Hills Like White Elephants Essay

An American man and girl sit at a station waiting for a train to Madrid. While sitting enjoying a couple of beers the girl notices nearby hills which resemble “white elephants”, the man has never seen one. They order more drink and began to bicker, as the tension between the two is noticeable. Following, the man mentions an operation which he tries encouraging her to have. He assures the woman that the operation is “perfectly simple and natural” and tells her “it’s the only thing that makes us unhappy”. It becomes obvious that the operation is an abortion. The girl seems unsure about the operation and begins to question how the relation between the two of them will be afterwards. The man reassures her that “he thinks it’s the best thing to

The location of the station is planted in the middle of a desolate valley, leaving the decision of where to go next entirely up to the travelers. In comparison the American man and woman must decide whether to continue their relationship or not. Also, the white elephant resembling hills and barren valley show the contrast between life and death and shows the choice the girl must make between having the baby or having an abortion. The women seems torn between the two landscape, not only admiring the beauty of the distant hills, but also walking to the end of the station and grazing at the abandoned “fields of gain and trees”, commenting “we could have all this”. The author’s approach of using setting as a means of revealing character helps not only to set the mood for the story, but it also gave sympathy to the situation that the couple must overcome. Due to the heavy usage of frequent reference to the setting, the women’s decision of getting the operation, or not is more understanding. Perhaps the setting may have been different, or not mentioned as much, the overall tone may not have been successfully relatable to the readers. Also, the central idea of the story will probably be less