Is Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants?

“Hills Like White Elephants” shares the perspective of two different individuals on a topic that is intensely personal and yet so many people over the years have identified their opinion on the matter, abortion. Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” uses symbolism to identify the sensitive nature of the story, as well as to identify more clearly the feelings of the characters and the impact this has on them. The story, “Hills Like White Elephants”, begins to identify a difficult topic at the outset – initially remarking on this with the title. A white elephant is a term that has been used to symbolize an unwanted gift that is difficult to maintain (Kozikowski, 1994). The first section of the story opens to a couple sitting at a table in a train station located between Barcelona and Madrid for drinks before continuing on their journey. While waiting for their drinks the girl, as Hemingway describes her throughout the story, watches out the window and comments on a line of hills in the distance – “They look like white elephants,” she said (Hemingway, 115). This line begins the conversation that the couple dances around through the rest of the …show more content…
As they continue to sit drinking the man says – “Well, Let’s try and have a fine time” (Hemingway, 116) to which Jig replies with a sarcastic comment about the white skin of the elephants/hills being bright. Her partner agrees, as though to keep the conversation from becoming too negative, leading to her response, “I wanted to try this new drink. That’s all we do, isn’t it – look at things and try new drinks” (Hemingway, 116) creating more tension, since she is essentially pointing out that their relationship is based on trivial