Ernest Hemingway uses dialogue, symbolism, and setting in “Hills Like White Elephants” to convey his theme, which is the difference between talking and communicating. The story starts at a train station planted in the middle of a desolate valley. The two characters in the story is a guy known as the American and a female known as the girl. The two couple face a difficult situation on how to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. The two characters just talk, but they do not take the time to understand and listen to each other. The dialogue helps convey the theme. While the characters wait for the train they don’t really communicate with each other. The American tries to say anything to convince the girl to get the operation. He says things like, …show more content…
The setting helps convey the theme. The train station represents the character 's relationship as a crossroad. The station mirrors the American’s decision to abort the baby and continue with their relationship with each other. The white hills and valley mirrors the choice the girl faces between abortion or having the baby. Ernest Hemingway describes it as the girl “was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry “(Shackle and Ridl 196). The two settings don’t communicate with each other. Most of the setting is at the train station and only there are brief mentions of the valley itself.
The author uses dialogue, setting, and symbolism to convey his theme. The theme of “Hills Like White Elephants” is the difference between communication and talking. In the dialogue it is mostly the American trying to persuade the girl to have the operation and the girl getting annoyed at him. The setting shows the characters relationship at a crossroad. The white elephant symbolizes the unborn children that no one wants to talk about. The two main characters talk, but do not really take the time to understand or listen to each