Final Draft Hemingway Essay A good writer's objective is to say as much as possible as briefly as possible. This enables the thinking about the implications of the word's presented. Ernest Hemingway explained this idea in his "iceberg" theory of writing fiction in an interview for Paris Review: " If it is any use to know it, I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There are seven-eighths of it under water for every part that shows." In order to expand on the meaning of his plots and characters, Hemingway used symbols and extended meanings to supply the unstated and submerged portion of his stories. The story " Hills Like White Elephants" is an excellent example of Hemingway's "iceberg" principal with its extensive use of literary symbols.
In Hemingway's "iceberg" theory of writing, Hemingway wants readers to "read in-between lines" and derive the true meaning of the story.
Ernest Hemingway in Milan, 1918
English: Hemingway posing for a dust jacket photo ...
Ernest Hemingway BirthplaceTo do this, you must interpret the symbolism Hemingway uses.
The story "Hills Like White Elephants" is about a man and a woman who are at a train station in Madrid, Spain. The woman is pregnant and the man and the woman are discussing whether the woman should have an abortion operation. They have only forty minutes (the time they have to wait for their train to arrive) to make their decision. At the end of the story, the woman is still not certain if she should have the abortion operation.
In "Hills Like White Elephants", there are many examples of the "iceberg" theory. One strong example was when the woman, referring to the hills, says," They look like white elephants." The woman later says, in response to the man's request of trying to have a fine time," All right. I was trying. I...