“Symbolism with the Setting”

By: Dorothy Dietrich

            Ernest Hemingway made it clear in his short story, “Hills like White Elephants,” that in life even a thirty minute conversation can challenge a person’s feelings, leading them to question their life-altering decisions.  Everyday people make choices that will ultimately influence their future. How do people know how to make the right choices? What makes a person’s choice the right one? What may be right to one person may be unsatisfactory to another. While some might dispute the idea that “there are no right or wrong decisions,” in this short story Hemingway uses symbolism with the setting to allow his readers to decide the fate of the unmarried couple as they search for their “right” answer. Hemingway made it a point to never blatantly declare that the couple was discussing abortion, thus adding the idea of miscommunication and tension into the story (Brown). The train station setting was used to create a parallel connotation to the idea of fertility and barrenness which aids the reader to induce an understanding of what the story is about. 

            The setting used by Hemingway in “Hills like White Elephants,” adds so much to the meaning of the story, which in turn, creates a very intriguing read.  The train station emblematizes the importance of time to the situation. There is a constant feeling of hurriedness throughout the story.  There is a countdown of time; forty minutes until their train arrives, and then just five.  Once the train reaches the station, they will only have two minutes to decide whether or not to board.  The train to Madrid, and probably the destination where the illegal abortion will take place, will only be stopping for two minutes, informing the reader of the scant amount of time that the girl has to determine the best choice about the future of three different people.  The hills are the predominant feature of the story, since they are mentioned once in the title and are again introduced in the very first sentence as being “long and white” (838).  It is through them the reader can make an interpretation of the couples’ conversation, even with the absence of blunt information in the dialogue.  According to Jig, the imaginative, young (and pregnant) female character, the hills in the distance resemble white elephants.  The materialistic, no-named American, and father of Jig’s unborn baby, states that he has “never seen one” (839).  Jig agrees sarcastically that he “wouldn’t have,” realizing that he doesn’t understand the true meaning behind her comment.  Jig observes the "coloring of their skin" (839) in the hills which hints at a representation of a pregnant woman lying down (Abdoo).  If the American doesn’t succeed in convincing her to have the abortion, her belly might also imitate the landscape in the distance.  Hemingway uses the term “white elephant” because it is believed that the color white represents purity and light, and elephants represent power and peace.  Related to this idea is the story of the Lord Buddha. It was told that the night before Buddha was born, his mother dreamt of a white elephant, which is connected to fertility and knowledge (“White Elephants”).  

            As Jig sits in the warm shadow, admiring the white hills in the distance, she begins to cross-examine her decision to rid herself of the baby, whom the American thinks of as a burden and unsuitable to their traveling lifestyles.  She notices the two sides of the valley, and the two choices to the decision of whether to have the child.  One side of the valley has “fields of grain and trees along the banks,” (840) in stark contrast to the white hills where there is little life.  The train station sits in the middle of a dry, barren place under the sun, with “no shade and no trees,” (838) insinuating the idea of lack of life in the couples’ romance, and in the life of the unborn child which will soon be taken.  This brown and dry side can also be considered the American’s side; the unfertile side.  It is the dull, boring side with little life.  It is the life they will have if she gives up the baby and continues the unsatisfying tourism lifestyle. 

            The characters find a table and sit in the “unpredictable real world” outside, separated by a beaded bamboo curtain from the “artificial comfortable world” that is inside the station (Consigny). While the two briefly discuss their future, it is made obvious to the reader that the American’s attitude about the unborn child annoys Jig. The American tries to comfort her by explaining that the operation is “all perfectly natural,” (840) and that if she goes through with the abortion, things will go back to how they were before.  Since Jig sees his misrepresentation of the operation, she replies to most of his comments with sarcasm and continues to ask for reassurance.  If she must give up the baby, she wants to be certain that the American will not leave her, since she might now be considered to many as “unacceptable as a marriage partner” (Abdoo).  While discussing the simplicities of the operation, Jig asks what will happen to them after the abortion.  The American replies that they’ll be “…fine. Just like…before.”  He also goes on to explain that the only thing that was keeping them from being happy was the pregnancy.  Immediately after this comment, Jig looks away as if his statement was false, and draws her attention to the beads.  It was clear to her that their relationship would never be the same again, and that she wouldn’t be happy going back to their old lifestyle.  She was getting tired of the non-stop traveling life they had lived: sleeping in hotels and not knowing where they would end up next.  She grabbed two strings of beads from the curtain, one representing the American and the other representing the unborn child.  Although she was beginning to realize that she wasn’t completely happy being with the American, she still wanted them both.  She didn’t want to take the life of her unborn child, but she also didn’t want to be left abandoned and alone.  Jig eventually resorts to a bit of emotional blackmail and sarcasm in an attempt to get her point across when she explains that “I don’t care about me” (840).  Since she is so much younger then the American, she feels intimidated and does not stand up and explain how she is actually feeling, but rather dances around it.  The discussions between the American and Jig are comparable to the “two lines of rails” (838) on either side of the train station: running parallel, and never meeting. The characters are talking, but neither apprehends what the other is saying.  The American soon realizes that he isn’t getting very far with trying to convince Jig to have the abortion, and turns to a form of reverse psychology by retreating from his offensive tactics (Hannum). 

            The rate of alcohol consumption over the 35 minute duration of the story could be considered excessive.  Whenever one of the characters begin to feel uncomfortable with where the conversation might be going, they bring up the topic of alcohol in order to escape the unwanted decision that must be made.  At one point, Jig asks about a sign she notices on the curtain that says “Anis del Toro” (839).  The couple tries the drink, diluted and turned white with the addition of water.  The girl comments on its ironically black licorice flavor, something that she is very familiar with.  Jig then sarcastically states that absinthe is something that she has “waited so long for” (839).  However it is not actually the drink that she has waited for, but rather the chance to settle down and have a family.  Absinthe was known to have a sweet flavor which is quickly taken over by a bitter aftertaste.  This also mimics the couple’s relationship: fun and exciting sexual experiences turned boring and now threatened by a baby.  When Jig states “That’s all we do, isn’t it-look at things and try new drinks?” (839) she uses the word “all” in her response in a desperate attempt to show that she is bored of the life that consists of nothing but alcohol, hotels, and “look[ing] at things.”  The Anis tastes like aniseed, like licorice; there is nothing new in the experience for Jig and nothing new in what the American and she always do.

            There is only five minutes until the train arrives, so the American moves their belongings to the tracks of the expected train.  On his way back to meet Jig, he steps inside the station and drinks one last Anis, this time alone, foreshadowing the couple’s breakup (Bauer).  The final statement is made by Jig; she claims “I feel fine.  There is nothing wrong with me.  I feel fine.” (842). Although some might dispute as to what she actually meant, it seems more relevant when it is read with the emphasis placed on the word “fine.” It is clear that Jig is concerned with her well being, since she has known people who have also had this operation and were probably left with some negative physical or psychological effects.  Jig forces one last smile, trying to keep from breaking down as she now knows that “her dream is about to be killed” (Hashmi).  Even though Jig wanted to keep the child, she was unable to change her decision due to her frail characteristics. Some aspects which lead up to her failure were: the hardships of letting go of the old lifestyle, the power the American had over her due to her low self-esteem and submissive being, and the weakness behind hiding true emotions by using sarcastic means. Jig “walked to the end of the station,” (840) and into the shades of the sterile side of the valley. A dark cloud covered her head, which prefigured the death of the fetus (Johnston).  She knew what was going to become of herself after the “simple” operation.  Jig’s character was so weak that she felt she had no other options.  She wants to be happy, but she cannot be happy as long as the American won’t settle down.  She also wants to keep the child, but she knows she won’t be able to raise it on her own.  This makes it clear that she ultimately decides to have the abortion, even though she and the American will inevitably split up.  Due to her submissive quality and the fact that she knew she couldn’t raise a child on her own, she gives in to her lover regardless of her own feelings and dreams. 

Works Cited

Abdoo, Sherlyn.  "Hemingway's 'Hills like White Elephants.'" (Explicator, 49:4 [1991 Summer]: 238-40).

Bauer, Margaret.  "Forget the Legend and Read the Work" [College Literature 30.3 (July 2003): 124].

Brown, Nancy H.  "Aspects of the Short Story: A Comparison of Jean Rhys's 'The Sound of the River' with Ernest Hemingway's 'Hills Like White Elephants'" (Jean Rhys Review, 1:1 (1986 Fall): 2-13).

Consigny, Scott.  "Hemingway's 'Hills Like White Elephants'" (Explicator, 48:1 [1989 Fall]: 54-55).

Grant, Catriona. “A women's right to choose-The struggle for abortion rights.” 

            < http://www.redflag.org.uk/articles/isfive/is5abortion.html>  01 June 2005.

Hannum, Howard L.  "'Jig Jig to Dirty Ears': White Elephants to Let" (The Hemingway Review 11.1 (1991): 46 -54).

Hashmi, Nilofer.  "The Jilting of Jig."  Hemingway Review 23.1 [Fall] (2003): 72-85.

Johnston, Kenneth G.  1982 article on Hemingway's prose style is reprinted (166-169).

Stanford, Judith A. Responding to Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays. New York: McGraw-Hill.2003. 

Webster, Deanna. [Education Coordinator] Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center. 15 Feb. 2003.   <http://hemingway.astate.edu/ paulinebio.html>  01 June 2005. 

“White Elephants”.  Nature Magazine.  August 2004.  <http://www.crystalinks.com/whitelephants.html>  29 May 2005. 

This essay was posted here with the writer's permission on June 14, 2005.