Hills Like White Elephants Rhetorical Analysis

One of the most controversial topics in America today is abortion. It is the topic that determines people’s political stances and ends other people’s relationships, but it is also the topic that many people tend to avoid. Everyone has their opinion on the matter, but most do not make it known. This is portrayed in “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. The author writes this story mainly through dialogue, and avoids using extremely descriptive language. The white elephants in the story, “Hills Like White Elephants”, symbolize the elephant in the room the characters face, which is deciding whether or not to abort their child.
In the first lines of dialogue the girl, or Jig as she is called, comments on their surroundings. She states, “They look like white elephants” (pg. 416). The white elephant symbolizes the decision the couple faces, but seems to be avoiding. Abortion is a very touchy topic in society today, and back in the time this story was written it was very frowned

upon. As the story and dialogue proceed the girl looks back at the hills and explains that she truly does not believe they look like white elephants, just their color. This comes later after the characters finally start to face their “elephant”. Even though they have not come to a conclusion of what they plan to do, they were not avoiding it anymore.
As I said previously, Hemingway described very little in this story.

The thing he went in depth explaining was the setting. This happened in the beginning and closer to the end of this story. At first, he described the setting as, “on one side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun” (pg. 416). This part of the setting symbolizes abortion and death. As the story progresses and the characters begin to talk about the problem they face, the scenery begins to change. We see this when Jig looks across the tracks to the other side of the land. She describes it as, “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 fields of grain and she saw the river through the trees” (pg. 418). This symbolizes the couple keeping the baby. It is seen from Jig’s point of view because she is the one contemplating whether or not the abortion would truly be the best

option.
Throughout the story Hemingway only calls the main characters the American and the girl named Jig. He uses little to no descriptive words. The only way to determine any traits of the characters is through their dialogue. Other than that, they were written as very broad characters. This was a key part of the story because it helps the audience relate. Having the characters be very basic helps the audience imagine themselves in their shoes. They are able to picture their reactions and the decisions they would make, when faced with this situation.
The conclusion was the piece of the story most up to interpretation. In the conclusion, the couple hears that the train is pulling up to the station. In the story, it is said that the American carries their heavy bags over to the other side of the tracks. The other side of the tracks being the fruitful, beautiful scenery. I also believe the bags symbolized the massive situation the couple faced, and the conclusion they finally reached was to keep the baby.
Struggling with decisions is something we all face from time to time, and most of the time there is no black and white, there is only gray. The story, “Hills Like White Elephants”, explains the struggles a couple is faced with, through many symbolized objects. Each symbol the characters faced pushed them closer to making their final decision, which was keeping the baby.