Hills, elephants, and Owen Wilson

Whenever I think about Ernest Hemingway, I can only ever think about that one scene from the movie Midnight in Paris. If you haven’t seen it, it is about this guy named Gil (played by the one and only Owen Wilson) who is in France. At midnight, he is transported back in time to the 1920s, and he meets all the famous writers, poets, and artists who were actually in France at the time—including Ernest Hemingway. This movie is very good, and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. It has Owen Wilson in it! You literally can’t go wrong. 

Here is the scene where Gil meets Hemingway: https://youtu.be/3wM06z5lA74

From everything I know about how Hemingway was in real life and what his writing style is, I think this is a pretty accurate depiction of him. 

Anyway, that was in the back of my mind as I read his story “Hills Like White Elephants.” I have read the story before in high school, but I think I could appreciate it more the second time reading it. It’s useful to know beforehand how Hemingway writes his stories with these short and loaded lines of dialogue. It’s honestly impressive that he can convey the deep emotions of his characters with so little words. I find myself interested in what is going on, even though I don’t like the male character and there isn’t a whole lot of exciting plot. I think it is because I have to work at understanding the meaning and tone behind the conversation. 

I also like the mundane setting of the train station. It indicates a sort of transition—a liminal, in-between, temporary space that the characters are literally and figuratively in. The conversation they have could realistically be overheard in a public space like the train station. This believability adds to the intrigue of the story. It happens in real life. 



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