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Annotated Bibliography

Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is a story that surrounds an American man

and a girl waiting for a train at a Spanish railway station. They intend to travel to Madrid. The

man orders a beer, and as the two drink, the lady starts to relate the visible hills at a distance to

white elephants. This story highlighted how the American man was forcing the girl into abortion.

Hemingway presents a scenario of a relationship that was about to collapse due to unwanted

pregnancy and the conflict between the man and the girl on aborting the pregnancy. Therefore, a

response annotated bibliography paper can be written from this story to compile the summaries

of the cited sources to enhance an understanding of the concepts presented by Hemingway.

Abdoo, Sherlyn. "Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants." The Explicator, vol 49, no. 4,

1991, pp. 238-240. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/00144940.1991.11484087.

Sherlyn analyzed various symbolic meanings of the items used in Hemingway’s “Hills

Like White Elephants.” She mentions other analysts’ remarks and their resemblance to certain

play toys for infants, such as the beads. She then goes ahead to explain the meaning of the name

Jig as a fast dance tune. Abdoo relates this definition to the relationship between Jig and the

American man, stating that the relationship was nothing more than a short tune.
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While examining the hills, Abdoo stated that they were not an ordinary allusion of a

woman against an abortion, rather a representation of them in the sun that related them to an

unborn child. To prove this point, Abdoo used the reference of the American man to an abortion.

Sherlyn argued that the white hills symbolized the color of the pregnancy that Jig was carrying.

In addition, she believed that the white elephants were also a representation of the baby in Jig.

Abdoo used the Oxford dictionary to define the term “white elephant,” and she quoted it

as something given originally by the Siam kings to unpleasant companions to destroy them. She

analyzed other elephants used by Hemingway as symbols in similar fashions, and thus brought

up several sources from the story that enhanced the proving of her point. Therefore, several

points presented by Abdoo can be used in making critical life decisions and provide guidance

and counseling. Furthermore, this paper is relevant to the study since Abdoo explains several

points presented by Hemingway in his story and thereby enhances an understanding of the

hidden points of the story.

"Ernest Hemingway – Hills Like White Elephants." Genius, 2021, https://genius.com/Ernest-

hemingway-hills-like-white-elephants-annotated.

Ernest Hemingway presented a controversy that revolved around the abortion theme

between Jig and the American man. Ernest believed that through their disagreement on abortion,

the story presented love and responsibility between the couple. Ernest stated that the hills

symbolized the pregnancy, and the white elephants were a symbolism of the abortion trouble the

couple was facing. The American man knew that Jig was pregnant but still went ahead to give

her beer which was not good for her health and that of the baby. Besides, when the man termed
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abortion an awfully simple operation, he showed that he intended to convince Jig to abort the

pregnancy.

Ernest Hemingway highlighted a conversation between the American man and Jig. The

conversation was symbolic of the story that targeted the abortion topic. The topic was not stated

directly in the text. However, the symbolic presentation by Ernest revealed the hidden meaning

of the text. Therefore, the text could be critically analyzed from several points of view due to its

limitations on details.

Kozikowski, Stanley. "Hemingway’S Hills Like White Elephants." The Explicator, vol 52, no. 2,

1994, pp. 107-109. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/00144940.1994.11484112.

This text concerns the interpretation of the symbols presented by Hemingway in his story.

Kozikowski intends to reveal the hidden meaning of the story. He agreed to Abdoo’s conclusions

regarding the meaning of the story. However, Kozikowski interpreted the hills as a

representation of the unborn baby. He also compared the hills to the white elephants to show that

the American man had selfish reasons why he did not want the pregnancy to be kept by Jig.

Kozikowski used symbols, such as the bead curtain, Anis del Toro, and the hill to prove the

American man’s intentions of convincing Jig to abort the pregnancy. Therefore, this source

relates to the text since Kozikowski, while agreeing to Abdoo’s explanation, explained the

hidden meaning of Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” story.

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Works Cited

Abdoo, Sherlyn. "Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants." The Explicator, vol 49, no. 4,

1991, pp. 238-240. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/00144940.1991.11484087.

"Ernest Hemingway – Hills Like White Elephants." Genius, 2021, https://genius.com/Ernest-

hemingway-hills-like-white-elephants-annotated.

Kozikowski, Stanley. "Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants." The Explicator, vol 52, no. 2,

1994, pp. 107-109. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/00144940.1994.11484112.