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Romina-Nicoleta Andra
Professor Daniel Darvay
Text Interpretation Course
09 January 2018

Forty Final Minutes on the Hills:

The Temporal Aspect in Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants

Prompt: "Offer an analysis of the notion of time in Hemingway's "Hills Like White

Elephants" by explaining how the temporal aspects of this short story relate to character,

symbolism, as well as to what you see as the major theme of the story. Support your ideas

with specific textual examples."

In Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, one of the author’s most

controversial and, to this day, highly debated short stories, the temporal setting represents a

key motif in understanding the meaning behind the text, reflecting the textual components in

a metaphorical manner and creating the necessary setting in order for the reader to unravel a

possible meaning behind the seemingly trivial appearance of things.

Even though it may not be clear at first, after a closer, more careful reading, one will

notice and understand the importance carried by the adverbs of time, as well as the time

intervals. Therefore, the aim of the present paper is to argue and illustrate the relevance of

this temporal aspect.

In order to gain a better understanding of the events we are presented with, the context

in which the story first appeared should be acknowledged. The narrator mentions at the very

beginning the location as being somewhere in Spain, near the “hills across the valley of the

Ebro”. Taking into consideration the year of publication being 1927, the image of a strict,
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Catholic country immediately conjures up, and the reader is left to guess the unnamed, illegal

at that time “operation” the “American” and the “girl” are talking about to be an abortion.

However, the themes are diverse with the motifs supporting them even more so;

abortion is only, conveniently saying, the “tip of the iceberg”. Convenient, since Ernest

Hemingway is known to be the author who shaped and perhaps best attributed the Iceberg

Theory to his texts – a theory, just like the name implies, based on the image of an iceberg in

the water: much of the meaning of a text left unseen, deductible only from the words and

actions of the characters. A complicated relationship, different personalities put together, a

sudden event that changes the course of two persons’ lives. But how can time be an essential

factor in this story, foreshadowing all of these elements?

One of the first valuable temporal details found in the story lays in the choice of tense,

which the narrator must have purposefully made – the past tense. It builds up a unique

atmosphere, radically different from the ones created by the present or future tense, and fits

best the nature of the actions presented. It gives the impression of a realistic story, which

already took place before being depicted, possibly even earlier than expected.

Despite the person narrating not getting involved in the narrative or making any

remarks or comments, only offering objective, distant facts and reproducing the phrases

exactly, the past tense in this situation has a powerful impact on the reader. Especially when

blending with the present tense of the characters’ conversation, the past tense weighs heavy,

both from an artistic point of view and a pragmatic one, bearing a certain reflectiveness when

it comes to what is left unsaid. Such an example in the text is:

‘That’s all we do, isn’t it – look at things and try new drinks?’

‘I guess so.’

The girl looked across at the hills. (2)

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Due to the same past tense, it can be assumed that a final decision had already been

made before the time of the narration, but one can only second guess it, not having enough

information to be certain, thus never possibly knowing how the story ends.

Afterward, during the short interval of the story, there is a constant, sudden shift in the

girl’s attitude. Throughout the story, she displays several emotions, from the ability to notice

and point out certain details (the painting on the bead curtains) to the imagination she puts to

use in creating meaningful images (the hills she compares to the white elephants), further on

to her irony, sarcasm, and even bitterness in replies:

‘No, you wouldn’t have.’ (1)

At some point, she even takes the confusion and sarcasm and dangerously places them

in balance with her honest truth, with questions and choices that seem to confuse her, all in an

attempt to convince herself that what she says is true – and we see these feelings no longer

distinct, but one disguised subtlety the reader could easily overlook:

“‘Oh, yes. But I don’t care about me. And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine.’”

Skillfully mirrored by the colorful scenery the narrator points at, her emotions then

turn to irritation and even anger at the man’s obsession with convincing her of one simple

idea. He is not once truly considering her ideas and feelings, despite repeating to her that he

will accept whatever she decides, simply because he is not even able to stop when she asks

him to.

‘I’d do anything for you.’

‘Would you please […] stop talking?’

[…] ‘I’ll scream,’ the girl said.’ (4)

Although surprisingly, in the end, we see her finally reaching a calm state, a state

where she smiles “brightly” to the Spanish woman and tells the man she is fine. Nothing
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changes for the man, but inside the girl, time dilates. She must make a decision… Which she

does, without anyone realizing, without the narrator naming it.

A decision which takes us to the third and most important temporal detail, which is

the train’s arrival and the aspect of time itself, the one in the story and the one in their

relationship. In the first paragraph, we are informed that it takes forty minutes for the train to

arrive. 35 minutes until the moment the two are told there are 5 more minutes left. Supposing

that the train to Madrid should take them to the city where the abortion would take place, this

train automatically represents an important decision for both of them, but especially for the

girl: she has to choose between the child and the risk of losing the person she remembers as

her lover.

At that moment, in that place, time stops for her, and she is faced with only one before

and two alternative after’s. Aware that she cannot communicate with him, she voices some of

her thoughts but the man is too “worried” to consider other options.

‘Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along.’

‘Of course it does. But I don’t want anybody but you.’ (1)

Discovering a side of him hidden up to that point, Jig starts considering her options,

her time in the relationship as well as the present time, and the same “girl” begins a process

of growing and becoming mature. From that moment on she is no longer called a “girl” by

the author. “She” has faced her mistakes and calmly accepted them. She is “fine.” There’s

“nothing wrong with her.”

‘The girl smiled brightly at the woman […].’ (4)

It can be said that nearly forty minutes are spent with direct and indirect discussions

on hills, white elephants, a burden, a pregnancy, an abortion, and the possible negative

outcome of a relationship. Forty minutes that pass in an instant, just as life does: the life of an

unborn infant, the life of a free man in love with this freedom, or life in general. We may be
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aware of the persons around us dealing with their own decisions, waiting for the same train of

change, or not. We may be aware of the person struggling in front of us, or choose to pay

attention only to our own problems and choices.

In conclusion, decisions must always be made when the time comes, and the couple in

the text is not an exception. Our future and past decisions greatly influence and pressure us

into making these decisions, one choice possibly altering the course of our lives forever, like

in this example. Yet it is also always up to us whether we choose to take our time to observe

and consider the lower, greater part of the iceberg, or whether we choose to pass observing

only the tip of it, never wondering what lies underneath, just like he did – before it fully hits

us.