The short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway , is about a young couple and the

polemic (controversial) issue of abortion. Though the word “abortion” is nowhere in the story, it is
doubtlessly understood through Hemingway’s powerful use of two literary elements: setting and
symbolism.

From the first paragraph the setting immediately introduces the tense atmosphere that will surround
the rest of the story. The story takes place in Spain in the late 1920’s. The setting is described as
follows:

The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no
trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. […] The American and the girl with him
sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would
come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went to Madrid.

The couple is in the middle of making a drastic decision where there are only two choices, two
directions, just like the two rail lines that pass by the station. The openness and loneliness around the
railroad station imply that there is no way to back out of the problem at hand and that the man and
the girl must address it now. The heat turns the scene into a virtual teakettle, boiling and screaming
under pressure. The landscape that encompasses the station plays a fundamental role in the conflict of
the story through its extensive symbolism.

When the girl sees the long and white hills she says that “they look like white elephants.” As she
observes the white hills she foresees elatedly the birth of her baby – something unique like the
uncommon white elephant. The color white symbolizes the innocence and purity of her unborn child.
She also admires the rest of the scenery:

The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were the fields of
grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. The shadow
of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees..

The fields of grain and trees represent fertility and fruitfulness, which symbo lize her current pregnant
state and the life in her womb. The Ebro River also represents life, as it germinates the fields. Just as
the girl appreciates the panorama and its connection to her unborn child the “shadow of a cloud,”
which represents the abortion of the fetus, overcomes her happiness. After an exchange of words with
the man she again looks at the scenery, but this time in a different way, as the following sentence
illustrates: “They sat down at the table and the girl looked across the hills on the dry side of the valley
and the man looked at her and at the table.” The man is obviously in favor of the abortion, and
everything he says is an effort to persuade her into it. As she considers his point of view she looks at
the dry side of the valley, which is barren and sterile, symbolizing her body after the abortion. The
man and woman continue arguing and stop for a little when she says, “Would you please please
please please please please please please stop talking?”

He did not say anything but looked at the bags against the wall of the station. There were labels on
them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.

The American apparently wants this abortion because he wants to keep his current lifestyle. The bags
with all the hotel labels on them are symbolic of his vivacious spirit. If the woman goes ahead with the
pregnancy, he would have to settle down and raise a family, which would mean forgoing his youthful
desires of seeing the world.

The story ends with the couple expecting their train’s arrival in five minutes. There is no resolution
and there is no decision stated regarding the abortion. Hemingway’s interweaving of setting and
symbolism helps him juice each sentence to provide maximum detail. This story was not only intended
for the pleasures of reading, but also though provocation. Hemingway has intentionally left the
readers to conclude for themselves what will happen next.