Hills Like White Elephants赏析PPT文档资料

1、1,Hills Like White Elephants,By Ernest Hemingway,2,3,4,Introduction to Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961,5,Hemingways birthplace in Oak Park, Illinois,Hemingway fishing as a young boy,The Kansas City Star building, where Hemingway took his first job as a cub reporter,Introduction to Hemingway,6,Hemingway

2、at the time of his graduation from high school, 1917,Hemingway in his World War I ambulance drivers uniform before his injuries,7,Hemingway trying his hand at bullfighting in Spain,Here, he can be seen (right of center, in white pants and dark sweater) confronting a charging bull,8,A lifelong bullfi

3、ghting aficionado two tickets to the upcoming bullfights in Pamplona were found in his desk drawer after his death in 1961,9,Hemingway showing off his marlin catch with his friend,American bullfighter Sidney Franklin,10,Discouraged by a troubled family background ,illness and the belief that he was

4、losing his gift for writing, Hemingway shot himself to death in 1961,11,1925 In our time (published in Paris) 在我们的时代里（包括印第安营寨） 1926 Torrents of Spring 春潮 1926 The Sun Also Rises 太阳照常升起 1927 Men Without Women 没有女人的男人 1929 A Farewell to Arms 永别了，武器 1932 Death in the Afternoon 午后之死 1933 Winner Take Not

5、hing 胜者无所得 1935 Green Hills of Africa 非洲的青山 1937 To Have and Have Not 富有与贫穷 1940 For Whom the Bell Tolls 丧钟为谁而鸣 1950 Across the River and Into the Trees 过河入林 1952 The Old Man and the Sea 老人与海,His Major Works,12,Pulitzer Prize (1953,The Old Man and the Sea,The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954,for his m

6、astery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style,13,14,Colloquial style: influence from Mark Twain and his journalist career Concrete, specific, common-found words Simple, short, even ungrammatical

7、sentences Direct, clear and positive style, yet highly connotative The style was described as “iceberg” The Nobel Prize Committee praised Hemingway had “powerful style forming mastery of the art,Features of his writing,15,Iceberg Principle,How is the iceberg principle used in Hemingways works? Hemin

8、gways theory of omission is widely referred to as the iceberg principle. By omitting certain parts of a story, he actually strengthens that story. The writer must be conscious of these omissions and be writing true enough in order for the reader to sense the omitted parts. When the reader senses the

9、 omitted parts, a greater perception and understanding for the story can be achieved,16,Iceberg Principle,17,Symbolism,Hemingway disliked discussions regarding the symbolism in his works. The iceberg principle, however, by its very nature, invites symbolic interpretations and Hemingway acknowledged

10、this in his own subtle way. No good writer ever prepared his symbols ahead of time and wrote his book about them, but out of a good book which is true to life symbols may arise and be profitably explored if not over-emphasized,18,Hills Like White Elephants 白象似的群山,19,Themes, Motifs, and Symbolism in

11、“Hills Like White Elephants,20,Setting,The action takes place in the mid-1920s at a train station in Zaragoza, a major city in northeastern Spain on the Ebro River. Zaragoza is approximately 170 miles northeast of Madrid. The region around Zaragoza receives scant rainfall. The greenery observed by J

12、ig may have flourished through irrigation,21,Characters,Jig: Woman traveling in Europe with a male companion. The author does not disclose whether they are single, engaged, or married; however, it appears likely that they are girlfriend and boyfriend. The American: Man traveling with Jig. The Woman:

13、 Waitress at the train station,22,Study Questions for comprehension and consideration,1. What is a “white elephant ” according to the dictionary definition? What does a “white elephant” symbolize in the story? White elephant metaphorically refers to some expensive presents with limited value. It may

14、 symbolize the baby, too costly to keep in that it demands not only material provision but also responsible nurture. Hills like white elephant physically resemble the fat white belly of a pregnant woman, a symbol of life, in contrast to the “brown and dry country,23,2. List the evidence that tells w

15、hat kind of operation Jig is confronting. How risky is it physically and emotionally? Since the man says “its a simple operation”, “just let the air in”, plus their relationship of lovers, we readers may understand this is an abortion operation. Physically it is quite dangerous for it was back in th

16、e 1920s, when medical condition for an abortion was not what it is today. Besides, this operation is practiced illegally in Spain, a rigid, pious, roman Catholic country that equals abortion to murder. The emotional stress is also two-fold: the guilty of murdering your own child, and the preoccupati

17、on about the consequence of this “murdering,24,3. Has Jig made up her mind to do the abortion? Yes, otherwise she would not have drunk so much. In addition, she always uses subjunctive mood to indicate the baby thing: “we could have al this”, “we could have everything.” “we could get along.,25,4.If

18、abortion is something already decided on , then what upsets Jig? What is the real conflict between the couple? Even if Jig makes up her mind to do the operation, this does not contradict her feeling of guilty, pity and worry since reality leaves her little chance to choose otherwise. But we should n

19、otice that baby is not the only one biting. She as a matter of fact think more about the future of their relationship, as is quite obvious when she asks the man: “Then what will we do afterward?” “ And you really want to ?” “You will be happy?” “ If I do it you wont ever worry,26,5. Is there anythin

20、g significant in the mans oversensitive response to the girls “everything tastes like licorice. Especially all the things youve waited so long for, like absinthe.” Absinthe is highly alcoholic anise-flavored, distilled liquor containing the herb wormwood（甘草）. Green in color, turning to cloudy, opale

21、scent （乳白色）white when mixed with water. Highly aromatic（芳香）, this spirit is dry and somewhat bitter in taste, with alcoholic content of 68 percent by volume. Maybe the girl is ambiguously accusing the man of seduction, resulting in her pregnancy,27,White Elephant,The white elephant is considered a s

22、acred animal by some cultures and, therefore, Joseph DeFalco explains how the term reflects upon the man: It not only means an annoyingly useless gift; it may also be a possession of great value. In this context the child symbolizes the mans inability to see that the child might provide a meaning to

23、 life which he lacks,28,Analysis,The dialogue reveals to the reader that there is a definite conflict between the two main characters, it but does not reveal the exact nature of the conflict: the topic of conversation is never explicitly identified. The man enjoys their lifestyle and wants it to con

24、tinue. He pressures Jig to have an operation so they can be “just like before” she becomes pregnant. He knows that Jig is reluctant, and he assumes she is concerned about the operation itself. Abortion was not legalized in Spain until 1985, and illegal abortions were neither safe nor painless,29,零度结

25、尾,引自罗兰巴特写作的零度：以存在主义大师加缪为代表的那种方式，即“中性的”，“非感情化”，回避感情色彩和主观意向性的写作方式。 海明威结尾的“零度”特征，不点明主题，不表示意向，拒绝解释和判断，甚至不象结尾。整部小说运用的是非常典型的纯粹的限制性的客观叙事视角，恰象一架机位固定的摄影机，它拍到什么，读者就看到什么。绝少叙事者的干预和介入，甚至可以说非全知的叙事者知道的几乎与读者一样多。小说省略了太多的东西。包括人物的身份，故事的背景以及情节的来龙去脉。因此，想作出确凿的判断几乎是徒劳的,30,comments,白象似的群山是海明威短篇小说的经典之作，它写于1927年，收入海明威小说集没有女人

26、的男人。 整部小说基本上是由男人和姑娘的对话构成，这个文本是冰山原则的最好诠析。 白象似的群山绝不是一篇道德小说，而是一篇情境化的具有多重可能性的小说。贝茨评论说“这个短篇是海明威或者其他任何人曾经写出的最可怕的故事之一。”“对于姑娘来说，有什么东西毁了；不但她的过去，而且将来都是这样。她是吓坏了。”理查德福特说：“这个故事我很欣赏，因为它很现代，没有人说出堕胎二字，但堕胎的感觉失落、困惑、发呆渗入字里行间。”小说的法国译本就把题目译成失去的天堂，意思是无辜的姑娘在人工流产事件中把天堂般的过去失掉了。这个过去的天堂可能指少女的纯真烂漫，也可能指过去幸福美满的好时光,31,comments,身份

27、的多义：男人已婚并强迫他的情人堕胎好对付他的妻子；他是单身汉希望堕胎因为他害怕把自己的生活复杂化；但是也可能这是一种无私的作法，预见到一个孩子会给姑娘带来的困难；也许，人们可以想象一下，他病得很重并害怕留下姑娘单独一人和孩子；人们甚至可以想象孩子是属于另一个已离开姑娘的男人的，姑娘想和美国男人一起生活，后者向她建议堕胎同时完全准备好在拒绝的情况下自己承担父亲的角色。至于那姑娘呢？她可以为了情人同意堕胎；但也可能是她自己采取的主动，随着堕胎的期限临近，她失去了勇气。 人物性格的多重性：“男人可以是敏感的，正在爱，温柔；他可以是自私，狡猾，虚伪。姑娘可以是极度敏感，细腻，并有很深的道德感；她也完全

28、可以是任性，矫揉造作，喜欢歇斯底里发脾气。,32,冰山原则的妙用,1语言的背后：小说人物对话背后的主观动机是被隐藏着的。海明威省略了一切说明性的提示，即使我们能够从他们的对话中感受到节奏、速度、语调，也无法判断真正的心理动机。 2省略的艺术： “隐藏在这场简单而寻常的对话背面的，没有任何一点是清楚的。”这使白象似的群山成为一个可以多重讲述的故事，一个可以一遍遍用不同的前因后果加以阐释的故事。这种多重阐释性正是由省略的艺术带来的。一旦海明威补充了背景介绍，交代了来龙去脉，小说就完全可能很清楚。但海明威的高明处在于他绝不会让一切一目了然，他要把冰山的八分之七藏起来，因此他便呈示了一个经得起多重猜想

29、的情境。这反而是一种真正忠实于生活的本相的小说技巧,33,冰山原则的妙用,3.白象的比喻：一般说来，小说中的主导动机是揭示主题和意向的重要手段，白象似的群山中类似的主导动机就是姑娘关于白象的比喻，在小说中出现了三次。第一次被提及时，就显出两个人话不投机。这里，微妙的语词张力使潜在的冲突有一种引而不发的势头。第二次，女人重新解释说，山看上去并不真像白象，这正如她本人的话语，前后互相矛盾，含义模糊。第三次出现，它变成一个问题，可供引申：如果我说什么东西像一群白象，你也会喜欢吗？它可以解释成：如果我和你不同，你也会喜欢吗？这个问题，在相爱的男女中，注定是一个基本的困扰，也许是烦恼的根源，或者它将决定

30、这种关系的命运。白象可以暗示妇女怀孕的体型，但从这个比喻也很难生发出确切的判断。我们可以说姑娘是微妙的，有情趣，有诗意，而男人对她的比喻毫无反映，男人是很实在的或者是没有趣味的。但昆德拉认为人们“也完全可以在她的独特的比喻性发现中看到一种矫揉造作，故作风雅，装模作样”，卖弄有诗意的想象力。如果是这样，姑娘说什么堕胎后世界就不再属于他们之类的话语，就只能归结为姑娘对抒情式卖弄的喜好,34,Other comments,Hills Like White Elephants is Hemingways most penetrating attack on man as the exploiter o

31、f woman. Linda Wagner points out that in this story, Hemingways sympathy is clearly with the girl. They recognize that the woman is much more mature than the man and that her character develops while he remains static. Therefore, we conclude-on the basis of our study of works of literature, rather t

32、han on what is more typical of Hemingways canon-that the woman emerges as the storys protagonist,35,Other comments,Hills Like White Elephants treats uniquely the abortion issue (by leaving out the whole morality debate) what the man and woman are arguing about. The key lines are the mans reference t

33、o an operation though not really an operation at all and his line of reassurance, Ill go with you and Ill stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then its all perfectly natural establish the nature of the issue for each character, as well as for the authors purposes. The man wants h

34、is lover to get an abortion so that they can continue to travel free of responsibilities-and thus that he is not ready to settle down with a family. The womans concerns about aborting their baby are more complicated,36,Other comments,The author is using this point of conflict, not to make a pro-life

35、 or pro-choice statement but because, regardless of a womans opinion of her right to choose, terminating a pregnancy can be psychologically devastating. The woman perceives the seriousness of the choice the man wishes her to make, while the man is either oblivious to its magnitude or willing to pret

36、end it is simple for his own peace of mind,37,Other comments,The womans concerns as she considers whether to do what her lover asks her are three-fold: First, she seems to be troubled by the static nature of their relationship-it is all about fun (looking at things and trying new drinks ) and does n

37、ot seem to be moving forward toward any kind of commitment; his desire that she have an abortion suggests that he is not considering marriage to and having a family with her. If a baby on the way does not move him to propose, what will? Second, she questions her lovers certainty that if she has the

38、abortion they would then be just like we were before. But can they go back to where they were before? To such questions readers may respond that he is either fooling himself or very naive, while she is much more mature and realistic,38,Other comments,The womans third concern can be established by a

39、discussion of the significance of the title: the woman, unlike the man, wonders if the baby, which seems to be a white elephant (something burdensome and difficult to get rid of), might turn out to be of significant value. A final point of consideration, then, in the discussion of the storys title,

40、is how the womans belief in the possibility of the babys value to them and the mans opinion of it only as something bothersome and worrisome affects the readers attitude toward each,39,Other comments,Hemingways story is not predictable. Indeed, the reader does not know for certain in the end that th

41、e woman will go through with the abortion in spite of her saying shell do it. What the reader does know is that she is right: whatever they do about the baby, they will not go back to where they were. The woman knows more about the man than she did before. And it is likely that this experience will

42、affect his appeal to her. Besides his naivete and unwillingness to settle down, his oversimplification of the abortion itself deserves consideration. Remember that this story is set post-World War I, and how dangers involved in getting an abortion at that time. Another concern that this might add to

43、 the womans growing list is that this man is willing to risk his lovers life in order to preserve his carefree way of life,40,Other comments,Indeed, the ending of the story foreshadows the mans leaving this woman as well. he does not come directly back to her after moving their bags but has a drink

44、alone at the bar first, suggesting his desire to be away from her now that she is not so much fun as she used to be. Kenneth Johnston suggests that the man “seeking a moment of pleasure apart from the woman tends to confirm the girls dark premonitions and . . . hints at some future dissolution of th

45、eir relationship.,41,Other comments,Does Hemingway take a moral stance against abortion as murder or a political stance in favor of a womans right to make choices about her own body? Is the issue killing or not killing their child? the welfare of the baby in this story is of so little concern to the

46、 characters. The man, of course, perceives the child only as a white elephant in the most negative sense of the term, and, surprisingly, refers to an abortion as perfectly natural. The woman, the more positively characterized of the two and thus the one receiving more of the authors approval, does a

47、pparently recognize that she is carrying a potentially valuable life, but her primary concern seems to be her relationship with her lover. She knows that whatever she decides (whatever she chooses) to do, her relationship is irrevocably changed,42,Other comments,Is abortion even the issue finally? S

48、ince the story ends before she actually has the abortion, we should look to see what is resolved to determine what issue Hemingway is most concerned with in this story. Whether the woman goes through with the abortion or not, the relationship is over. The man will most likely desert her either way,

49、and his appeal to the woman has most likely diminished significantly as a result of his attitude toward her pregnancy. We conclude, then, that the issue is that they have reached a turning point in their relationship and that his handling of the crisis is bringing about the relationships demise (dim

50、aiz=end,death,43,This short story is about a couple with a major conflict the girl is pregnant and does not want an abortion her boyfriend appears to want her to get an abortion,Hills Like White Elephants” was written by Ernest Hemingway and was published in 1927 in a book titled “Men Without Women.

51、,Over time, since its publication, people have read and analyzed this seemingly simple piece of fiction and have formed various opinions on the themes, motifs, and symbolism throughout. I will be presenting some of them here,44,THEME the main thought or central idea expressed by a work,One theme is

52、Communication including,A conflict between the couple Their inability to communicate effectively The girls dependence upon the man,45,Another theme.Selfishness and Manipulation,Well, lets try and have a fine time.,Its really an awfully simple operation, Jig. Its not really an operation at all.,I kno

53、w you wouldnt mind it, Jig. Its really not anything. Its just to let the air in,Ill go with you and Ill stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then its all perfectly natural.,Well be fine afterwards. Just like we were before.,Thats the only thing that bothers us. Its the only thing

54、 thats made us unhappy.,You dont have to be afraid. Ive known lots of people that have done it.,Well, if you dont want to you dont have to. I wouldnt have you do it if you didnt want to. But I know its perfectly simple.,I think its the best thing to do.,I love you now. You know I love you.,I wont wo

55、rry about that because its perfectly simple.,But I dont want anybody but you. I dont want anyone else. And I know its perfectly simple.,I dont care anything about it.,46,A final theme. Choices,Confronting and accepting the future OR Evasion of responsibility,47,MOTIF Something that recurs throughout

56、 the piece to develop the theme. This could be a reference, an incident, or an activity,Alcohol is one motif,48,There is drinking throughout the story First they order two glasses of beer Then the girl wants to try Anis del Toro They order a second round of beers Then they order a third round of bee

57、rs After moving the luggage, the man stops in the bar room and has another drink,49,In trying to avoid conversation and the issue at hand, the couple fills their time with alcoholic drinks,50,At the end of the story they each drink alone,He sits at the bar and drinks an Anis,She is at the table fini

58、shing her beer from the third round,51,A second motif The mans over-simplification of the “operation,Using this euphemism, rather than the harsh word “abortion”, is one way he minimizes this choice,His continuing statements stress how “perfectly simple” this process can be and also imply his strong

59、opinion that she should just “do it,52,SYMBOLISM the use of words, places, characters, or objects that mean something beyond what they are on a literal level. A symbol is a word or object that stands for another word, object, or idea,The title actually contains three different symbols including hill

60、s, the color white, and the white elephant,53,Hills,the rounded enlargement of the girls stomach with a baby,Symbolize,54,The Color White,Symbolizes,the innocence and purity of her unborn child,55,White Elephant,Symbolizes,uselessness or being unwanted,A white elephant sale, for example, is a type o