Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway In the short story Hills Like White Elephants, the author

repeatedly has Jig mention the phrase white elephants. This phrase serves a very important purpose throughout the story. Before we go any further, it is crucial for us to clarify what the author tries to represent the white elephant with. A white elephant is defined as a prized possession, which has no dollar value in the owners eyes (Wikipedia). A white elephant can also be broken down into two words. White represents purity and an elephant is majestic and mighty. Perhaps, the author uses the colour white because white represents purity. Relating that to this story, when a baby is born they are naive and pure in heart. Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a modern short story that represents a true life example of choice making.

I suppose that in order for the reader to fully understand the story, they have to understand that the story is about a woman and a man dealing with the decision of having an abortion or deciding to have the baby. Ernest Hemingway never actually tells the readers that the story is about abortion, but he alludes to this fact with his clever use of metaphors and symbolism. The story ends with the couple preparing to board the train. Same goes to the ending, the author leave the outcome of the situation untold, which perhaps he wants the reader to interpret it by own imagination and judge it based on the observations of the characters, plot and literary devices in the story.

The whole story is full of symbolic meaning all related to the decision the couple faces of whether or not Jig should get an abortion. The man seems in favour of the option of abortion for his own selfish reasons, but Jig seems to really be struggling with the decision. The mans words and actions do not correlate. The story starts with the man said to the woman said What should we drink?, and he then orders her another beer as she requests. In this simple yet meaningful conversation implies to me that the man is paving the way for Jig to make a bad decision which is to perform abortion. Drinking beers is enough to bring harm for the baby. The woman wants to have a kid, and the man advise abortion seems for her own sake. And the woman said Everything tastes likeAbsinthe. When I first read the statement, I do not know exactly what this means. But later I know this sentence also means, her life is like Absinthe. To elaborate more, Absinthe is a type of alcohol which was once banned for its effect on people and Jig seems to refer her life with drinking Absinthe as the decision making makes her crazy and criminal, who kills own flesh blood. The landscape is a symbol of the choices that lie ahead in Jigs life. There is a railway that runs parallel and divides the landscape into two parts. The railway symbolizes a turning

point in the couples life. They have to choose to go one way or the other and whichever way they choose to go will define the rest of their lives. One side has fields, a river, and mountains. This side symbolizes growth and is a metaphor for the unborn baby inside of Jig. The other side is barren and hot. This side symbolizes infertility and is a metaphor for how Jig views her life is she was to get an abortion. All in all, as one of the readers, I think whether or not the woman has an abortion, their feeling towards each other has already changed. The man wanted the woman do the abortion which indicates that he fails to show understanding and sympathy for her.