Cultural Knowledge Entry "Hills like White Elephants"

1.   "You want them with water?" asked the woman.
     "Yes, with water."
     "It tastes like licorice," the girl said and put the glass down.
     "That's the way with everything."
     "Yes," said the girl. "Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you've waited so long for, like absinthe."
     "Oh, cut it out." (Pg. 106)

2. This exchange was mysterious to me. I know that absinthe must be an alcoholic beverage, but I don’t know why the woman says that everything tastes like it or why the comment makes the man angry.

3. Absinthe is a highly addictive alcoholic drug that was very controversial when Hemingway wrote the story. It was banned in multiple European countries in the 1920s and later in the United States. At first, absinthe use creates an opiate like effect in its users and produces feelings of happiness and a sense of greater awareness.  In chronic users though, it causes nervous system damage and serious mental problems.The drink’s taste is usually described as “bittersweet.”  (Lanier, Doris. "The Bittersweet Taste Of Absinthe In Hemingway's 'Hills Like White Elephants'." Studies In Short Fiction 26.3 (1989): 279. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 2 Feb. 2013.)

 4. I see now that the bitter taste of absinthe is what the woman is referring to. The woman sees the relationship as “bittersweet” like the taste of absinthe. The mention of absinthe is also a metaphor for the nature of the relationship. At first the couple’s relationship was happy and fruitful but it later developed complications, particularly the man’s desire for the girl to have an operation (abortion). The relationship mirrors the effects of absinthe in the body, which initially produces good feelings in the user but cause complications to develop later.