anything."13.The girl looked at the bead curtain. "They've painted something onit," she said. "What does it say?"14."Anis del Toro.7 It's a drink."1 the Ebro: a river in northern Spain 埃布罗河：流经西班牙北部，注入地中海，全长约756公里2 bamboo beads: 竹珠子3 Barcelona巴塞罗那（Barcelona）：西班牙最大的商港，位于东北部地中海沿岸。
Hills like white elephants
Hills Like White ElephantsBy Ernest HemingwayThe hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went to Madrid.‘What should we drink?’ the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.‘It’s pretty hot,’ the man said.‘Let’s drink beer.’‘Dos cervezas,’ the man said into the curtain.‘Big ones?’ a woman asked from the doorway.‘Yes. Two big ones.’The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glass on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.‘They look like white elephants,’ she said.‘I’ve never seen one,’ the man drank his beer.‘No, you wouldn’t have.’‘I might have,’ the man said. ‘Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything.’ The girl looked at the bead curtain. ‘They’ve painted something on it,’ she said. ‘What does it say?’‘Anis del Toro. It’s a drink.’‘Could we try it?’The man called ‘Listen’ through the curtain. The woman came out from the bar.‘Four reales.’ ‘We want two Anis del Toro.’‘With water?’‘Do you want it with water?’‘I don’t know,’ the girl said. ‘Is it good with water?’‘It’s all right.’‘You want them with water?’ asked the woman.‘Yes, with water.’‘It tastes like liquorice,’ the girl said and put the glass down.‘That’s the way with everything.’‘Yes,’ said the girl. ‘Everything tastes of liquorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe.’‘Oh, cut it out.’‘You started it,’ the girl said. ‘I was being amused. I was having a fine time.’‘Well, let’s try and have a fine time.’‘All right. I was trying. I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasn’t that bright?’ ‘That was bright.’‘I wanted to try this new drink. That’s all we do, isn’t it – look at things and try new drinks?’‘I guess so.’The girl looked across at the hills.‘They’re lovely hills,’ she said. ‘They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the colouring of their skin through the trees.’‘Should we have another drink?’‘All right.’The warm wind blew the bead curtain against the table.‘The beer’s nice and cool,’ the man said.‘It’s lovely,’ the girl said.‘It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,’ the man said. ‘It’s not really an operation at all.’ The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.‘I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in.’The girl did not say anything.‘I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural.’‘Then what will we do afterwards?’‘We’ll be fine afterwards. Just like we were before.’‘What makes you think so?’‘That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.’The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads. ‘And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy.’‘I know we will. Yon don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it.’‘So have I,’ said the girl. ‘And afterwards they were all so happy.’‘Well,’ the man said, ‘if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple.’‘And you really want to?’‘I think it’s the best thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to.’‘And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?’‘I love you now. You know I love you.’‘I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you’ll like it?’‘I’ll love it. I love it now but I just can’t think about it. You know how I get when I worry.’‘If I do it you won’t ever worry?’‘I won’t worry about that because it’s perfectly simple.’‘Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me.’‘What do you mean?’‘I don’t care about me.’‘Well, I care about you.’‘Oh, yes. But I don’t care about me. And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine.’‘I don’t want you to do it if you feel that way.’The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees.‘And we could have all this,’ she said. ‘And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible.’‘What did you say?’‘I said we could have everything.’‘We can have everything.’‘No, we can’t.’‘We can have the whole world.’‘No, we can’t.’‘We can go everywhere.’‘No, we can’t. It isn’t ours any more.’‘It’s ours.’‘No, it isn’t. And once they take it away, you never get it back.’‘But they haven’t taken it away.’‘We’ll wait and see.’‘Come on back in the shade,’ he said. ‘You mustn’t feel that way.’‘I don’t feel any way,’ the girl said. ‘I just know things.’‘I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want to do -’‘Nor that isn’t good for me,’ she said. ‘I know. Could we have another beer?’‘All right. But you’ve got to realize – ‘‘I realize,’ the girl said. ‘Can’t we maybe stop talking?’They sat down at the table and the girl looked across at the hills on the dry side of the valley and the man looked at her and at the table.‘You’ve got to realize,’ he said, ‘ that I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you.’‘Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along.’‘Of course it does. But I don’t want anybody but you. I don’t want anyone else. And I know it’s perfectly simple.’‘Yes, you know it’s perfectly simple.’‘It’s all right for you to say that, but I do know it.’‘Would you do something for me now?’‘I’d do anything for you.’‘Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?’He did not say anything but looked at the bags against the wall of the station. There were labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.‘But I don’t want you to,’ he said, ‘I don’t care anything about it.’‘I’ll scream,’ the girl siad.The woman came out through the curtains with two glasses of beer and put them down on the damp felt pads. ‘The train comes in five minutes,’ she said.‘What did she say?’ asked the girl.‘That the train is coming in five minutes.’The girl smiled brightly at the woman, to thank her.‘I’d better take the bags over to the other side of the station,’ the man said. She smiled at him.‘All right. Then come back and we’ll finish the beer.’He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks. He looked up the tracks but could not see the train. Coming back, he walked through the bar-room, where people waiting for the train were drinking. He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain. She was sitting at the table and smiled at him.‘Do you feel better?’ he asked.‘I feel fine,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.’。
Hills like white elephants 白象似的群山 海明威教学文案
H i l l s l i k e w h i t e e l e p h a n t s白象似的群山海明威Hills like White ElephantsErnest Hemingway1.The hills across the valley of the Ebrol1 were long and white. On this side therewas no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of thebuilding and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads2, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express fromBarcelona3 would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction4 for twominutes and went on to Madrid.2."What should we drink?" the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it onthe table.3."It's pretty hot, "the man said.4."Let's drink beer."5."Dos cervezas5," the man said into the curtain.6."Big ones?" a woman asked from the doorway.7."Yes. Two big ones."8.The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads6. She put the felt padsand the beer glasses on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.9."They look like white elephants," she said.10."I've never seen one," the man drank his beer.11."No, you wouldn't have."12."I might have," the man said. "Just because you say I wouldn't have doesn't proveanything."13.The girl looked at the bead curtain. "They've painted something on it," she said."What does it say?"14."Anis del Toro.7 It's a drink."15."Could we try it?"16.The man called "Listen" through the curtain. The woman came out from the bar.1 the Ebro: a river in northern Spain 埃布罗河：流经西班牙北部，注入地中海，全长约756公里2 bamboo beads: 竹珠子3 Barcelona巴塞罗那（Barcelona）：西班牙最大的商港，位于东北部地中海沿岸。
Hills Like White Elephants
Hills Like White ElephantsThe hills across the valley of the Ebrol were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went on to Madrid."What should we drink?" the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table."It's pretty hot," the man said. "Let's drink beer.""Dos cervezas," the man said into the curtain."Big ones?" a woman asked from the doorway."Yes. Two big ones."The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glasses on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry."They look like white elephants," she said."I've never seen one," the man drank his beer. "No, you wouldn't have.""I might have," the man said. 'just because you say I wouldn't have doesn't prove anything."The girl looked at the bead curtain. "They've painted something on it," she said." What does it say?""Anis del Toro. It's a drink.""Could we try it?"The man called "Listen" through the curtain. The woman came out from the bar. "Four reales.""We want two Anis del Toro.""With water? ""Do you want it with water?""I don't know," the girl said. "Is it good with water?""It's all right.""You want them with water?" asked the woman."Yes, with water.""It tastes like licorice," the girl said and put the glass down."That's the way with everything.""Yes," said the girl. "Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you've waited so long for, like absinthe.""Oh, cut it out.""You started it," the girl said. "I was being amused. I was having a fine time.""Well, let's try and have a fine time.""All right. I was trying. I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasn't that bright?""That was bright.""I wanted to try this new drink. That's all we do, isn't it--look at things and try new drinks?""I guess so."The girl looked across at the hills."They're lovely hills," she said. "They don't really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees.""Should we have another drink?""All right."The warm wind blew the bead curtain against the table."The beer's nice and cool," the man said."It's lovely," the girl said."It's really an awfully simple operation, Jig," the man said. "It's not really an operation at all."The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on."I know you wouldn't mind it, Jig. It's really not anything. It's just to let the air in." The girl did not say anything."I'll go with you and I'll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it's all perfectly natural.""Then what will we do afterward?""We'll be fine afterward. Just like we were before.""What makes you think so?""That's the only thing that bothers us. It's the only thing that's made us unhappy." The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads."And you think then we'll be all right and be happy.""I know we will. You don't have to be afraid. I've known lots of people that have done it.""So have I," said the girl. "And afterward they were all so happy.""Well," the man said, "if you don't want to you don't have to. I wouldn't have you do it if you didn't want to. But I know it's perfectly simple.""And you really want to?""I think it's the best thing to do. But I don't want you to do it if you don't really want to.""And if I do it you'll be happy and things will be like they were and you'll love me?""I love you now. You know I love you.""I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you'll like it?""I'll love it. I love it now but I just can't think about it. You know how I get when I worry.""If I do it you won't ever worry?""I won't worry about that because it's perfectly simple.""Then I'll do it. Because I don't care about me.""What do you mean?" "I don't care about me.""Well, I care about you.""Oh, yes. But I don't care about me. And I'll do it and then everything will be fine." "I don't want you to do it if you feel that way."The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees."And we could have all this," she said. "And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible.""What did you say?""I said we could have everything.""We can have everything.""No, we can't.""We can have the whole world.""No, we can't." "We can go everywhere.""No, we can't. It isn't ours any more.""It's ours.""No, it isn't. And once they take it away, you never get it back.""But they haven't taken it away.""We'll wait and see.""Come on back in the shade," he said. "You mustn't feel that way.""I don't feel any way," the girl said. "I just know things.""I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to do ""Nor that isn't good for me," she said. "I know. Could we have another beer?""All right. But you've got to realize ""I realize," the girl said. "Can't we maybe stop talking?"They sat down at the table and the girl looked across at the hills on the dry side of the valley and the man looked at her and at the table."You've got to realize," he said, "that I don't want you to do it if you don't want to. I'm perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you.""Doesn't it mean anything to you? We could get along.""Of course it does. But I don't want anybody but you. I don't want any one else. And I know it's perfectly simple.""Yes, you know it's perfectly simple." "It's all right for you to say that, but I do know it.""Would you do something for me now?'"I'd do anything for you.'"Would you please please please please please please please Stop talking."He did not say anything but looked at the bags against the wall of the station. There were labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights."But I don't want you to," he said, "I don't care anything about it.""I'll scream," the girl said.The woman came out through the curtains with two glasses of beer and put them down on the damp felt pads."The train comes in five minutes," she said."What did she say?" asked the girl."That the train is coming in five minutes."The girl smiled brightly at the woman, to thank her."I'd better take the bags over to the other side of the station," the man said. She smiled at him."All right. Then come back and we'll finish the beer."He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks. He looked up the tracks but could not see the train. Coming back, he walked through the barroom, where people waiting for the train were drinking. He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain. She was sitting at the table and smiled at him."Do you feel better?" he asked."I feel fine," she said. "There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine."Type of Work......."Hills Like White Elephants" is a short story that observes the classical unities--that is, the action follows a single storyline (without subplots) that takes place in one place on a single day.Publication......."Hills Like White Elephants" was first published in Paris in transition magazine (spelled with a lower-case t) in August 1927. In October of the same year, Scribner's published it in New York as part of a Hemingway short-story collection, Men Without Women.Setting.......The action takes place in the mid-1920s at a train station in Zaragoza, a major city in northeastern Spain on the Ebro River. Zaragoza is approximately 170 miles northeast of Madrid. The region around Zaragoza receives scant rainfall. The greenery observed by Jig may have flourished through irrigation.CharactersJig: Woman traveling in Europe with a male companion. The author does not disclose whether they are single, engaged, or married; however, it appears likely that they are girlfriend and boyfriend.The American: Man traveling with Jig.The Woman: Waitress at the train station.People in the BarroomPlot SummaryBy Michael J. Cummings...© 2007........On a hot day at a train station in Zaragoza, Spain, a man and woman sit at a table on the shady side of the building while they prepare to order drinks. Because only the man speaks Spanish, he orders for them—first beer, and then Anís del Toro (absinthe, a powerful liqueur). A set of tracks runs on each side of the station. The train for Madrid will arrive from Barcelona in forty minutes on the sunny side of the building. .......In front of them, the land is dry. There are no trees. Distant hills appear white in the sun, and the woman says they look like white elephants........While they sip their drinks, their conversation reveals that the woman, Jig, and the man, identified only as an American, are at odds over her pregnancy. She wants the child and hints that she would like to settle down. He wants her to abort the child, saying the procedure “is awfully simple” and “not really anything.” Afterward, he says, life for them can continue as before........Jig observes that the liqueur tastes like licorice. In fact, she says, everything tasteslike licorice. Her remark, apparently made out of boredom, irks the man. .......“Oh, cut it out,” he says........They go back and forth on the question of the child. Jig finally says, perhaps with a taint of sarcasm, that she will have the procedure “because I don’t care about me.” The man says he does not want her to ha ve it “if you feel that way.” .......Jig gets up and walks to the end of the building. There, she looks around to the land on the other side. She sees trees, grain fields, and the Ebro River, then says, “And we could have all this.” When the man tells her that they can have whatever they want—“We can have the whole world”—Jig says, “It isn’t ours any more . . . And once they take it away, you never get it back.”.......A woman brings them two more beers and alerts them that their train will arrive in five minutes. The man then carries their two suitcases, each displaying labels from all the hotels at which they lodged, to the other side of the station. When he returns, he asks how she feels. She replies, “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.”.Narration, Style, Unanswered Questions.......Hemingway wrote “Hills Like White Elephants” in third-person point of view that limits the narration to what the characters say and do; it does not reveal their thoughts. Hemingway's style—developed in part when he worked as a newspaper reporter and correspondent early in his career—is simple and compact, with short sentences and paragraphs devoid of verbosity. Adjectives and adverbs are few. However, this straightforward style, which he used in all his major novels and short stories, often conveys complex themes and suggests—but does not explicitly state—motives, mind-sets, attitudes, and so on. In this respect, Hemingway is imitating life, for seldom do two interacting human beings—for example, you and your teacher, you and your spouse, or you and your boss—know each other’s intimate thoughts. You usually must guess at what he or she is thinking; you must interpret. Among the questions the narration does not answer are the following: ∙ How do Jig and the American support themselves? Is he one of the members of the so-called lost generation, a group of writers who knocked about Europe in the 1920s after being alienated by American values? Does one of them come from a wealthy family?∙What is Jig's nationality? The author refers to the man as an American, possibly implying that she is from England, Canada, Australia, or another nation where English is spoken.∙Are Jig and the American single, engaged, or married? It seems likely that they are single, but the narrator never explicitly says so.∙What happens to Jig and the American after they leave the train station? ThemesConfronting the Future.......Jig and the American have been traveling in Europe from hotel to hotel in pursuit of pleasure. However, at Zaragoza, Jig expresses dissatisfaction with their nomadic existence, especially now that she is pregnant. For her, Zaragoza represents a moment of truth, a crossroads at which they must confront their future. She apparently wants to have the baby and settle down to a normal life, symbolized from her perspective by the greenery and thriving grain fields on one side of the station. He wants her to abort their baby so that they can continue their adventures. Carpe diem!—seize the day!—that is his rule for living........In an attempt to persuade him that they are going in the wrong direction, Jig says their life has become boring and repetitive: “That’s all we do, isn’t it—look at things and try new drinks?” But the man sloughs off her question and renews his attempt to break down her resistance to the abortion. One problem for her is that she has difficulty asserting herself. She even asks his permission when she wants a drink. For example, when he mentions Anís del Toro, she says, “Could we try it?” Later, she says, “Should we have another drink?” Near the end of the story, she asks, “Could we have another beer?”.......When he continues to press the issue of an abortion, she becomes frustrated and says, “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” Just before the train arrives, he asks her how she feels. “There’s nothing wrong with me," she says. "I feel fine.” Whether these last two sentences of the story mean that she has decided to choose the baby over the abortion, or vice versa—or simply decided to put off a decision for another day—is a matter for the reader to interpret.Inability to Communicate Effectively.......Jig and the American have difficulty articulating their feelings. Rather than bluntly stating their views, they imply, hint, euphemize. In the end, their conversation frustrates Jig, who tells the American, "Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?”Selfishness.......The man appears to be manipulating Jig in order to perpetuate a lifestyle in which she is a convenient outlet for his libido. He is even willing to sacrifice a human life, Jill’s unborn child, so that he can continue their joyride.Too Much of a Good Thing.......The ancient Greeks had a saying: "All things in moderation; nothing in excess." But Jig and the American have apparently been living a life of excess. Consequently, life is no longer fun for Jig. When she samples a strong and dangerous liqueur to try to revive her interest in their great adventure, she says disappointedly that “everythingtastes like licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited for so long, like absinthe.” Clearly, she is ready to abandon their dissipated way of life to settle down.Evasion of Responsibility.......The American seems unable to accept responsibility, for whatever reason. Rather than facing the challenges of normal life, he continually puts them off.Climax.......The climax occurs when Jig ends the conversation, saying, "Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?”SymbolsWhite Elephants: From the perspective of the American, one of the hills resembling white elephants is the enlargement of the uterus that is becoming, or will soon become, evident as Jig's baby grows. A white elephant is a largely useless object that may be expensive to own and maintain, according to one of its definitions in standard dictionaries. From the perspective of Jig, one of the hills may represent the lifestyle of her and the American.Railroad Tracks: Railroad tracks run side by side but never meet. Thus, they could symbolize the relationship of Jig and the American.Zaragoza: The last letter of the alphabet occurs twice in the name of this city. Jig and the American may be two z’s that have reached the end of the road.Green Side of the Station: Obviously, this represents life, the baby, a new beginning. Arid Side of the Station: This represents dissipation and death.Ebro River: This waterway, which originates in the Cantabrian Mountains and flows 565 miles to the Mediterranean, represents vitality, life. It can also represent the passage of time.Anís del Toro: This represents the excitement the American offers Jig. But it fails to stir her.Baggage: This represents the past, which is the same as the future to the American. When he picks up the suitcases and carries them to the other side of the station, he is indicating that he wants to continue as before.Author Information.......Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961) was an American writer of novels and short stories. Before turning to fiction, he worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Star and served as a First World War ambulance driver before enlisting with the Italian infantry and suffering a wound. After the war, he worked for the Toronto Starand lived for a time in Paris and Key West, Fla. During the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War, he served as a newspaper correspondent, then lived in Cuba until 1958 and Idaho until 1961, the year of his death by suicide. His narratives frequently contain masculine motifs, such as bull-fighting (Death in the Afternoon), hunting (The Green Hills of Africa), war (A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls), and fishing (The Old Man and the Sea). All of these motifs derive from Hemingway’s own experiences as a traveler and an adventurer. Arguably, he was a better short-story writer than a novelist, although it was his longer works that built his reputation.Study Questions and Essay Topics1. Does Jig love the American? Does he love her?2. Write an essay that takes a stand on what Jig has decided to do.3. The following statement containing a quotation that appears in the plot summary above: When the American tells her that they can have whatever they want—“We can h ave the whole world”—Jig says, “It isn’t ours any more . . . And once they take it away, you never get it back.” Comment on what Jig means when she says that "once they take it away, you never get it back.”4. Write a short psychological profile of Jig or the American.5. Write another ending for the story that tells what Jig plans to do...。
hills like white elephant
This time, I chose Hemingway’s Hills like white elephant. The protagonists of this short story are two lovers. The lady named Jig, she is pregnant, and the man hopes she can have abortion. They sit in the pub waiting for the train. The lady watching at the far scenery, she uses the white elephants as a metaphor for the mountains. But the man just wants to talk about the ‘simple’ abortion operation. The whole story moves round of their conversation. Peaceful, excited and clam down again, it make the readers have a lot of imagine.The story is talking a very sensitive topic at that time, Because of that, Hemingway does not use a word of pregnant or abortion. However, from their conversation, a lot of things are symbol, and they all tell the reader about pregnant and abortion. In this obscure dialogue, it shows the lady does not want to have this operation actually, although she wants to keep the baby, she wants to get the man’s love more. So she never says her absolute choice. She is always changed her mind by the man. This theme is a dauntless try of that time. In the other side, Hemingway keeps his concise writing style. He does not talk much about the background of the protagonists and why the lady is pregnant just use one simple sentence to show they are lovers, so that the readers can think more of why it happen.I love that story, everything may have another meaning, everything looks like waiting you to discover. Most important word ‘white elephant’ has two meanings or even more. First, it means the body shape of the lady; her abdomen will be bigger and bigger. Secondly, it means the conflict in the lady’s mind. White elephant isvaluable and noble animal, it is hard for a common family to keep it, so it is precious but totally unnecessary, even troublesome present. It can be a symbol of the baby and the considerations of whether keep the baby or not.There is another interesting word I love, that is the name of the girl, Jig. Jig is an agile dance; the girl is young, travels to many places, Jig is a perfect name for her. Then Jig in the Unite State slang means joke ad trick, it make the reader connect to the baby. At last, ‘Jig is up’means over, that can be considered whether the love between the protagonists will over. Just one word, but meaning of behind it telling the whole story.In end of the story, the man takes their luggage to the station to wait for the train. The luggage in here is a symbol of the confusion they have and the train is the symbol of the solution plan, the man is waiting it. In addition, the man does not wait as other passengers, waiting in the pub leisurely, he is anxious and inquietude.Hemingway is such a genius writer; I love his work, the process of reading is as funny and meaningful of treasure hunt. I hope more people can read that story.。
Hills Like White Elephants英文讲义
Unit FiveThe StyleReading: Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like White ElephantsStyle: The Words That Tell the StoryThe word style is understood to mean the way in which writers assemble words to tell the story, develop the argument, dramatize the play, or compose the poem.Style is also highly individualistic. It is a matter of the way in which specific authors put words together under specific conditions in specific works.In its most general sense, style consists of diction(the individual words the author chooses) and syntax (the arrangement of those words and phrases, clauses, and sentences), as well as such devices as rhythm and sound, allusion, ambiguity, irony, paradox, and figurative language.Diction: Choice of Wordsstylistic analysis begins with the attempt to identify and understand the type and quality of the individual words that comprise an author’s basic vocabulary. When used to connection with characterization, words are the vehicles by which a character’s ideas, attitude, and values a re expressed.The analysis of diction includes the following considerations: the denotative指示的(or dictionary) meaning of words, as opposed to their connotative隐含的meaning (the idea associated or suggested by them); their degree of concreteness具体or abstractness抽象; their degree of allusiveness影射; the parts of speech词类they represent; their length and construction; the level of usage they reflect (standard or nonstandard; formal, informal, or colloquial); the imagery (形象化描述) they contain; the figurative devices比喻手段(simile, metaphor, personification) they embody.Syntax: Construction of SentencesWhen we examine style at the level of syntax, we are attempting to analyze the ways the author arranges words into phrases, clauses, and finally whole sentences to achieve particular effects.In looking at an author’s syntax we want to know how the words have been arranged and particularly how they deviate from the usual and expected.Sentences can be examined in terms of their length --- whether they are short, and economical or long and involved; in terms of their form --- whether they are simple, compound, or complex; and in terms of their construction --- whether they are loose(sentences that follow the normal subject-verb-object pattern, stating their main idea near the beginning in the form of an independent clause), periodic (sentences that deliberately withhold or suspend the completion of the idea until the end of the sentence), or balanced(sentences in which two similar or antithetical对偶的ideas are balanced).Reading:Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like White ElephantsErnest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American author and journalist. His distinctive writing style, characterized by economy and understatement, influenced 20th-century fiction, as did his life of adventure and his public image. He produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.About the AuthorErnest Hemingway (1898-1961) was born in Illinois, America. His family took him, as a boy, on frequent hunting and fishing trips and so acquainted him early with the kinds of virtues, such ascourage and endurance, which were later reflected in his fiction. After high school, he worked as a newspaper reporter and then went overseas to take part in World War I as an ambulance driver.After the war he lived several years in Paris, where he served as a foreign correspondent for some time and where he also began his serious writing career. He became part of a group Americans who felt alienated from their country. They considered themselves a lost generation. It was not long before he began publishing remarkable and completely individual short stories.Hemingway’s style of writing is striking. His sentenc es are short and declarative, his words simple, yet they are often filled with emotion. A careful reading can show us, furthermore, that he is a master of the pause. That is, if we look closely, we see how the action of his stories continues during the silences, during the times his characters say nothing. This action is often full of meaning. There are times when the most powerful effect comes from restraint. Such times occur often in Hemingway’s fiction. He perfected the art of conveying emotion with few words. Hemingway is a Classicist in his restraint and understatement. He believes that the stronger effect comes with an economy of means.He wrote:A writer’s problem does not change. He himself changes and the world he lives in changes, but his problem remains the same. It is always how to write truly and, having found what is true, to project it in such a way that it becomes a part of the experience of the person who reads it.“Hemingway Hero”We call this man the “code hero”(程式化英雄), because he represents a code. According to the code the hero would be able to live properly in the world of violence, disorder, and misery to which he has been introduced and in which he lives. The code hero offers up and exemplifies certain principles of honor, courage, and endurance which in a life of tension and pain make and enable him to conduct himself well in the losing battle that is life. He shows, in the author’s favourate phrase for it, “grace under pressure”.The Lost GenerationThe best literatu re of the 1920’s was written by exiles, the majority of whom voluntarily left America and settled in Paris. All of them were “outsiders” who observed America society and culture objectively, from a distance. They shunned the false idea of success put forth by the social system and looked on art as both a refuge from bourgeois society and a mirror in which America could be shown its true face. Cut off from a sense of historical continuity by the First World War, they were named “the Lost Generation.”“The Lost Generation” is a term applied to the American writers, born around 1900, who fought in the First Word War and voluntarily exiled to Paris, forming a group against certain tendencies of older writers in the 1920s.The common ground that these writers share:1. They were youth from well-established families;2. They were white males;3. They were ex-soldiers;4. They lived in Paris for a period of time;5. They were disillusioned.The Iceberg Theory of HemingwayIf a writer of a prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.Meaning of the "white elephant."It generally means "a possession unwanted by the owner but difficult to dispose of," but it comes from the idea that Indian kings would give their enemies white elephants as gifts. These animals could not be killed, for the white elephant was sacred, and their upkeep was very expensive, so it was a potentially ruinous gift. So, the original meaning of white elephant would have been something like "sacred creature."Questions for Hills Like White Elephants:1. Why does Hemingway provide so little information about his characters?2. Does the girl misunderstand the man’s concern?3. Is the man’s reassurance of the other side of the picture convincing?4. Has the quarrel been resolved when the story ends? Why do they smile at each other by the end of the story?5.What is the significance of the setting?6. “Hills like white elephants” is a comment on the natural scenery. How many times is the remark brought up in the conversation? What can be the motivations?7. Hemingway is said to have a great ear for dialogue. Give examples to illustrate understated meanings in the various shifts of the conversation.8. Hemingway is celebrated for his precision of diction. His words are simple, and clear, yet they are often filled with intense emotion. The picture is clear, but the meaning is implicit. Give examples to illustrate the effect achieved through oblique implication.9. Why does the author choose the title as it is?10. Given the author’s purposes, is the chosen point of view an appropriate and effective one?。
hillslikewhiteelephants
Contents
1.Background 2.Characters 3.Symbols
4.Theme 5.Summary
1.Background
• “Hills Like White Elephants” was written by Ernest Hemingway and was published in 1927 in a book titled “Men Without Women.”
1.Background
• Hemingway uses a style that analysts call the “Iceberg Theory.” This is very evident in “Hills Like White Elephants.” His hard facts float above the water but most of the supporting structure, filled with symbolism, operates underwater.
3.Symbols
• Hills: the rounded enlargement of the girl's stomach with a baby
• White Elephants: A white elephant is a largely useless object that may be expensive to own and maintain, according to one of its definitions in standard dictionaries. From the perspective of Jig, one of the hills may represent the lifestyle of her and the American.
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had “powerful style forming mastery of the art”.
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Iceberg Principle
• How is the "iceberg principle" used in Hemingway's works?
• Hemingway's theory of omission is widely referred to as the "iceberg principle." By omitting certain parts of a story, he actually strengthens that story. The writer must be conscious of these omissions and be writing true enough in order for the reader to sense the omitted parts. When the reader senses the omitted parts, a greater perception and understanding for the story can be achieved.
found in his desk drawer after his death in 1961.
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Hemingway showing off his marlin catch with his friend, American bullfighter Sidney Franklin
school, 1917
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Hemingway in his World War I ambulance driver's uniform before his injuries.
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A lifelong bullfighting aficionado… two tickets to the upcoming bullfights in Pamplona were
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Features of his writing
• Colloquial style: influence from Mark Twain and his journalist career
• Concrete, specific, common-found words • Simple, short, even ungrammatical sentences • Direct, clear and positive style, yet highly
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Iceberg Principle
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Symbolism
• Hemingway disliked discussions regarding the symbolism in his works. The "iceberg principle," however, by its very nature, invites symbolic interpretations and Hemingway acknowledged this in his own subtle way.
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Pulitzer Prize (1953)
• The Old Man and the Sea
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954
• "for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style"
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Hemingway fishing as a young boy.
The Kansas City Star building, where Hemingway took his first job as a cub reporter.
Hemingway at the time of his graduation from high
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His Major Works
• 1925 In our time (published in Paris)
《在我们的时代里》（包括《印第安营寨》）
• 1926 Torrents of Spring 《春潮》 • 1926 The Sun Also Rises 《太阳照常升起》 • 1927 Men Without Women 《没有女人的男人》 • 1929 A Farewell to Arms 《永别了，武器》 • 1932 Death in the Afternoon 《午后之死》 • 1933 Winner Take Nothing 《胜者无所得》 • 1935 Green Hills of Africa 《非洲的青山》 • 1937 To Have and Have Not 《富有与贫穷》 • 1940 For Whom the Bell Tolls 《丧钟为谁而鸣》 • 1950 Across the River and Into the Trees 《过河入林》 • 1952 The Old Man and the Sea 《老人与海》
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Introduction to Ernest Hemingway
(1899-1961)
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Introduction to Hemingway
Hemingway's birthplace in Oak Park, Illinois.