Hills Like White Elephant Setting Analysis

“Avoiding the White Elephant”

In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemmingway, a girl and an American man in a romantic relationship are at a crossroads, both as the setting, and in their romantic relationship. The American man and girl have been nomadic together as a romantic couple, but at the current moment the two are stagnate arguing. When the two start downing alcohol, it becomes clearer that the girl is pregnant and the man is inclined in favor of her to get an abortion, though neither ever directly speaks the issue. The two remain to argue around the obvious issue at hand, the girl remarks on the barren but beautiful white hills around them and the alcohol they are drinking, the man is persistent to reach agreement

The story begins with a detailed description of the setting, taking place at a train station in Spain’s Ebro valley during the 1920’s. In these opening details the setting of being barren, hot, and shade less is highlighted. Hemingway right away underlines the harsh and oppresive climate of the setting and the couple decision to escape into the only shelter available for temporary relief through shade and drink. Hemingway presents the theme of choice often in the story and this is the first, they decide to avoid the heat and go inside for relief, which relates to the same way they treat the issue at hand. They would rather avoid the problem with temporary relief. They walk in and sit at a bar in the shade of the station and start to talk about what they should drink while they wait for the next train. They orders two beers in Spanish from the waitress behind the bar. The man orders them because he can speak Spanish, while the girl doesn’t. Choice is shown here, signifying how alcohol has become their main way of avoidance of real communication, and them choosing to partake rather than address the issue of the abortion. The point that the man speaks Spanish and must translate the waitress’s words to the girl is to further show the uneven power balance in the couple’s relationship taking place. The girl, seeing a Spanish ad for liquor painted on the bar’s door beads, asks the man to translate what it says for her. He answers that the beverage is called “Anis del Toro” (255). The girl asks if they can try it, and the man immediately tells the woman to get them two Anis del Toro. The girl isn’t sure whether she should drink the liquor with water or not and inquires the help of the man on what he thinks. He orders the beverages with water. The man’s controlling authoritative position in relation to the girl controls this scene, even as the act