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The Mailer Review/Volume 5, 2011/The Conception of Irreversibility: Hannah Arendt and Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”: Difference between revisions

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{{Byline|last=Yirinec|first=Jennifer|url=...|abstract=An analysis of Hannah Arendt's concept of irreversibility in Hemingway’s powerful short story.{{efn|Hannah Arendt, in ''The Human Condition'', distinguishes action from performative activity based upon the ability of action, in contradistinction to performative activity, “to set something into motion,” to begin something anew.{{sfn|Arendt|1958|p=177}} Action, in the Arendtian sense of the word, is intrinsically tied to speech, for it is “[i]n acting and speaking [that] men show who they are, reveal actively their unique personal identities and thus make their appearance in the human world.”{{sfn|Arendt|1958|p=179}} As illustrated by the previous quote, action necessitates plurality, for the “revelatory quality of speech and action comes to the fore where people are with others and neither for nor against them—that is, in sheer human togetherness.”{{sfn|Arendt|1958|p=180}} According to Arendt, man’s ability to act—to set things into motion—can have severe consequences if actions are left unchecked.}}}}
{{Byline|last=Yirinec |first=Jennifer |url=http://prmlr.us/mr05yir |abstract=An analysis of Hannah Arendt's concept of irreversibility in Hemingway’s powerful short story.}}
{{dc|dc=T|here has been a plethora of criticism}} examining one of Ernest Hemingway’s most powerful short stories, “Hills Like White Elephants.” However, one approach that may merit more attention is an exploration of Hemingway's notions of “action” and of the irreversibility of action within the text. Hannah Arendt, an intellectual whose germinal work has transcended more than one discipline, may be useful in providing some measure of insight into Hemingway’s problematic narrative.
{{dc|dc=T|here has been a plethora of criticism}} examining one of Ernest Hemingway’s most powerful short stories, “Hills Like White Elephants.” However, one approach that may merit more attention is an exploration of Hemingway's notions of “action” and of the irreversibility of action within the text. Hannah Arendt, an intellectual whose germinal work has transcended more than one discipline, may be useful in providing some measure of insight into Hemingway’s problematic narrative.{{efn|Hannah Arendt, in ''The Human Condition'', distinguishes action from performative activity based upon the ability of action, in contradistinction to performative activity, “to set something into motion,” to begin something anew.{{sfn|Arendt|1958|p=177}} Action, in the Arendtian sense of the word, is intrinsically tied to speech, for it is “[i]n acting and speaking [that] men show who they are, reveal actively their unique personal identities and thus make their appearance in the human world.”{{sfn|Arendt|1958|p=179}} As illustrated by the previous quote, action necessitates plurality, for the “revelatory quality of speech and action comes to the fore where people are with others and neither for nor against them—that is, in sheer human togetherness.”{{sfn|Arendt|1958|p=180}} According to Arendt, man’s ability to act—to set things into motion—can have severe consequences if actions are left unchecked.}}


I would like to begin by examining certain rhetorical elements of “Hills,” which suggest traces of Arendt’s perspectives on the “nature of action.” More specifically, Arendt’s influential study, ''The Human Condition'', suggests that the dissonance found in the relationship between Jig and the American primarily arises from their differing viewpoints regarding the Arendtian notion of irreversibility.{{efn|In order to combat irreversibility, according to Arendt, man must either make promises or bestow forgiveness on others, two actions that, by their nature, also require plurality, “for no one can forgive himself and no one can feel bound by a promise made only to himself.”{{sfn|Arendt|1958|p=237}}}} That is to say, the issue is far more important than considerations of the potential abortion, which is the explicit topic of their combative dialogue, as critics have noted.{{sfn|Gillette|2007|pp=50-69}}{{sfn|O’Brien|1992|pp=19-25}}{{sfn|Rankin|2005|p=234}}{{sfn|Urgo|1988|p=35}} We might consider that Jig, in her overtly rhetorical exchanges with the American, illustrates (and promotes) the concept of irreversibility, as she suggests that the conception of life (an action, in essence, as it is a beginning) within her cannot be undone, while the American argues {{pg|407|408}} against irreversibility, as he believes that the conception can be “undone” by the act of abortion. As Stanley Renner proffers in his “Moving to the Girl's Side of ‘Hills Like White Elephants,’” “[I]n choosing whether to abort or to have the child, the couple are [sic] choosing between two ways of life.”{{sfn|Renner|1995|p=28}} This forty-minute exchange determining the end decision—abortion or life—reveals that the couple is also choosing between two ways of ''living''—either living in such a way so that actions can be “undone,” so to say, or living in such a way where actions bring consequences that are absolute.
I would like to begin by examining certain rhetorical elements of “Hills,” which suggest traces of Arendt’s perspectives on the “nature of action.” More specifically, Arendt’s influential study, ''The Human Condition'', suggests that the dissonance found in the relationship between Jig and the American primarily arises from their differing viewpoints regarding the Arendtian notion of irreversibility.{{efn|In order to combat irreversibility, according to Arendt, man must either make promises or bestow forgiveness on others, two actions that, by their nature, also require plurality, “for no one can forgive himself and no one can feel bound by a promise made only to himself.”{{sfn|Arendt|1958|p=237}}}} That is to say, the issue is far more important than considerations of the potential abortion, which is the explicit topic of their combative dialogue, as critics have noted.{{sfn|Gillette|2007|pp=50-69}}{{sfn|O’Brien|1992|pp=19-25}}{{sfn|Rankin|2005|p=234}}{{sfn|Urgo|1988|p=35}} We might consider that Jig, in her overtly rhetorical exchanges with the American, illustrates (and promotes) the concept of irreversibility, as she suggests that the conception of life (an action, in essence, as it is a beginning) within her cannot be undone, while the American argues {{pg|407|408}} against irreversibility, as he believes that the conception can be “undone” by the act of abortion. As Stanley Renner proffers in his “Moving to the Girl's Side of ‘Hills Like White Elephants,’” “[I]n choosing whether to abort or to have the child, the couple are [sic] choosing between two ways of life.”{{sfn|Renner|1995|p=28}} This forty-minute exchange determining the end decision—abortion or life—reveals that the couple is also choosing between two ways of ''living''—either living in such a way so that actions can be “undone,” so to say, or living in such a way where actions bring consequences that are absolute.
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===Citations===
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|15em}}


===Works Cited===
===Works Cited===
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{{Refbegin|indent=yes|20em}}
* {{cite book |last=Arendt |first=Hannah |date=1958 |title=The Human Condition|edition=2nd |location=Chicago |publisher=U of Chicago P |pages= |ref=harv }}
* {{cite book |last=Arendt |first=Hannah |date=1958 |title=The Human Condition|edition=2nd |location=Chicago |publisher=U of Chicago P |pages= |ref=harv }}
* {{cite journal |last=Elliott |first=Gary |title=Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ |journal=Explicator |volume=35 |date=1977 |pages=22-23 |ref=harv }}
* {{cite journal |last=Elliott |first=Gary |title=Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ |journal=Explicator |volume=35 |date=1977 |pages=22-23 |ref=harv }}
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