We read and analyzed 'Hills Like White Elephants' by Ernest Hemingway on our second session. Remember you have an assignment for Wed. 8th, and that is writing a new and more conclusive ending to the story. Do your best. See you after Easter. Enjoy your vacation.
“I’m glad you’re fine” he said
ReplyDelete“Yes, there’s nothing wrong with me”
“What did you say?”
“I said that there’s nothing wrong with me”
The air moved the bead curtain and the fields beyond the station moved with the wind.
“Will you still be with me if I don’t do it?” she said
“I told you I would not have you to do it if you don’t want to ----“
“I know”
“Are you all right?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me”
From the distance came the sound of a train coming. The people inside the bar started getting on the station waiting for the train to arrive.
“The train is here” he said
“Yes, I think it’s time to go”
“Yes”
“But, would it be OK if I don’t want to go?”
“It will be Ok. But you know I think you should know”
“Will you go?”
“Only if you go with me”
The train stopped and opened its doors. People started getting on. The man and the girl stood up and took their bags. He started walking towards the train and turned back.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“Will you go?”
“Only if you come with me”
“Then stay here with me”
He went back next to her. They stood there looking at the hills across the valley of the Ebro.
“They really look like white elephants” He said.
“I know”
Alberto Rodríguez
Well, it´s time.
ReplyDeleteShe nod, stand up, and walked with him to take the train.
During the trip she was extremely silent and had a distant look in her eyes. He tried to talk to her but he preferred to just take her hand. They already made their decision, there´s nothing else to discuss.
They finally arrived to their destiny and she looked nervous.
-Remember: it’s just a simple operation- he said- I will be with you all the time.
-I know it’s a simple operation, let´s rest. Tomorrow everything would be fine, we will be happy again, I love you.
She took a shower and got to sleep. He did the same.
-I’m scared, she said.
-I know but everything it´s going to be O.K., just relax.
The doctor entered to the room and told her some instructions to prepare her for the operation.
He helped her, kissed her forehead and said -“remember I love you, I will be waiting for you just here”
-Are you sure?
-If you are, I am.
-I’ll do it, I love you and I´ll do anything for you
The nurse entered- Everything is ready for you, the nurse said.
-I’m ready, said the girl.
The American man took her hand and kissed her forehead again to say good-bye.
She looked back and saw him one more time.
He began to feel desperate when he saw the hours past and he didn´t receive any news about Jig.
-Misses, sorry- he said-it was just a simple operation why is it taking so long?
-Sorry sir- the nurse said-I have no authority to tell you anything.
He sat in the waiting room, desperate, nervous, he just couldn’t believe it.
A few hours later, the doctor came out. The man already knew what just happened.
-I thought it was just a simple operation, the American said.
-Yes, it was supposed to be a simple operation but there were some complications, the doctor said, - I’m terribly sorry.
He walked out the medical center thinking about jig, about what he pushed her to do. He was experimenting something new… guilty.
He went to the hotel and wrote a letter to Jig. He knew that she wasn´t able to read it but he felt that he needed to apologize to her. He finished writing the letter and putting it with her bags. He went to the train station and waited more than 8 hours. He finally stood up and jumped.
Jessika Bravo
“what did you say?”
ReplyDelete“Nothing, I’m ok. Look, the train is here”.
“Well, let’s go”.
“No”.
“Ah?”
“I won’t go anywhere”
“Jig the train is here, we have to take it”.
“No. I won’t do it, nor that simple operation. We can’t have the whole world. We won’t be happy after they take it away”.
“Jig let’s talk in the train”
“It is you who has to realize. I won’t take the train”.
“Jig I told you, I don’t want you to do it if…”
“Can you stop it?”
The tension increase every minute, The American walk around the table, the girl was sat down on the chair with a serene attitude.
“You should take the train” she said.
“Yes, that's what I’ll do”.
The American saw the girl for the last time, she seemed so sure, almost another girl. She stayed at the station, asked for another beer and looked at the hills…
“They really look like white elephants”.
Indiana Torres
Hi professor! This is what it might happen at the end of Hills like white elephants. I focused my comment in two things: the manipulation of the American upon jig and the necessity of the girl to be loved by the American. This conversation happens right after she said that she was fine. The American and the girl are waiting for the train.
ReplyDelete“Do you want to talk to me now?”
“I just want to be with you that’s it, I want you to love me as you used to” she answered
He sat on the table, looking at her.
“I do love you, if you do not want to do the operation it is your decision… but you can not have the whole world and you know it”
“It is my decision? You will steel love me if I do not do that simple thing?”
“I will love you, but everything will change. I will be worried all the time, and you know how I get when I worry.”
“The train is coming” she said and smiled. “I wonder how Madrid will it be”.
“Madrid can be where we can find a solution, a perfectly simple solution” said the American without looking at her.
The express was near; the people were getting closer to the station as the noise was making clearer.
The girl looked the American for a second and then she said
“Let’s get in to the train”
Kruyeska Peña Blanco
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOnce inside the train...
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean? said the man with a very nervous aspect- you have a very big problem and you say you are fine? you know if I were you...
If you were me, said Jig, if you were me you would be a monster.
I am not a monster,(said the american) I am a mature person, I want to be free and your problem will cut my freedom. I did explain you the operation...
I do not need an operation. I need to be happy and obviously my happiness is not with you.
Stop with this conversation - said the man.
It is not necessary to stop this convesation I will leave the train in the next station -said Jig showing him a mature and secure face that he did not know.
Ok Bye, and you know you are alone with your problem- said the man.
Bye and enjoy your life.
"How do you feel" The girl asked.
ReplyDelete"Fine too" the man answered.
But the girl can see in the man´s face that he was not fine, because his eyes reflexed anger, fury and desolation.Everything was silent for a moment, when surprisingly the man broke the silence screaming furiously.
"I will be not responsable for your decision, I am not prepared for this Jig,sorry"the man said.
And crying despairingly he threw himself towards the train, which was just arriving.
Touching her womb with rivers in her eyes, the girl said: "Now it´s just you and I, the world is ours".
The train finally turned up. “Here we go.” He said “I am sure you will make the right decision because you love me, don’t you?
ReplyDeleteThe girl looked at him in a disappointing manner and asked him: “why don’t you just catch on?” “What’s done is done”.
He picked up the two bags and approached the door of the train while the girl walked behind him slowly.
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen”! One of the trainman uttered “get in line and get your travelling tickets ready”
The girl got on the train first and then he did so. They followed a bellhop who indicated them where their place was. The girl sat down besides a big gray window and lifted the blinds. “I need some fresh air”. She said “I need to think even though I don’t want to”.
“Don’t worry. I do love you” he said.
“Just close your eyes and rest. The journey is long and exhausting. I’ll wake you up on the third station to show you the stunning scenery passengers can observe when going on this way”. “We don’t have to talk about it anymore”.
“You will make the most appropriate decision for both. I do love you and so do you. There is nothing to be worried about”.
The girl looked at him seriously and lay on the backseat.
The train started to move on. He kissed her forehead and lay on as well. They both fell asleep. After a long period of time, he woke up and looked at his watch, about six hours had passed by, he turned away seeking for the girl, but she wasn’t there, he thought she might be at the bathroom or somewhere else in the train.
Then, he realized there was a note left on the table that was in the middle of the room where they were, a note written in a scratched piece of paper, it seemed to have been taken off in a hurry way because the page was sort of torn. He opened it and did read it:
“What is happening is not a coincidence; instead, it is a miracle that probably will never befall again. Love is based on mutual care and not on one person’s concern. I have decided to move on… It is hard for me to do this but you made realize that I must decide between living a whole life next to you but discontented and punishing myself for all the good things that could have happened and that we pushed away or living a whole life alone but confident about what I want”… I did decide the second choice…
The American could not believe what he had just read. “Dig Jig really had gone?” “How was that possible?” He wondered.
“Where is she?” “Would she have gotten off on the last station?” He kept wondering. The man ran off the room looking for her desperately.
“Then let’s continue with our trip.”
ReplyDelete“I said I’m fine.”
“Let’s get on the train Jig.”
“I don’t think you understand,” she said.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I am fine.” “You are the one with the problem.”
“I have no problem,” he said. “I’m just worried.”
“Huh, worried about yourself.”
“I love you Jig, you know I do.”
“I am sure you do,” she said as she smiled. “But, I suppose that not enough to assume your responsibility.”
“You know what Jig, I’m not going to go on with this conversation.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yet, there is something you are not going to able to do,” she said in a steady voice.
“That is to avoid making a decision.”
As the last call was made, they remained staring at each other.
“Jig, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he said quickly.
“And I will never forget you.”
He grabbed his luggage and jumped on the train as she fell on her knees and weeping her heart out like the day she lost both her mother and father.
Johann Stoll
By GABRIELA RINCÓN
ReplyDelete(Hello! this message is published by me but belongs to Gabriela Rincón)
"I think this is useless, I’m leaving hope you get news about me soon. Please I need to know what you are thinking. I’m leaving and you won’t see me again. I don’t wanna continue living like this. I won’t care anymore about what you think or even what you feel. I guess you don’t care about anything; you don’t care about me. I’d like to be alone by myself. If you can’t understand me nobody else will. Why are you so quiet?"
She looks at him straight in his eyes, stands and leaves. He stays thinking, after a while he tries to look for her but he couldn’t find her.
"What have I done? If I had just listened to her they would be alive".
He went crazy on his own.
"Now that we are here, we don’t need anyone else. I think we can go on, just the two of us here on the hills like white elephants".
GABRIELA RINCÓN
The woman feeling awfully inside due to the fact she did not want to do the operation but at the same time she did not want to make the man feels upset about it. While she was sitting at the table waiting for the train she could not stop thinking. The man waiting for the train coming called her from outside the curtains “Jig, the train is coming”.
ReplyDeleteShe was mute. Jig did not answer. The man repeated the sentence one more time but she was still mute. “What is it Jig? Are you ok?” the man said while entering through the curtains. “I´m fine and I already thought about the operation…” she said. He smiled staring at her eyes, holding her cold hands and said “are you taking the opportunity of doing the operation?” he said.
The train was coming and everyone at the station could hear the rail sound. The man asked to Jig one more time. She smiled and said “I’m going to do it but let´s just not travel”. “I knew it Jig, everything is going to be fine, I’ll promise, and everything is going to be perfect just like before” the man said. She spoke one more time “if I do it, will everything be perfectly fine as before? “Yes” he whispered near Jig´s ear. He hugged her but she was not looking happy at all. Jig knows that at the end that is not right and someone is going to die; she is just doing it because she wants everything perfect.
Then he sat down next to her and when he looked at her, she didn’t look at the table legs resting on the ground. Now she looked at him straight toward his eyes and there was somewhat different in those eyes, there was a beautiful bright in them.
ReplyDelete“Really you will accept whatever I want”. She said.
“Sure and if you don’t want to do it you don’t have to”
“Good, because I have decided not to do it and it is my last word about it”.
“But”…
“Don’t say anything please and finish your beer!”
He observed the hills and take a deep breathe. “It never will be the same”.
Jig softly took him by the face with her young and delicate hands and she saw him towards his eyes while with warm voice she responds…
“I know it, I know it”.
He kept his sight down and slowly backed down. A great noise comes near to the station. The American got up of the chair and left the place. She with that special brightness in her eyes smiled and whispered …
“There’s nothing wrong with me, I feel fine”.
The couples were waiting for the train, and they had not taken the big decision.
ReplyDeleteAnd she was there, between two lines of rails trying to take the correct one.
When she took the decision of listening to the silence that was enclosed in her womb which said would not be alone, the world moves through love,” The silent said” and there she was confident her mother’s heartbeat. I am here saying do not be afraid to face the world.
Jig got up and took the lines of grain and trees.
JOHANA RAMIREZ
-Shall we?-the man asked.
ReplyDelete-No. You go. I'll stay.
-C'mon Jig! We talked about it! There's nothing wrong with you, let's go!
-You love me.
-What? Yes, of course I…
-And?
-You know what I think. Now, let's go. Our train is gonna leave!
- We'll catch another one...
-We don't have TIME-the man said roughly.
There was a long pause; the steaming vapor coming from the train seemed to scream with every call heating the atmosphere to a surprising 40ºC. The American man finally understood it:
-It’s your decision.
-It’s what I want...
-I don’t promise you anything.
The girl stared at the hurried passengers but remained silent.
-All right, I’ll take the train but I don’t promise you anything either. I’ve made my mind-she said after the engine driver announced the final call.
-Good-bye then-the American managed to say.
-Not now silly, when we’re out of Spain.
She took his hand and got on the train. They looked at the white hills one last time as they left what they knew.
-They DO look like white elephants-the man admitted.
-I told you…
GRECIA ALBORNOZ
-She said again “I am fine. I am really fine”.
ReplyDeleteThe silent dominated the place. Nobody interrupted. Just the sounds of the river fill up the environment.
Suddenly, she looked directly at his eyes trying to find the man who once she loved. The silence broke with her words.
-“It is time to take the most important decision of my life and I will do it”. “I will have the baby”. He/she will represent my beginning” As of today you controlled my life. From now on I will lead it”.
-I believe that our lives have to take separated ways as well as these railroad tracks, which one goes next to the other one but they never join." She said.
-I must continue. My life should flow as that river (pointing out the Ebro River). It never retains the things if not that leaves them to go.
-Everything what I take to myself goes in this baggage, representing my past and my future. But it is everything what I have and from this I will be born to a new life". She breathed deeply.
The man did not say anything. No words crossed the air. The rain started to flow from his eyes while the train was arriving to the station.
She stood up in silent. She took her suitcases and walked along the lounge without looking back and everything was disappearing behind her.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete- "While you looked for the bags, I saw you and I saw the person who I want to spend my life and in that moment I decided that I really want to do it, of course if you will love me as you love me before..." she said. She closed her eyes and took the American's hands and said "right now I am sure that I really want to do it". After that she let go his hand of and looked at the people around.
ReplyDelete- "I want to do everything that you need and want, if my happiness depends of that really an awfully simple operation as you told me before, I will do it" she said.
- Well you will see that everything will be fine" he said.
- “But... you really love me? She asked.
- " Yes, but you have to finish your beer because the train is coming" he said, he took the girl's right hand and kisses it and said "we will be fine"