Hills like white elephants

Earnest Hemingway

The text under analysis is “Hills Like White Elephants” – a short story belonging to the pen of Ernest Hemingway, an American writer who won the Pulitzer Prize (1953) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (1954) for his novel The Old Man and the Sea. Among his other famous works are: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon, The Green Hills of Africa, For Whom the Bell Tolls and the famous short story collection In Our Time. Hemingway’s style has made him a very prominent figure in American literature, and still continues to influence many readers and writers today. His style of writing is characterized by the principle of the iceberg, there is always hidden meaning behind his messages. Hemingway claimed that by omitting superfluous matter, writing becomes more interesting. When writing his short stories, he retained this minimalistic style, focusing on surface elements without explicitly discussing the underlying themes.

Ernest Hemingway’s ability to depict deep worries, serious challenges, and strongly negative occurrences with the ease, simplicity, and even certain positivity is truly amazing. “Hills Like White Elephants” is a great example of hidden symbolism which reveals much more between the lines of the text than actually through words of the story. The author manages to give the reader a good understanding without referring directly to the problem.

“Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story that takes place at a train station in Spain with a man and a woman discussing an operation. Most of the story is simply dialogue between the two characters, the American and Jig. This couple is at a critical point in their lives when they must decide whether or not to have an abortion. The most obvious theme recognized early in this short story is that of choices and consequences.

SETTING From the first paragraph the setting immediately introduces the tense atmosphere that will surround the rest of the story. The story takes place in Spain in the late 1920’s. The setting is described as follows: “The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. […] The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went to Madrid.”This descriptions gives readers the feeling of helplessness and tension.

Hemingway sets “Hills Like White Elephants” at the railroad station to highlight the fact that the relationship between the American man and the girl is at a crossroads. Situated in the middle of a desolate valley, the station isn’t a final destination but merely a stopping point between Barcelona and Madrid. The main characters must decide where to go and, in this case, whether to go with each other and continue their relationship. The author also contrasts two landscapes, one side of the station there is dry and barren “The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.”, while the other side there is vegetation and fields of grain“Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees.” The contrast between the white hills and barren valley possibly highlights the opposition between life and death, fertility and sterility, and mirrors the choice the girl faces between having the baby or having the abortion.

The speakers are identified as “the American” and “the girl” (who is only twice called “Jig”), the definite articles here carry a presupposition of the previous knowledge about the characters although the reader can work it out only by reading on. By this device the author sets up the world of the story with its implications of the past right from the start (priority implication).

The repetition of the word combination “a fine time” in the dialog is very significant. “I was being amused. I was having a fine time.”, “Well, let's try and have a fine time.”This shows that they don’t know what happiness really is, the happiness that they know is not real.

A white elephant symbolizes something no one wants—in this story, the girl’s unborn child. The girl’s comment in the beginning of the story that the surrounding hills “look like white elephants” initially seems to be a casual, offhand remark, but it actually serves as a transition for her and the American to discuss their baby and the possibility of having an abortion. The girl later retracts this comment with the observation that the hills don’t really look like white elephants, a subtle hint that perhaps she wants to keep the baby after all—a hint the American misses. In fact, she even says that the hills only seemed to look like white elephants at first glance, and that they’re actually quite lovely.

Hemingway’s feat in this story is to accomplish full, fleshed-out characterizations of the couple and a clear and complete exposition of their dilemma using almost nothing but dialogue. This dialogue even omits the main causes of disagreement: the words “abortion” and “baby.” The man keeps repeating the word combination “simple operation”which is a euphemism for “abortion”.

The American apparently wants this abortion because he wants to keep his current lifestyle. The bags with all the hotel labels on them are symbolic of his cheerful spirit. If the woman goes ahead with the pregnancy, he would have to settle down and raise a family, which would mean forgoing his youthful desires of seeing the world. Hemingway portrays the American knowledgeable, worldly, and always in control of himself and the situation at hand. He initially avoids discussion of their problems, but when pressured, he tackles them head on by oversimplifying the operation and relentlessly pushing her to have it. Thinking himself to be the more reasonable of the two, he patronizes the girl and fails to provide the sympathy and understanding she needs during the crisis. The man tries to be optimistic and talks about feelings, but the girl denies everything he says.

Compared to the American, the girl is less assertive and persuasive. Throughout the story, the girl appears helpless, confused, and indecisive. She changes her mind about the attractiveness of the surrounding hills and seems uncertain about whether she wants to have the operation. In fact, the girl can’t even order drinks from the bartender on her own without having to rely on the man’s ability to speak Spanish. Ironically, the girl seems to understand that her relationship with the American has effectively ended. She knows that even if she has the operation, their relationship won’t return to how it used to be. In many ways, the girl’s realization of this fact gives her power over the American, who never really understands why they still can’t have “the whole world” like they once did.

Both the American man and the girl drink alcohol throughout their conversation to avoid each other and the problems with their relationship. They start drinking large beers the moment they arrive at the station as if hoping to fill their free time with anything but discussion. Then, as soon as they begin talking about the hills that look like white elephants, the girl asks to order more drinks to put off the inevitable conversation about the baby. Although they drink primarily to avoid thinking about the pregnancy, readers sense that deeper problems exist in their relationship, of which the baby is merely one. In fact, the girl herself implies this when she remarks that she and the American man never do anything together except try new drinks, as if constantly looking for new ways to avoid each other. By the end of their conversation, both drink alone—the girl at the table and the man at the bar—suggesting that the two will end their relationship and go their separate ways.

The CLIMAX occurs when Jig ends the conversation, saying, "Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” It’s an intense moment, the girl is irritated and annoyed with the man, she feels uncertainty, fear and despair and doesn’t want to continue the conversation. We suspect she means it, too, and we wonder if things might have escalated further if the woman serving their drinks hadn’t intervened with an update on the train’s arrival.

The story ends with the couple expecting their train’s arrival in five minutes. There is no RESOLUTION and there is no decision stated regarding the abortion. Hemingway intentionally left the readers to conclude for themselves what will happen next.