Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis

Ernest Hemingway “Hills Like White Elephants” is a short dialogue story about a couple’s unavoidable shift in their relationship and the dilemma that they have no choice but to face. The story takes place at a train station in Spain, where the two main characters the American and Jig are sitting outside the station’s bar having drinks before their train arrives to take them to Madrid. While waiting for their train the couple tiptoe around the difficult situation they need to face about what to do about the unexpected pregnancy and remark about whether or not they should keep the baby or have an abortion. Throughout the story, Hemingway’s use of the elephant, white elephant, and bamboo bead curtain symbols enhance the importance of how vital communication is in decision making.
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The curtain is a permeable doorway between the bar in the station that holds normal society and the outside of the station where the couple are sitting in the shade that represents them being outside of normal society. While the bamboo bead curtain is a permeable doorway it also represents the barrier in their relationship. This is shown through the American’s and Jig’s back and forth decision making on whether or not to get an abortion, but could also represent the American’s inability to pass through the bamboo bead curtain between himself and Jig without having the crucial conversation on whether to keep the baby or have an abortion. Bamboo, which is strong, is supposed to represent a sturdy relationship, but while bamboo is strong it is also hallow. This hollowness in the bamboo beads could represent the lack of substance in their relationship. This is represented throughout the conversations between the American and Jig and how shallow their actual conversations are. Thus, not only does the bamboo curtain represent a permeable doorway to normal society, but it also represents a barrier in their