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Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants"

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Reading Questions

Text on p. 132 of the full Ninth Edition and p. 128 of the shorter Ninth Edition.

Reading Questions

1. You should be warned: Hemingway, especially in this story, requires a great deal of patience and attention from a reader. As in many of his works, the story seems to be told objectively, with little emotion, as if it were simply being reported. The author offers little help to the reader in understanding what is "behind" the story, giving only a few moments of action where much is left unsaid, only hinted at. Every detail counts as you reconstruct the "story behind the story."

2. Where and approximately when is this story set? What sort of scene do you picture?

3. This story combines sparse description and dialogue. It may help to mark which person is speaking, especially when "he said" and "she said" are missing. What details of setting or dialogue stand out for you as important in the story? Look at those carefully. How do you picture the two characters, "Jig" and "the American"? Do these "names" seem significant?

4. The main topic of conversation in the story is never named—the "awfully simple operation." What do you think that might be and why? Why is it not stated explicitly? Begin your exploration by constructing what the characters' relationship is and has been.  What clues do you find? Where might you detect self-delusion, insincerity, or sarcasm in their conversation? Do they seem to be expressing their feelings or avoiding them? How can you tell that they are at some point of crisis?

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