Hills+reaction

I think that the story __Hills Like White Elephants__ by Ernest Hemingway was interesting in the face that it can be so obscure about the "operation,"and yet once the reader realizes that the "operation" is actually an abortion, the story becomes much more interesting in my eyes. I also enjoyed that Hemingway was able to write about the subject while still hididng it to the reader, just as the two people at the train station didn't need other people knowing about what they were talking about. The only problem i had with the story is that nothing seemed to be changed or accomplished-- I would have liked to hear that the couple by the end of their banter had made some kind of decision as to what to do with the child that Jig is carrying. Finding out that Hemingway was writing about an abortion truly saved the book from being, in my eyes, its worst: if no evidence of an abortion was shown, then it would have seemed quite uninteresting and dull. -Thomas Moran

I did not like the short story __Hills like White Elephants__ by Ernest Hemingway because the story did not make any sense. The whole story only consisted of dialogue between the man and a young girl by the name of Jig. The dialogue was also written in such a way that I could not figure out who was talking at the time. Their words were becoming jumbled together making it seem like the same thing was being repeated over and over again. Nothing special happened in the story either like some kind of shocking surprise or event. They just talked about how one didn’t want the other to do something if he or she didn’t want to, and then left for the train. The story did make a lot more sense though after we found out that they were arguing over whether or not Jig should have an abortion. Anyone reading without that knowledge would find the story absolutely horrific and meaningless like I did… -Raymond To

The short story, __Hills Like White Elephants__, did not seem to impress me whatsoever; I disagreed highly with the style of writing that Ernst Hemingway used wrote this particular short story. I kept getting lost throughout the story because of the conversational outline that was the story; it was very hard to keep track of who was talking and what was happening. I do believe that was not a good idea on the authors’ part to make the conversation between the girl and the man the whole story because it confused numerous people and ended up turning them off from the short story. Finally, I did not fully understand the purpose of the story, which set me off fully. To be honest, I believe that __Hills Like White Elephants__ was just a conservation between two people waiting at the train station, which does not seem to intrigue me one bit. -Nikita Lewis

The short story __Hills like White Elephants__ by Ernest Hemingway was not a very enjoyable story for me, it wasn’t interesting at all. It was very boring and it didn’t capture my attention when I read it. It also was confusing in many parts because at the beginning it started off with the setting but then it just started to go in a few different directions. At first, they were talking about beer, and then from there you couldn’t tell who was speaking which lines. Also, the subject of an “operation” isn’t very clear throughout the story. The actual word “operation” is only mentioned twice and both times are in the same line spoken by the same person. Also, as the story went on, nothing happened. Nothing was accomplished, nothing was solved, and at the end, the whole story just ended with no clear cut solution or decision made by anyone. -Shelby Friend

Hemingway’s short story, //Hills Like White Elephants// was a unique story that I enjoyed. The style that Hemingway used was extremely uncommon, but that is exactly why I enjoyed reading the short story. The different technique Hemingway used to get a point across was interesting because a very controversial issue was discussed in what appeared to be a casual conversation. I also liked the story because in order to understand the story, one would most likely have to read it twice, and once one understood the topic of the conversation, the story developed a more meaningful message. Hemingway’s approach to discussing a large issue was appealing because he did not directly say the girl was pregnant and was debating about whether or not to get an abortion, this left the reader confused and wanting to learn more. I believe the story had its own unique form of suspense that made the reader focus on details and infer what was being said. Another reason I enjoyed the story was because Hemingway made all of the characters relatable which made the story more realistic. -Melissa Belanger

I did not enjoy the story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, which is no surprise because Ernest Hemingway is a terrible author. Like the rest of his stories, “Hills Like White Elephants” was filled with extreme boredom and a plot with no point. The only event that happened was that the couple argued about whether or not to have an abortion. Honestly, I can’t even call that a story because nothing happened. The man and woman talked about an abortion, then they talked more about the abortion, and then decided to leave on a train. I don’t understand what the meaning of this story had, or if it had a meaning at all. The first time I read it, I couldn’t comprehend what the couple was talking about until the second time I read it. Due to the boring and meaningless story line, I did not enjoy reading “Hills Like White Elephants”. -Megan Kane

__Hills like White Elephants__ was a well written dialogue between a couple discussing an abortion. I can’t say I relate to this, however the story is sowing a difficult choice between two people. Hemingway does a fine job of keeping the reader in the dark about what is exactly being discussed, and finding a message in the reading is always good. The format, dialogue, of the story helps the reader focus more on who these people actually are and what they are discussing. It is and average story that begins and ends with questions to be answered. The woman and man seem hesitant to deal with the issue and get on with their lives which makes for an interesting conversation. Hemingway hides a message in this story, however I am not too sure what it is. The story, however, is interesting and clever. -Zack Hutton

The short story __Hills like white elephants__ was a unique idea, with a simple plot. The discussion in the story could have been about anything and taken place almost anywhere, and until you have been told what the discussion really is based on, that is exactly what you think. Just a man and a women talking about a day to day topic. For an on-looker it may be a little hard to follow, but for the ones involved the discussion is very serious and important. While the story was thoughtful and intriguing, I did not find any reason to it. There was no lesson to learn, there was no happy ending, there wasn’t even a conclusion for that matter. They never told us what the final decision was or how the discussion ended. It was not my favorite story and I probably wouldn’t be likely to recommend it to friends or family. -Leah Schultz

I did not like the short story __Hills like White Elephants__ by Ernest Hemingway. This was not a good story becasue it was so dull and boring. Ernest Hemingway used way too much dialog which confused the reader throughout the whole story. It also was not a good story because no one knows what the characters are talking about the entire time. Once we were told what the whole story was about, it changed many people's opinions, but not mine. Learning that the story was about a couple talking about an abortion still did not make the plot more exciting for me. Yes learning this cleared things up and no longer left me feeling confused but no this did not make __Hills like White Elephants__ a good story and definitely not one I would recommend. -David Morse

I liked the short story Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. I might have been a little inclined to it because of the title, which one of my favorite songs was named after. I liked the way the characters’ argument was unclear, and was open to interpretation. After I found out that the argument was about an abortion, I liked the story even more. Couples go through arguments like this every day, and its something that needs to be addressed. I feel the author made Jig look pathetic on purpose, like she’d do anything to make her man happy, to influence girls in the same position to think for themselves and do what they want. I do wish the author told us what they decided, though. This was probably on purpose as well, so he wouldn’t influence girls either way on their own decision. - Jaqueline Linden

I did not like short story Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway. The main reason I didnt like it is because it did not keep me entertained, and i didnt really have a clue of what was going on. There was so much dialogue, which caused it to be very dull and confuse me very much. Once i found out that the whole story was about an abortion it made me angry. The author wasted my time with all the dialogue and once i found out it was about something i had no interest in such as abortion i was angry. When i read about things such as abortions it just makes me want to put the book down and do something else. It being about SOMETHING made me a little more happy so i could actually have a little bit of closure, because i have never been more confused then when i read that book.

Greg Plachta

Wow. Talk about a bad story. First of all nothing was accomplished by Ernest Hemingway writing this awful congregation of simplistic dialogue mashed up and wrongly deemed a story. After I found out that they are reffering to an abortion when then talk about the "simple operation" I still was not impressed. I thought, "Okay I get it. But so what? What does that have to do with anything. What does it accomplish." The couple in the story just created uncomfortable and akward situations. They never really close and finish their conversation. The whole thing just made me mad and truthfully greatly diminished the reputation of Ernest Hemingway in my mind. Clever? Yes. Meaningful? No. Scott Saunders

Regarding to __Hills like White Elephants__, I agree with that once realizing what the "simple operation" was, the story became much easier to understand and relate to. Couples, and even single parents, struggle with these kind of decisions every day, which I thought was very important to adress. After interpreting the whole conversation between the couple, the story became much more interesting to me and I'm glad we read it a second time because it was easier to understand and dissect afterwards. I must say the dialogue was pretty awful and very unclear and just a huge mess of rambling which confused a lot of us (Greg). -Jackie Plevelich