Irony in Hills Like White Elephants
... In his story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway uses irony to show that when a problem rises in a relationship, one may refuse to address the problem and ignore her true emotions in order to preserve the connection. ... Jig’s statement presents irony because the girl wants the baby that she carries; yet she asks the man for beer. ... She thinks that the hills just beyond the river “look like white elephants” (p. ... The girl tries to bring up the subject of abortion without actually saying it, with a white elephant symbolizing an unwanted gift, even though she knows she wants the baby. ... After the couple finishes the beer, the girl wants to try a new kind that is advertised in words on the side of the hills she commented on. She notes that it tastes like licorice and that “everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe” (pg. ... Absinthe, which is an outlawed alcoholic beverage that actually does taste like licorice, acts as an example in her excerpt, for she waits for absinthe as she does for having a child. ... Irony also helps to illutrate that when they speak of happiness, neither is happy with the other’s view of the solution. ... Irony presents itself in this comment, also, because she will only be happy if the operation does not take place, but ignores what she wants to keep the man happy with her. The middle of the story starts the heated argument between the couple and uses much irony to keep the message of disagreement running.