They give these as a gift to someone else, like the unborn child in this story. The couple is conflicted whether to have or not to have the baby. Jig saying "you wouldn't have" to her American boyfriend is her way of telling him that she is sure he has not seen a baby and wanted to have one of your own. (Hemingway, 1927, para. 5) The "hills" are symbolic of the way woman's stomach looks while she is pregnant.
Here the scenery could be seen as Jig’s creative and intelligent way of trying to overcome the communication difficulties faced by the couple towards the inevitable conversation of the abortion, because it represents a choice more than what they are actually seeing. Jig and the American start off in the first paragraph on the side of the railroad station where the land is barren and there is no sign of life. This symbolizes the way the American feels about the pregnancy, because he does not want to settle down and live a lifeless life when the baby is born. He feels as though they will be happy again when the operation takes place, as the pregnancy is ruining their relationship and any chance of them being able to live a careless life again. On the other side of the tracks the narrator describes the land to be full of lush, green vegetation with a river flowing through it.
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).
Raising a child alone isn't as taboo as it was back then. But, she could choose for herself whether she wanted to have an abortion, or if she decided to keep the baby she would have many resources available to her. But this isn’t the case in this story. The American's shows a lack of concern for what she wants. I also get the impression that Jig is insecure about her relationship because she asks, “And if I do it you’ll be happy and
The American is talking about abortion and he is trying to convince Jig that an abortion is perfectly natural, however Jig feels unsure about getting an abortion. The couple has a difficult time communicating about this subject and as tension levels grow, Jig says that she feels fine and that everything is fine, leaving the reader to believe that she is going to go through with the operation. The story is told from a moral perspective, which can be seen from the way the landscape is worked into the dialogue and the narration. The language used at the beginning of the story is simple and straightforward, telling the reader that the place is the Valley of Ebro in Spain, and at a train station. The impression presented is that the characters are at a train station in the middle of a dry barren place, under the sun, with no shade or trees, which gives the reader the idea of the lack of life.
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 feminist perspective shows that the male has the power in making the decision, even though it is not his body. This is how the woman shows her love to the male and the fact that she is dedicated to him. “Well,” the man said, “if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to.
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).
This main topic can be seen from the title Hills Like White Elephants, where hills refer to the shape of the belly of a pregnant woman, and white elephant is the fetus they are going to get rid of. The story begins at the train station in a bar where they have a conversation about the shape of the hills. The story happens in Spain, and we see the characters are going to take an express train that comes from Barcelona and goes to Madrid, but we don’t know exactly where they are or the time era, in which it takes place, we don’t know if they really take the train. The train symbolizes change, movement but in was they are scared of it as movement is not always forward but it can also be backwards in this case in their relationship. It is the “train of life” (David Gagne, 2001).
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.
This couple is at a critical point in their lives when they must decide whether or not to have an abortion. Certain themes arise from this story such as choices and consequences, doubt and ambiguity, and how men and women relate. The couple is unmarried and the girl has become pregnant, but the man wants her to have an abortion. The man is really selfish he is didn’t want to responsible to take care the baby and become family. Writer also uses many examples of symbolism in “Hills Like White Elephants”, including descriptions of the surrounding scenery, the hills themselves, and the station where the action takes place.