Ernest Hemingway, a well-known American writer, was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1899. He
won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. “Hills like White Elephants” was written in 1927, the
short story is about a young couple, at a train station somewhere in Spain, who throughout the
story are having a verbal argument about an unnamed operation. The reader can quickly infer
that the operation the two main characters, the American and Jig, are discussing is an abortion.
Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills like White Elephants” uses these three literary elements,
setting, symbolism, and irony, to express to the reader the theme choices, the choices that the two
main characters, Jig and the American, have about their unplanned pregnancy.
One literary element used by Hemingway to cultivate his theme is setting. The couple, is located
in an unnamed area in Spain at a train station. The setting is connected to the white hills that
represent their pregnancy, “The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the
sun and the country was brown and dry” (Hemingway 591). The narrator gives more of a
detailed description of the landscape around the train station by saying, “The girl stood up and
walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along
the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow of a cloud
moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees” (Hemingway 593). This
describes how one side of the distant mountains has life, lush, green plant life, and the other side
it shows brown, scorched land, which can be considered as death. The depiction of these hills
like mountains can be viewed as a visual illustration of the choice the couple is encountered
with. The hills, as well as the rest of the setting, existed before the couple arrived at the train
station, and it will stay after they depart.
Another literary element utilized by Hemingway to develop the theme of choices, in this short
story is symbolism. The first two symbols can be seen through the setting, the deserted scenery,
“On this side there was no shade or trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the
sun” (Hemingway 591). The absence of shade and the two separate tracks speaks to the couple’s
difficulty and two tracks imply two decisions, the dry warmth or the fresh full of life side. Liquor
assumes a noteworthy part in this short story, it represents the desire for a different way of life
they currently have, as depicted in Jig’s frustrations: "Everything tastes like licorice. Especially
all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe" (Hemingway 591). The way they live, the
consistent traveling, has become tedious, to the girl, and liquor has turned into the ideal symbol
of this tiresomeness: "That’s all we do isn’t it–look at things and try new drinks " (Hemingway
592). Of all the symbols Ernest Hemingway presents in this short story, the setting and
environment are the most noteworthy symbols. Jig shares the most important symbol of the
entire story, "They look like white elephants" (Hemingway 591). This symbol is about their life
together and the choice they must make. The white elephant she speaks of is unusable, but it is
considered a unique gift. A gift the American doesn’t want; he constantly tries to push Jig into
having the operation.
The last of the three literary elements used is irony. The American is certain about Jig having a
fetus removal, but she is certainly not. Jig is attempting to pick if she wants to stay in a
relationship with the American. Regardless of whether her choice to have, the fetus removal is
identified with a choice to keep or surrender the relationship they have. The circumstance's irony
is the American continuously says that he loves her, and that everything between then will be
alright, despite that his tone proposes that if she chooses to not proceed with the abortion then he
will abandon her. While discussing the "operation" Jig leaves the table to gaze at the scene, all
she perceives are images of fertility; the streaming brook, leafy trees, and fields of grain. She
pivots to the father of her unborn child who has no want for her fetus. Another irony is seen
when Jig and the American are quarreling. He noticeably wants her to have the abortion when he
says it will be simple. Once she finally says she will proceed with it for him, he quickly says,
"You’ve got to realize, that I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly willing to
go through with it if it means anything to you "(Hemingway 593). The reader can gather from
this that he wants Jig to have the operation, but he doesn’t want to settle on the choice for her.
The theme of "choices" has been explained using three literary elements: setting, symbolism, and
irony. The main choice in the story is of having an abortion and the American staying with Jig,
or keeping their unborn child and being abandoned by the American. The setting illustrates
where the two main characters are, and how the train station is a type of symbolism. The irony is
shown by the man forcing his desire to not have a child onto Jig, but wanting her to want it
herself.
Works CitedHemingway, Ernest. "Hills like White Elephants." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Shorter 11th ed.
Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2013, pp.590-594. Print.