In the short story "Hills Like White Elephants", Ernest Hemingway uses a plethora of symbols to convey the idea that a young girl named Jig is a typical woman dealing with a woman's choice. Although the word abortion is never used in the story, the reader is lead to that conclusion through the use of symbolism. The story begins with Jig and her American boyfriend waiting for a train in the valley of Ebro, a symbolic use of the word "Embryo". In addition, the valley of Ebro has a river running through it. This river represents life.
In the beginning of the story Hemingway describes the scenery. “The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.” (Booth & J. Mays, 2010). The line of hills is symbolic because it is said to represent a pregnant woman’s belly. The country setting was brown and dry, meaning it was dead, not alive like her fetus would be if she were to go through with the procedure.
Hemingway’s use of symbolism in the dialogue and setting helps reveal the difficult matter through suggestion without the actual term abortion being mentioned. For instance, the term white elephant is used as a metaphor to represent the unborn baby and describe the adjustment on their lives a baby would bring. The girl looked at the mountains and states, “They look like white elephants” (Hemingway 97). The man disagrees with her statement and tension builds. The girl retracts her statement, and states, of course, the mountains do not really look like white elephants only "their skin through the trees” (Hemingway 98).
The story opens with the American man and Jig sitting at a table outside of a train station in Spain. There are only two tracks, both heading off in different directions, so they can either continue traveling or turn around and go back home. Right away, Hemingway is using the train station as a symbol of being at a crossroad in life. The two tracks relate to Jig’s decision to either have an abortion, or keep the baby. The station gives us a sense of transition.
Hemingway uses some key elements to develop the theme of the story. The theme is about how Jig sees the possibility of keeping her unborn child and having a happy life, while the American man fails to see the possibilities and works to persuade her to go through the abortion. The author never names the topic of their discussion but as their dialogue progresses; it becomes obvious that Jig is pregnant. Of the many symbols from the story, some of the main ones are the hills, white elephants, and the railroad station. As the story continues to develop the scenery around them plays another role of symbolism.
It is the “train of life” (David Gagne, 2001). Another thing we must take into account is the fact that the train is stopping only for a short time and Jog has not made up her mind about the decision to abort. The longer time period she waits has risks on her life, the abortion is not legal and in the time era it had to be done before it was noticeable. The conversation they have will deduce the kind of relationship they have. The language is very simple as it is expressing feelings about the unwanted pregnancy and love.
The symbolism of the hills represents the belly of a pregnant woman. The silence of this symbolism gives the readers clues to let them know that the couple is talking about an abortion. The silence of “Hills Like White Elephants” never tells the reader what the couple is actually discussing or talking about. The phrase “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It’s not really an operation at all” (Hemingway, 2011, p. 445) is a clue that allows the reader to figure out the couple is talking about an abortion.
The girl in the short story is undeniably nervous about having an abortion. The man in the story is trying to be persuasive but is growing impatient. He keeps telling her that “it isn’t a big deal and he knows people who have had it done and they are fine” (Clugston, 2010). Tone is very important in “Hills Like White Elephants.” The point of view in literature is how the story is told. Point of view is told in different ways to increase or decrease the dramatic effect (Clugston, 2010).
Mary Smith Ms. Johnson English 1302 2 October 2011 “Hills Like White Elephants” While reading “Hills Like White Elephants” by Earnest Hemingway, it becomes evident that the overall subject or theme of this story is abortion. Throughout the context of the story, one could assume that the symbol in the story would be the “white elephants”. The meaning of the word “white” in this story represents the purity of life, while the word “elephant” represents the object or objects that nobody wants to talk about (i.e. the elephant in the room). By the end of the story it becomes clear that one character has succumbed to the pressure of another character to have an abortion.
He doesn't care about her, despite the fact that he says: 'well, I care about you.' (Hemingway 2). He doesn’t even listen to her. She speaks to him, and he says some unrelated things back. We can assume that he always talks about drinking because he wants to get her drunk so she will accept the abortion.