Blog Post 12

Hills Like White Elephants, Ernest Hemingway

Name: Henri LaMere Date: 2/9/15 Period: 5

1. What do you think is the main message of this story?

          The Main message is to say that the idea of abortion is a tough subject to have a conversation about, whether you are the one getting the operation or not.  

2. The narrative switches between dialogue and setting.  What is the significance of the hills and the train station?

          The significance of the hills, is that they could represent a woman's stomach when she is pregnant. The train station represents the couple at a point in there life where they have two options, to either get the abortion or to not. That could be related to a train station because with trains you can go different directions, just like the couples choice with going different directions. 

3. Towards the end of the story, the girl says, “Would you please please please please please please please please stop talking?”  What causes her to reach this point?

          The girl reaches this point because she has been talking about something that she doesn't want to talk about for far too long. So he gets irritated and asks the man this.

4. In your opinion, is the dialogue believable?

          Yes the dialogue is believable. They are talking about something that is pretty awkward to talk about and their conversations are kind of awkward, so therefore it is believable.

5. How do you interpret the end of the story?  In particular, the final lines:

“Do you feel better?” he asked.

“I feel fine,” she said.  “There is nothing wrong with me.  I feel fine.”

           I interpret the end of the story as the girl not really being fine, but she is done talking to the man. When your not doing the best but someone asks you how you feel you always respond "I feel fine" so that the person your talking to won't worry, and will stop talking to you.

6. Write your own interpretive or evaluative question about the story.  Feel free to contribute your question to our conversation!

What other kind of operation do you think the American and Jig could've been talking about?