White Elephants Symbolism

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.

Women and men have rarely ever been able to wholeheartedly agree upon something, especially something as significant as an unwanted pregnancy. “Hills Like White Elephants” centers around an unwanted pregnancy and how a young couple is talking about it and handing it. While the mention of pregnancy or abortion is never actually said, it can be inferred through their conversations and simple clues Hemingway includes such as, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig” (Hemingway) (Link). The man in this relationship, the American, continues to reassure the woman, Jig, that the “operation” is simple and tons of people have it done. He also continues to repeat “how simple” it is. Jig

“Hills Like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemingway, is a short story published in 1927 that takes place in 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. Certain themes arise from this story such as choices and consequences, doubt and ambiguity, and how men and women relate. Hemingway 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.

Traditionally, a white elephant is a useless possession that is more times than not, unwanted. In today's world we see white elephant gift exchanges where people will exchange unwanted gifts to one another, usually popular among work colleagues or family gatherings. In “Hills like White Elephants” the white elephant is the baby that Jig is unexpectedly carrying. Even though the couple is in love neither the man nor the girl can decide what to do with the child the are expecting. The baby would indeed be a gift, but it would also be a burden, this can be discovered when the man states that “We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before” (Hemingway 476). The man obviously believes that if they decide to keep the baby then it will prevent them from doing things they want to continue doing, and that is clear because he continues to badger Jig about the situation they are in that it made Jig beg the man to stop, she pleads, “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” (478). By this it is clear that Jig is truly concerned about the situation that affects her life and just wants to stop talking about everything. It is clear that the american man does not want to have the baby, “the man has therefore treated Jig’s pregnancy like a burden or an illness” (Rankin 236). Throughout the short story the man has obviously been for the abortion and does not

The negative connotation of a white elephant is expressed in this explanation. It is this negative meaning that is describing the hills, or her pregnant stomach and the unborn child. Further on in their conversation regarding the decision to be made, Jig says to the man, “I know. But if I do it then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants and you’ll like it?” (Hemingway). The girl deliberately asks the man whether the decision of aborting the child will better their lives, or continue moving them down the path of unhappiness. The decision that Jig is faced with ties back to the main theme that Hemingway portrays throughout the short story, decision and indecision. The constant uncertainty that is revealed through the girl’s character is seen in other instances as well.

“Hills Like White Elephants” written by Ernest Hemingway and “The Unwanted Child” by Mary Clearman Blew both carry a theme of male dominance. The girl’s role is diminished due to the actions of both genders. Within both “Hills Like White White Elephants” and “The Unwanted Child” the male takes on the dominant role when the women choose to be independent or remain inferior. “Hills Like White Elephants” tells a tale of a young girl who travels with an American, who impregnates her. Throughout the story, they continue to bicker back and forth about whether or not keeping the baby is the better option.

My first reading of Hemmingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” left me a little confused because of the fragmented way in which it is written. After I reread it I had a better understanding of the message Hemmingway was trying to leave readers with. The issue that is being addressed in this narrative is the topic of abortion. This is never directly stated in the narrative but the reader can infer that is the operation the characters are talking about. In addition to that I also noticed that the characters are just talking to each other rather than communicating.

In the story “Hills Like White Elephants” Ernest Hemmingway is symbolizing the white elephants as something no one wants to talk about. It is like the saying “the elephant in the room,” which is a euphemism for something terribly obvious that no one wants to discuss. The couple in the story are faced with a difficult situation, an unplanned pregnancy. To complicate the issue more, it is clear that one partner wants to have the baby, while the other does not. When the story begins she makes a comment that the surrounding hills looked like white elephants, for the reader it seems like a legit statement, but for her it was an insinuation that she and the man needed to discuss the pregnancy and whether or not she should have the procedure.

“Hills like White Elephants” focuses mainly on setting and symbolism. The setting in the story is used to describe the mood of the story. The relationship between the American man and the girl is at a crossroads. While they are in the bar they point out that there were two different sides to the valley. One side being bright and full of light and the other being shade less, dark, and dull. This symbolizes the woman’s pregnancy with is what they are debating about. Also, the 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, off hand remark, but it actually serves as a piece

In “Hills Like White Elephants”, symbolism is extremely essential to the theme and impact the story has. Symbolism in literature is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities. This story in particular drips with rich symbols that relate fully to the many problems this issue the American man and his girlfriend are discussing. Using context clues, one can infer that topic the couple are discussing in the hot, Spanish train junction is abortion, as the man states, “‘It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig’” (192). This couple has been leading a reckless and adventurous life, traveling across Europe together without a care in the world and certainly not taking caution in anything they do. That’s why they are facing this issue. At the beginning of the story, when they first sit down in the cafe at the train junction, the man orders beer

“Hills like White Elephants” is a story about a couple who is going to undergo an abortion together (which relates to the theme of death). While abortion is not said at first- the reader can tell it is being proclaimed. The story is filled with tension but the reader can tell that this couple loves each other. The tone of this story is hard to identify at first but it can defined as skeptical or confused. Due to the fact that these two young people are unsure about what they

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.

A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession, but also it means a rare and sacred creature. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway uses an unborn child as a white elephant. This short story depicts a couple of an American man and young women at a train station somewhere in Spain. Hemingway tells the story from watching the couple from across the bar and listening to their troublesome conversation. Through overhearing the couple’s conversation Hemingway uses dialogue to explain the couple’s decision of an abortion operation. Hills Like White Elephants is a great example of Hemingway’s rare use of dialogue. Hemingway compresses

My general reaction this story I think it was over the place. The couple has so many complications was kind hard to understand where it was all coming from. The writer gave us a primarily interpretive story because the writer had given us a hidden message to the readers, the message wasn’t really clear to us until we had to think and discuss it. The title has a double meaning; the girl she told the American that white elephants are rare, and since their consists of them discussing a baby; it’s hard for them to do so in this time period, so they need to grasp the chance and go for it. Now a white elephant in our time could mean a gag gift or gift anyone would want. Since the girl so indecisive the American is lost on what to do; so he’s all