Ernest Hemingway \"Hills Like White Elephants\" Kate

Ernest Hemingway "Hills Like White Elephants" Kate Chopin "The Story Hour" Hemingway rich symbolism build

"The Story of an Hour" is rife with irony. This literary device is demonstrated in Mrs. Mallard's reaction to the purported death of her husband, and in the fact that he is really alive. The literary device of irony is mainly about opposition -- words are used in the exact opposite way of their literal meaning, and people react the exact opposite of how one would think they would. Mrs. Mallard's reaction to both the alleged death of her husband and to the fact that he is still alive are both ironic because she acts the exact opposite in which one would think a spouse would act if her husband had died.

It is of critical importance that although Mrs. Mallard does have a brief moment in which she cries and mourns the death of her husband, she largely rejoices in his purported death for the simple fact that it has set her free. There are several key passages in this text in which the author alludes to the fact that Mr. Mallard was demanding, and forced his wife to acquiesce ot his will. The subsequent quotation, in which Mrs. Mallard contemplates a joyous life without her husband, emphasizes this fact. "There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers…." Other passages emphasize the sheer joy that Mrs. Mallard experiences thinking about a life lived for her and her enjoyment. While thinking such thoughts, "her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her" (Chopin).

However, the true irony is that after contemplating a joyous life without her husband and his overbearing presence and in which she could simply live for herself, the sight of Brently Mallard alive is so terrible to consider -- especially in light of the preceding joyful moments -- that Mrs. Mallard dies as a result. One would expect the opposite behavior, for a wife to despair at the thought of her husband's death and to rejoice at the sight of him alive.

One of the most eminent symbols that Ernest Hemingway uses to build the short story "Hills Like White Elephants" is nature. The setting in which the story takes place is a train station in Spain, which is surrounded by natural, unpaved territory. The titular hills, which are referenced by the girl to her American lover, are one example of the sort of nature that the author employs in this tale to contrast the question of fertility and bareness which reflects the larger theme of the story -- the girl's decision whether or not she should get an abortion or have the American's baby.

As this choice is largely the topic of conversation between this pair, the author contrasts these viewpoints with the natural surroundings that they view. It is extremely important, therefore, that on one side of the train station -- the side that the couple are sitting on, and the one that they have the best view of -- the terrain is bare, described as "brown and dry," with "no shade and no trees." This side of the station and this barren aspect of nature is a fitting symbol for the choice the girl could make to have an abortion.