Staking Every Thing on It: A Stylistic Analysis of Linguistic Patterns in "Hills Like White Elephants"

The essay performs a statistical analysis of the grammatical patterns in "Hills Like White Elephants" as a means of opening new avenues for its interpretation. The story's careful deployment of pronouns and use of repetition bridge its disparate themes. In addition, the ambiguous, repetitious language deepens the significance and raises the stakes of the couple's argument. These linguistic patterns underscore the emotional violence, broaden the significance, and complicate the closure of that argument.