Hills-like-white-elephants论文

外国语学院2011级（1)班廖一入_______________________________________________________________________________TermPaperfortheCourseofUnderstandingShortFictionAnAnalysisofthemetaphorsinHillsLikeWhiteElephants__________________AbstractHillsLikeWhiteElephantsisoneofthemostfamousAmericanshortstorieseverbyErnestHemingway.ItisofallthemainfeaturesofHemingway’swritingwithtelegraphicstylemetaphorsandIcebergTheory.Thispapertriestoanalysisthemetaphorsexistinginthisstoryandexplorethecharacterimages.InstructionHillsLikeWhiteElephantswasfirstpublishedinParisintransitionmagazineinAugust1927.InOctoberofthesameyear,Scribner'spublisheditinNewYorkaspartofaHemingwayshort-storycollection,MenWithoutWomen.ItisashortstoryaboutanAmericanmanandagirlnamedJig.InthestorythetwoaresittinginatrainstationinSpain,drinkingbeerandaniseliquorwhilewaitingforthetraintoMadrid.Whiletheyarewaiting,theyhaveanintense,ongoingdiscussionoverwhetherornotJigwillgetanabortion.Themanisattemptingtoconvincethewomantogetanabortion,butthewomanisambivalentaboutit.Attheendofthestory,thetrainisabouttoarriveandthemancarriesthebaggagetothetracksastheypreparetodepart.Theendingofthestoryisunclear,becauseHemingwaydidn’tgiveustheoutcomeofJig’sdecision.Intheendofthestory,Jigjustsays,There’snothingwrongwithme,Ifeelfine.--herhappinessisacentralthemeofthestory,butwearestillwonderingwhethershewentthroughwithwiththeoperationornotafterfinishingreadingthisstory.Asweallknow,Hemingwayisverystrictinchoosingscenesinhisworks.IntheworldofHemingway,eachstorycanonlybelongtothescenewhereithappens.Choosingagoodstageorscenecontributestosavealotoflanguagebuttoexpressbetter.HillsLikeWhiteElephantsisnoexception.Eachsceneappearsinthisstoryisnotbyaccident-thehills,whiteelephants,therailwaystation,andsoon.Allofthesearemetaphorswithimpliedmeaningwhichcontributetopaintingatruepictureofwhatliesbeneath.[1]TheHillsInthenovel,thegirlwaslookingoffatthelineofhills.Theywerewhiteinthesunandthecountrywasbrownanddry.Theylooklikewhiteelephants,”shesaid.I'veneverseenone,themandrankhisbeer.No,youwouldn'thave.Inthisdialogue,thehillsmaysymbolizebigobstaclesthatwemustclimb,buttheyarenotenormousmountains.Thisrepresentsthefactthatthegirl'sbabyisamajorobstacleinherlife,butitisnottheendofherlifeandshewillmakeitthrough.Jiglooksatthehillsandseesopportunity,yetatthesametimethemanlooksatthehillsand外国语学院2011级（1)班廖一入_______________________________________________________________________________TermPaperfortheCourseofUnderstandingShortFictionseesnothing--hisvisionofapositiveandhappyfutureisblockedbytheenormousobstacleofthechild.Theman’sreactionofthissymbolissorealisticthatcausesJig’sdissatisfy.No,youwouldn'thave.Shesaysitwithatoneofcomplaint,andthentheygivetitfortat.Fromthistimeon,ithintsthatthereisanunhappytensebetweenthem.TheRailroadStationTheremoteandquietrailwaystationistheplacewherethestorytakeplace.Itistheharbourofpeople’ssoulaftersufferingsomuchhardship.Wecanimaginethataftermakingdecisionandcomingbacktothemetropolis,thiscoupleofloverswouldsoonforgetwhattheytalkaboutduringthe40minutes.Actually,thesemiddle-classyoungpeoplearelightofheartanddonothaveenoughtimetothinktwiceofsomething.Itisatthisremoteandquietplacethattheycanopenupandsharetheirinwardworld,andwereaderscanconcentrateonthetwomaincharacters.Besides,therailroadstationisalsoasymbolofbeingatthecrossroadsoflifeduringatimeofcrisis.TheAmericanmanandthegirlJigcannotstayatthestationforever.Theyaretravelingandtherewillbechange.Theremustbeadecisionofwheretogonext.Allofthisissymbolicofthedecisionofwhethertokeepthechildornot.Alltravelinghasacostandsodoestheoutcomeofthisdecision.Toeitherkeeporabortthechildisacostlydecision.Intheend,themanpicksupbothhisandthegirl'sbaggageandcarriesitouttotherailroadtracks,thetensionofthestoryisrelieved.Thegirlclaimstobefineandthenthestorycomestoitsopen-ending,whichisthetypicalendingwayofHemingway’snovels.MetropolisConnectedbyRailwaysThecrossofrailwaysisametaphorofthedifferencesandconflictsbetweenthelovers.Thistwomodernizedmetropolis-BarcelonaandMadrid,representthefreeandeasylifeofthetwolovers.Anditisalsothesymbolofthelostgeneration’slifestyle-wealthy,bustlingwithactivities,butvoidandpale.Inthestory,Hemingwayused“theman”torepresentthemalecharacter,whileused“thegirl”torepresentthefemalecharacter,ratherthan“thewoman”,whichimpliestheconflictbetweenthem.Theylivedinthiskindoflife,andthey’llalwaysliveinthiskindoflife.TheWomanintheBar“Thewomaninthebar”isthemetaphorof“onlooker”.Thewomaninthebarcomeonstagebothinthebeginningandtheendofthestory,whichshowsthestructurebalanceofthisstory.Inthebeginningofthetwolovers’conversation,“Thewomanbroughttwoglassesofbeerandtwofeltpads.Sheputthefeltpadsandthebeerglassesonthetableandlookedatthemanandthegirl.”Intheendoftheirconversation,“Thewomancameoutthroughthecurtainswithtwoglassesofbeerandputthemdownonthedampfeltpads.‘Thetraincomesinfiveminutes,’shesaid”.Wecanseethatthewomaninthebaristheonlyonewhocomeonstagealoneexceptfortheman.Thoughthereareonlyafewwordsdescribingthewomaninthebar,sheisnotofnosignificance.Becausethroughthesefe