Hills Like White Elephants Symbolism

Living With Choices
In the story “Hills Like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemingway, there are many symbols that make huge contributions to the meaning of the story. Three of these symbols stand out because they bring unity to the idea the author is trying to convey. The hills that the girl stated, “look like white elephants”, the bamboo beaded curtain and the parallel railroad tracks all play a crucial role as symbols to the meaning of this story. The girl in the story made a comment that the hills “look like white elephants”. This idea of hers that they can go along with the white elephant gifts. White elephant gifts are possessions that have value to them, but is not wanted by the person who owns it. The fact that she refers to the hills …show more content…
In the story the railroad tracks are set parallel to each other on opposite sides of the station. The two trains are going opposite directions. This represents the two different paths they can take with each going a different direction. They can either choose to abort the child and go on as before, or they can keep the baby and settle down. If they abort the baby, the man promises her that things will go back to normal for them. However, the woman tells him things will never be the same by saying, “Once they take it away, you can never get it back”, referring to the child. When you abort a child, obviously, there are no take backs. Although he believes things can go back to the way they were she knows they will never be the same. If she takes the other path and has the child all their adventure will come to a stop. They will have another life that they are responsible for and will have to settle down. Metaphorically speaking the two railroad tracks could also mean that they will either choose a path together or go their separate ways. There is a chance the woman could go on and decide to have the baby, but the man might decide he does not want the same causing them to part