The short story White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a story about a man and a woman, who are seemingly at a crossroads in their relationship with each other. Hemingway’s style of writing is somewhat scant, but it does appear as if they are going to part ways.
Do you think the characters will stick together? The characters in our story seem to have had great affection for each other but they are clearly at a crossroads in their relationship, both metaphorically and physically. Hemingway often wrote about characters dealing with war, so more than likely the man is leaving to fight in World War I. This is one of Hemingway’s earlier works, written in 1927 which may be one of these indicators. The last sentence in the story really resonated with me and seems to prove that they do in fact, part ways. “I feel fine.” She said. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” (Hemingway). This sentence seems to have much more meaning than meets the eye upon further examination. The woman is saying here that while she is “fine” she knows that the man may not be and that she may never see him again. There seems to be a lot of longing in this last bit of dialogue, though her tone earlier is definitely upset and angry: “Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you've waited so long for, like absinthe.” (Hemingway) Although initially angry I believe that the woman wishes the man would stay with her and that the man’s leaving is not initially by choice. Write about a personal choice you had to make that may have been a hard decision. In life there are difficult situation that often arise out of necessity, often a rite of passage or a coming of age. For me, that experience was when I first moved from home and went to University in Montreal. More than a little green and fresh out I high school I had committed to a school up in Canada. In a lot of ways, I was not really prepared for the whole college experience and this choice really impacted my life later, also it happens to be the main reason why I find myself at DCCC now. I’ll never forget my parents asking me if “this was what I really wanted, and you should only commit if you’re ready” to which I replied: “of course I’m ready mom/dad I’ve been waiting to leave home forever now, I can’t wait to leave Pennsyltucky.” In those early days I thought everything would work out all hunky-dory just like in highschool, boy could I not have been more wrong. Since then I’ve learned and matured considerably and decided to right my wrongs- by starting anew at DCCC.
3 Comments
Andrew
2/20/2018 02:15:39 pm
You maybe failed once but now you seem like you have a new perspective on life, take this opprutunity and run with it good luck bro.
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Sabatino
2/21/2018 03:10:02 pm
Your argumentative response provides context about the writer and specific analysis of Hemingway's word choices. Would you say you are exploring text and subtext with your analysis of "fine."
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Molly Zahner
2/21/2018 03:10:22 pm
I really like how you used both Hemingway's background and historical context to draw your conclusion. I think it is an interesting approach and your argument makes sense. Also, I can relate to having to leave college due to homesickness and coming to DCCC. I left Bloomsburg University to come here. It was definitely not an easy decision and is a difficult position to be in. I think you made the right choice :)
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AuthorShane Zandotti, Blogger extraordinaire. This is primarily to bolster my composition skills. Archives
April 2018
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