时间：2022-10-09 02:28:31
Abstract：Hills like White Elephants is one of the most famous short stories of American novelist Earnest Hemingway. It is written in 1927. Rope is also a short story written by American novelist Katherine Anne Porter. This essay aims at making a comparative analysis of the two short stories in the following 3 aspects： theme， character and ending.
Key Words： Hills like White Elephants， Rope， a comparative analysis
1.Theme
Both of them are about love， the relationship of men and women and the different opinion of different sex on the same thing. In Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants”， the American and Jig sat at the table outside the bar， talking about drinks and an operation. What we all know about the operation is that “it’s really an awfully simple operation…and “they just let the air in…”.Maybe it is an abortion. The American tried to persuade the girl to do the operation but she would not like to talk about this topic.
“It’s really an awfully simple operation， Jig，” the man said. “It’s not really an operation at all.” The girl looked at the table legs rested on. “I know you wouldn’t mind it， Jig. It’s really not anything .It’s just to let the air in.” The girl did not say anything.
In the two rounds of conversation， the man tried to prove the operation wasn’t difficult to Jig and hoped Jig would do the operation for him. However Jig seemed absent-minded and didn’t say a single word.
In the following paragraphs， the two kept talking about the possible influence of the operation on their future till Jig couldn’t bear it and asked the American to stop by using 7 “please”.
In Porter’s Rope， the couple， he and she， moved to the country and lived there for 3 days. He came back with “a basket o groceries and a twenty -four-yard coil of rope” but without coffee that she asked him to bring back from the village. The war between he and she broke out. She blamed him for the worthless rope and her unmet coffee and he fought back for he thought rope was useful. Then their quarrel updated increasingly but centered on rope from beginning to end.
He thought there were a lot of things a rope might come in handy for. She wanted to know what， for instance.
Did they really care about a coil of rope？ Rope was just a blasting fuse， indicating their different opinion on the same thing. “Rope” effectively demonstrated what could happen in a relationship without mutual understanding of the other's point of view.
2.Character
Jig in the “Hills like White Elephants” was described as a romantic， imaginative and determined girl while the American was depicted in a practical， calculating and selfish man.
Focus 1
“What we should drink？” Jig started the conversation with a question about drinks. Then they turned to talk about the white hills.
“They look like white elephants，” she said. / “I’ve never seen one，” the man drank his beer. / “No， you wouldn’t have.” / “I might have”， the man said. “Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t mean anything.”
The girl tried to employ a simile which looked like ridiculous to draw the man’s attention. Obviously the man didn’t agree with her imagination but he said “I’ve never seen one” instead of saying yes or no. In fact， the essence of their quarrel wasn’t that if the hills looked like white elephant or not but the operation followed.
Focus 2
When they talked about the flavor of Anis del Toro， what the girl said， “Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for， like absinthe”， suggested that what the man wanted maybe tasted sweet but bitter in reality.
Focus 3
“Well，” the man said， “if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t really want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple.” / “And you really want to？” / “It’s the best thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to.” / “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me？” / “I love you now. You know I love you.”
The man always tried to persuade the girl to follow his advice to do the operation. He had three reasons：
a. The operation was simple and not painful；
b. Lots of people had done it；
c. If Jig did it， they would be happy again.
Although the man kept saying that he would never force her if the girl didn’t want to do it. We can plainly see that the man did want Jig to do the operation and didn’t care about any other things. Did Jig accept these reasons？ No. What Jig really cared about was their love， their future. She wouldn’t like to do the operation just because she wanted a family to settle down and she hoped the man would shoulder his responsibility. She needed a promise that even if she didn’t do it， the man still loved her. What was the American’s answer？ “I love you now.” How about next second？ He didn’t care about what the girl wanted and only cared about his joy and fun. He didn’t want to break present situation： he brought the girl here and there to wander in the world， enjoying the romantic relationship. The operation was beyond his expectation and made him unsafe and uncomfortable. However， Jig the girl clearly knew even if she followed the man’s advice， they would not have the common future.
“We can have the whole world.” / “No， we can’t.” / “We can go everywhere.” / “No， we can’t .It isn’t ours anymore.”
In a word， what he and she were talking about wasn’t in the same level so they didn’t quarrel bitterly. Beneath the surface of quiet， there was undercurrent. On the other hand， though he and she in the “rope” had a fierce quarrel apparently， they still deeply loved each other. Beneath the turbulent waves， there are love and peace.
One interesting thing in the “Rope” is that the characters remained unnamed and undescribed. What we knew about the married couple was mainly based on the content and tone of their conversations. Why the author did not even give them names？ The he-she story was just a miniature of thousands of families. They are too symbolic to get concrete names.
She in the “rope” was a woman who was generally unhappy with her life. She gave us a common impression of housewife：
a. “Her hair was stumbled， her nose was scarlet with sunburn； he told her that already she looked like a born country woman.”
b. “…she thought every penny counted.”
c. “…she meant to keep things in order.”
She tried to seek comfort and order and save every penny. When her husband， he， brought home a coil of rope instead of coffee that she needed， she “reminded him it was only because he didn’t drink coffee himself. If he did he would remember it quick enough.” She thought rope was useless and worthless.
“What was that for？” / “… but she thought just at that time when every penny counted， it seemed funny to buy more rope.”
Then their fight proceeded round the rope and dragged present and past trifles in it. In the following paragraphs， she often showed great anger and disappointment.
“…Oh， look， look， look at the eggs！” / “The idea simply choked her.”
When her husband tried to comfort her by rubbing her shoulder a little， she “hisses and almost clawed”， which displayed her bitter anger. Then she continued complaining to her husband for the trifles. At last， when he came back from village again， she met her husband with great hospitability.
The husband， he， on the other hand， was described as a traditional one. He forgot what wife ordered and brought back what he thought useful， for example， rope. He had his thing such as hammer and nails in disorder.
“…if she had reason to believe he was going to fix the sashes this summer she would have left the hammer and nails right where he put them； in the middle of the bedroom floor where they could step on them in the dark.”
He also was a sweet man who would comfort his wife when she was upset but he have no comprehension of her point of view and， as a result， fails to stop the war between them. He regarded his role as bringing home the “regular money” and fixing the sashes and so on. He viewed the “housekeeping” as his wife’s work so he can’t understand his wife. Though he thought she was unreasonable， he gave up and went to village again to take back the rope and bring the coffee home. We can see the mutual love between him and her throughout the article.
3.Ending
Both of the two short stories had an open ending， leaving readers to think about the final direction of them.
In the “Hills like White Elephants” ，Hemingway employed the whole paragraph to describe the man “picked up two heavy bags and carried to their tracks. He looked up the tracks but could not see the train.” It seemed a symbol that indicated the man looked for their future but he failed. “Coming back， he walked through the barroom， where people waiting for the train were drinking.” This description probably suggested other people also faced with similar trouble. At last， the story ended with a question-and-answer.
She was sitting at the table and smiled at him. / “Do you feel better？” he asked. / “I feel fine，” she said. “There is nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.”
Jig’s smile looked like a signal， implying she had made a decision. Leave or stay？ We can’t tell.
Similarly， when quarrel ended in peace， the story came to the end. Though they just now experienced a bitter quarrel， they seemed to be an affectionate couple again.
When he came back she was leaning against the post box beside the road waiting. It was petty late， the smell of broiled steak floated nose high in the cooling air. Her face was young and smooth and fresh- looking. Her unmanageable funny black hair was all on end. She waved to him from a distance， and he speeded up. She called out that supper was ready and waiting， was he starved？
The burden of the quarrel rested with the woman； she started it and she ended it. The last scene of the story was so soft and sweet that we nearly had forgotten they had fierce quarrel. Their life came back to the right path. However， the blasting fuse， rope， was taken back. How about other ropes？
From the above analysis， we can see there are similarities and differences between Hills like White Elephants and Rope. They share the similar theme and way of ending. Although the heroes and heroines of the two have different characteristics， they are all representatives of certain kinds of people. There are always choices in one’s life and the characters had made theirs. Let’s learn from them and make wise choices.
参考文献：
[1]邵锦娣，白劲鹏. 文学导论[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2002.