Hills Like White Elephant

The Symbolic Decision
Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like white Elephants” touches on an issue as ageless as time: communication problems in a relationship. He tells his story through conversations between the two main characters, an American and a girl. Hemingway creates conflict through dialogue as these characters face what most readers believe to be the obstacle of unexpected pregnancy. The plot is further complicated by their inability to convey their differing opinions to each other. The most striking feature of this story is the way in which it is told. It is not a story in the classical sense, with an introduction, a development of the story and an end, but we just get some time in the life of two people, as if it were just a piece of a film where we have much to deduce. Hemingway uses a plethora of symbols and images like words, landscape, and many more other objects to convey the idea that the young girl, Jig, is ambivalent to having an abortion and that her older Amer...