Hills Like White Elephants - Ernest Hemingway
6.20.07
Ah, a story revolving around a rather friendly discussion between a standard heterosexual couple waiting for a train in Ebro. According to induction, the conversation revolves around the decision to have an abortion, although it could may as well be anything that relieves discomfort by "letting the air in" since abortion is never directly mentioned in the story.
It is prudent to note that I frown upon any expression of subjectivity, especially those that concern love. The statements associated with it can be extremely and inexorably ambiguous but I digress.
So. What, then, is the "point" of the story?
Like any other literary work that makes use of fiction and whatnot, one can make it mean what he wants it to, similar to how different readers can interpret George Orwell's 1984 to suit their own views. As Rickyroma from www.atheistforums.com put it, "Christians will tell you it is a parable against atheistic states such as the Soviets and North Korea; capitalists that it is about the evils of communism; socialists that it is about the evils of inequalities in wealth and power; atheists that it is a metaphor for religion."(1)
Philosophical crap aside, I suppose that the temporality of everything is what the story apparently tries to get at. "...once they take it away, you never get it back," the story states. That is definitely true, but that does not seem to be neither profound nor useful, since everyone rational knows that. The affirmation of this fact could perhaps drive some to think about their lives, but I don't know.
The issue of abortion is also present, but it does not seem to be discussed in an ethical manner. It looks to be a "prop" of sorts. I don't know.
I don't know for sure. Induction is a shaky business.
...copy-paste the forthcoming link. It doesn't work when you click it, for some reason.
(1) Rickyroma. "Creationism in Orwell's 1984" Online posting. 09 Aug. 2004. Atheistforums. 20 June 2007 <http://www.atheistforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2321>.
6.20.07
Ah, a story revolving around a rather friendly discussion between a standard heterosexual couple waiting for a train in Ebro. According to induction, the conversation revolves around the decision to have an abortion, although it could may as well be anything that relieves discomfort by "letting the air in" since abortion is never directly mentioned in the story.
It is prudent to note that I frown upon any expression of subjectivity, especially those that concern love. The statements associated with it can be extremely and inexorably ambiguous but I digress.
So. What, then, is the "point" of the story?
Like any other literary work that makes use of fiction and whatnot, one can make it mean what he wants it to, similar to how different readers can interpret George Orwell's 1984 to suit their own views. As Rickyroma from www.atheistforums.com put it, "Christians will tell you it is a parable against atheistic states such as the Soviets and North Korea; capitalists that it is about the evils of communism; socialists that it is about the evils of inequalities in wealth and power; atheists that it is a metaphor for religion."(1)
Philosophical crap aside, I suppose that the temporality of everything is what the story apparently tries to get at. "...once they take it away, you never get it back," the story states. That is definitely true, but that does not seem to be neither profound nor useful, since everyone rational knows that. The affirmation of this fact could perhaps drive some to think about their lives, but I don't know.
The issue of abortion is also present, but it does not seem to be discussed in an ethical manner. It looks to be a "prop" of sorts. I don't know.
I don't know for sure. Induction is a shaky business.
...copy-paste the forthcoming link. It doesn't work when you click it, for some reason.
(1) Rickyroma. "Creationism in Orwell's 1984" Online posting. 09 Aug. 2004. Atheistforums. 20 June 2007 <http://www.atheistforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2321>.
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