"The Girl as The Valley of the Ebro"

In Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” nature, darkness, and lightness are all strong symbols. The story is set in northern Spain at a train station near the Ebro river. We learn about the natural qualities of “this side” (757), or the side where the train station lies, versus “the other side” (760) of the valley. “The girl,” as the main character is referred to as, is much like the valley of the Ebro - caught between “this side” and “the other side”; life and death.
The girl and “the American” (757), her lover, sit waiting for a train on “this side” of the valley. They discuss, semi-heatedly, whether the girl will abort her recently discovered pregnancy. As he tries to persuade her to do so, they “[sit] at a table in the shade” (757). This dark description coincides with the rest of “this side” of the valley. There are “no trees” (757) and...