Symbolism In Hills Like White Elephants

In Hills Like White Elephants, the story opens up with a description of the scenery. There is a couple that is at a train station at a bar going somewhere far. Throughout the story, the couple is having a conversation about something that is never mentioned. However, by paying attention to the characters, the language, and the symbolism, one can see that the conversation is about an abortion and that the couple’s relationship is falling apart. Ernest Hemingway uses characters, sexism, and the setting and symbolism to give the readers a chance to know couple and see their broken relationship.

The narrator is very brief. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, a man and young girl are traveling together in Madrid, Spain. I can infer from their conversation through their words and through the embedded vocabulary that they are probably headed to an abortion center. The reason I think this is because they spend the entire short story contemplating the idea of an abortion. The decision they are making seems urgent and rushed. The girl looks out the window at the “hills like white elephants” as the man continues to be persistent, as if wanting an answer as soon as possible. This urgency allows me to infer that the only reason why the decision is so urgent is because they are actively heading to an abortion center in that moment.

Every time the man or the woman try to change the subject and avoid talking about the abortion, they end up saying something that refers to or alludes to the baby or the abortion. The woman suggests that the hills look like white elephants (324), which the man fails to acknowledge. The lack of clear communication between the two causes tension and arguments at every turn. When the woman agrees sarcastically that the man has never seen white elephants, he says, "Just because you say I wouldn't have doesn't prove anything" (324). The woman is clearly annoyed at the insensitivity of the man's negative feelings toward her pregnancy. For her, the baby is a priceless treasure, but for him it is a worthless fetus.

Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants", is a story about a doomed relationship. Hemingway uses symbolism, dialogue, and also setting to tell this story. Behind the words said by the characters, and sights explained to the readers, are hidden meanings that when analyzed, bring the story to another level.

The hidden meaning and context behind the white elephant symbol increases as the conflict and discussion over the pregnancy develops, and, historically, the gift of white elephants are rare, sacred, and pure, just like pregnancy and children. It is also a very prominent and abrasive story for modern day society. We are at a time in history where immoral sexual behavior and the regularness of abortion have become a normal day to day occurrence; which are all perfectly wrapped up and described in this

White elephants can possess numerous meanings symbolically. One meaning that stands out the most in literature is purity and fertility, another that is slightly less common meaning is something that no one wants. The latter meaning is what this story deals with. The unborn baby poses as somewhat of a threat to the man or so it is perceived when he says, “We could have everything and everyday we make it more impossible.” By saying this he means that everyday that the girl delays the abortion she becomes less and less each day only his. Although he was determined to have her all to himself. Just as Hades persisted after the Goddess Persephone.

The symbolism of a white elephant is widely known as something very large or apparent that no one wishes to acknowledge or speak of in American society. It is an interesting opening to a very strained conversation concerning an apparent pregnancy, and the man 's wish to terminate it. The couple 's careful avoidance of actually naming the problem, or the proposed solution, suggests the situation in which a

Ernest Hemingway penned a short story titled, “Hills Like White Elephants.” The story takes place at a train station in Spain and depicts a troublesome dilemma for the two main characters. The story begins with the characters casually discussing what kind of beer to partake in; the tone quickly shifts when the man mentions a surgery to his female friend, Jig. The reader is left to infer that the two characters are discussing an abortion. Ernest Hemingway uses symbolism throughout the story so the reader can delve into a deeper meaning without the ensnarement of excessive emotion. Throughout the story, Hemingway uses several examples of symbolism to depict Jig’s inner struggle with the decision she is faced to make.

The main symbol in this story is not hard to find, it is right in the title. All throughout the story we can see these so called “white elephants” being referenced. Although the reference to white elephants may seem like just a thought coming from Jig, it really symbolizes something big in the story. In some cultures, people view white elephants as an unwanted thing, or an uncomfortable subject. Hemingway relates these white elephants to the uncomfortable conversation about Jig’s abortion. At first glance, readers may not know what these two characters are talking about, but later in the story we can see that the baby is known as the elephant on the table.

White elephants in the story symbolises something that no one wants. The woman comments that the surrounding hills ‘look like white elephants’ (Hemingway 219) to serve as a transition for the couple to discuss their baby. Comparing the hills and metaphorically the baby to elephants is a ‘figure of speech, that suggests some common quality shared by the two’ (Baldick “Metaphor”). The use of this metaphor exploits how the pair has contrasting opinions about the pregnancy, as she is deeply disappointed that he wants her to have an abortion but doesn’t want to marry her, since she knows that having the operation will destroy her. The spatial and physical setting with repeated threshold images marks central conflict about which path to take, as the white hills and barren valley builds climax between life and death or fertility and sterility. The woman is clearly torn between the different landscapes that coincides with her abortion decision; in which the conversation escalates to have Jig say to the American man to ‘please please please please please please please stop talking‘ (222). This embarks that she needs be alone with her thoughts, as her overlook on life will have to change. Underneath this dispute lies a major complication of how a relationship can compose demands on personal freedom, as both characters struggle with the reality of a shared relationship, that can refer back to commitment and how poorly they communicate with each

Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Hills like White Elephants” is a short story about a girl, Jig, and her American companion that must make a dreadful decision that could potentially affect both of their lives. In this short story, conflict is created as the couple faces what seems to be the obstacle of an unexpected pregnancy. The girl contemplates the idea of keeping the baby but the man reminds her that it is not what he wants in life and how happy they have been without the challenging decision of abortion. The reader understands that there is an unexpected pregnancy due the main emphasis of symbolism throughout the story. Ernest Hemingway’s use of symbolism portrays the unstable relationship between the girl, Jig, and the American man with their disagreement concerning their lifestyle

The short story hills like white elephants, written by “Ernest Hemingway,” is about an American man and his girlfriend Jig. The two sat at an outdoor cafe located near a train station in spain, contemplating what they were going to do about Jig’s pregnancy. Hemingway used several different symbols such as; bamboo, curtains, hills, and white elephants throughout the story to represent the shaky relationship between the American and Jig. The symbols used throughout the story played a crucial role in the significance of the story’s message/theme. To start the story, the reader was thrown into the conflict regarding the American and Jig.

Concrete objects such as hills and trains along with metaphors like the white elephant show the decision the couple has to make about their future. One of the main symbols in the story is the hills that Jig is looking at through the window which represent her pregnant belly. Additionally, Jig describes the hills as “white elephants” (364), a saying for something that is unwanted. Consequently, the hills and white elephant represent both the views of the American and Jig on the pregnancy and abortion. Jig believes the pregnancy will turn a page in the couple’s lives just as they would be walking over a hill to a new environment. Whereas the American believes that the hill, the child, is an obstacle in the couple’s journey and it should be aborted. The American’s views are illustrated when he tries to convince Jig of having the abortion by saying it’s an “awfully simple operation” (366). In addition, the American believes the unborn child to be like a white elephant, or a nuisance which would hinder the couple’s relationship. In contrast, when Jig says the hills look like white elephants she could be describing the beauty of a white elephant and not thinking about it as some unwanted object. As mentioned in the

Symbolically, “Hills like White Elephants” represents a choice. It is a life choice that can’t be undone once it is made. This choice is about whether or not Jig, the female character of the story, should get an abortion. It supports the theme because if Jig chooses to keep the baby she is defying the wishes of her male partner, who is simply referred to as “the man,” and taking a stand for women by doing so. However it is not entirely clear what choice she makes at the end of the story. Her only words being, “I feel fine…There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine” (216). The interpretation some people take for this is that she decided to keep the baby and chose to defy male domination.

Relationships can be difficult, but a lot of couples work through the difficultly by supporting and helping each other. In the short story “Hills like White Elephants”, written by Ernest Hemingway, an unnamed American and a young woman, named Jig, are waiting for a train to arrive. Set in the mid-1920s, the couple are sitting at a bar drinking beers, and awaiting to travel to their next destination. Talking vaguely with each other, Jig describes the hills as “white elephants”, meaning an unwanted gift. During the story, the couple discuss an ‘operation’ that the man wants the girl to have, but she doesn’t to want to, symbolizing wanting to keep their unborn child. In this story, “Hills like White Elephant”, the theme is the ending of a relationship, by the of lack of communication, selfishness and choices.