Ernest Hemingway uses symbolism in “Hills Like White Elephants’’ to illustrate the difficulties a couple is facing in making an important decison about their lives. Jig, the girl, is pregnant and her boyfriend, called the American, wants her to have an abortion. Each symbol represents the two ways the couple can go and their struggle to make a decision with which both parties will be happy. The most obvious symbol in this story are the white hills which, according to Jig, look like white elephants. On one hand white elephants are rare but on the other hand they are also a burden. The white elephant symbolizes something no one wants – in this story the girl’s unborn child. In the beginning of the story, Jig makes a comment that the hills look like white
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She was sitting at the table and smiled at him. “Do you feel better?” he asked. “I feel fine,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” (214)
When he finally comes back to the table, he hopes that the girl has made her decision, preferably in favor of the abortion, but when he reaches her she has still not made up her mind. Additionally, the junction is another symbol for the big decision the couple, and especially Jig, is facing. It represents the midpoint between the now and the future. There are two options to chose form: either the girl keeps the baby or she has an abortion. There is nothing in between. The bamboo bead curtain symbolizes the “curtain” that hinders Jig and the American from communicating with each other. Even tough it is overshadowed by the hills and the elephants it is still a very powerful symbol. It stands for all the issues the couple is facing: the thresholds, boundaries, and separations: “That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.” The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads. “And you think then we’ll be all right and be
She was sitting at the table and smiled at him. “Do you feel better?” he asked. “I feel fine,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” (214)
When he finally comes back to the table, he hopes that the girl has made her decision, preferably in favor of the abortion, but when he reaches her she has still not made up her mind. Additionally, the junction is another symbol for the big decision the couple, and especially Jig, is facing. It represents the midpoint between the now and the future. There are two options to chose form: either the girl keeps the baby or she has an abortion. There is nothing in between. The bamboo bead curtain symbolizes the “curtain” that hinders Jig and the American from communicating with each other. Even tough it is overshadowed by the hills and the elephants it is still a very powerful symbol. It stands for all the issues the couple is facing: the thresholds, boundaries, and separations: “That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.” The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads. “And you think then we’ll be all right and be