Hills Like White Elephants Modernism Analysis

At first “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway may seem like a story about a simple discussion between a couple at a train station in Spain. But with a second look through, the story will reveal a sense of darkness and seriousness during a disagreement between an American man and a young girl he calls Jig. However, Hemingway best employs symbolism to create the overarching theme of modernism. The whole premise of the disagreement is a characteristic of modernism. The questioning of the traditional values regarding abortions. He leaves the reader to unknowingly and self-consciously pick a side between the two. Hemingway artfully incorporates symbols into his story to communicate something deeper than the story itself and establish

One side of the tracks has hills that Jig refers to as “white elephants” and where the land is “brown and dry” (Hemingway 123). On the other side of the tracks lies “fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro” and “beyond the river, were mountains” (Hemingway 125). These two sides refer to the two choices the couple has to choose from. The side with the hills that are described as looking like “white elephants” is undoubtedly the side that represents the American's view of the pregnancy and the decision he wishes to make, which is to have an abortion. White elephants are “a metaphor for an expensive and burdensome property” (Link 67), which in this case would be the child. The other side, in contrast, represents life and the decision Jig is leaning towards, which is to keep the

All the dialogue is idle conversation that is understood to be strained with an obvious ‘elephant’ in the room. The entirety of the short story is designed in a way to be as realistic as possible with the man controlling the conversation. Again, there is the ambiguity of using the word “operation” instead of the technical medical term so the reader is left wondering what, explicitly, they’re talking about. The reader is unaware of how the two met or arrived at this point in time where this disagreement arises. It is apparent that Jig is lost and at a crossroads in her life. She is obviously in desperate need of guidance but it looking to the American man for some sort of comfort if not advice. This is where he again uses his authority in the situation to manipulate Jig into considering following through with the abortion. It is as though she is willing to do whatever it is the American man wants her to do. Whatever to make him happy and to help mend their relationship. Jig asks, “And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy” (Hemingway 124). Searching for some sort of reassurance in their relationship that it will stay intact if she follows through with the operation. Naturally the American man responds in an attempt to reassure young Jig that they will still be happy by saying, “I know we will. You don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it” (Hemingway 124).