Title: Hills Like White Elephants
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Genre: Short Story, Literary Fiction
First Publication: 1927
Language: English
Summary: Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
The story focuses mainly on a conversation between an American man and a young woman, described as a “girl,” at a Spanish train station while waiting for a train to Madrid. The girl compares the nearby hills to white elephants. The pair indirectly discuss an “operation” that the man wants the girl to have, which is implied to be an abortion, that was taboo to talk about.
Review: Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway
Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a sparse, dialogue-driven short story that exemplifies Hemingway’s famous “iceberg theory” of writing. On the surface, it recounts a conversation between a man and a woman waiting for a train in rural Spain. However, much broader themes related to relationships, gender roles, autonomy, and mortality simmer beneath the surface. Through subtle clues, subtext, rich symbolism, and an objective narrative style, Hemingway tells the poignant story of a couple at a relationship crossroads, grappling with an intensely difficult decision.
The story opens with a vivid description of the hills, fields, and trees surrounding the train station. The landscape is divided by a river, with lush fields of grain on one side like “the color of lions” and bare hills on the other side appearing white in the sun. This imagery introduces the dichotomy between fertility and barrenness that runs throughout the text. It also establishes the setting as a liminal space between two contrasting options, much like the choice faced by the couple.
The man and woman drink beer and anise liquor while waiting for a train to Madrid. Their dialogue centers on banal small talk about drinks, heat, and the scenery. However, certain lines hint at rising tension. When the woman remarks, “The hills look like white elephants,” her metaphor signifies something unwanted and burdensome. The topic they artfully dance around soon becomes clear—the “operation” the woman faces to terminate her pregnancy.
The couple’s conversation reveals two conflicting perspectives. The man insists the operation is no big deal and urges the woman to have it so they can resume their carefree life together. However, the woman seems torn, frightened, and ambivalent. She says they could have everything, perhaps meaning a family. But the man dismisses this, focusing only on relieving their current burden. His repeated claims that he only wants her to do what she wants lack sincerity and come across as coercive and insincere.
The man’s abstract talk about how lovely their life will be after the procedure rings false, hinting at denial or refusal to acknowledge the emotional complexity at hand. When the woman asks what they’ll do afterwards, his vague assurances that “we’ll be fine” fail to convince her or give their decision meaning. She sees that the operation will irrevocably change their relationship, regardless. Her statement “I don’t care about me” suggests the sacrifice she faces.
The barren, withered side of the valley foreshadows the sterility and emptiness ahead if she terminates the pregnancy. Meanwhile, the verdant fields where cows graze evoke ideas of fertility, youth, and plenty. The contrast symbolizes the fork in the road where the couple stands—one path leading to romanticized freedom but moral decay, the other to the richness and obligations of family life. Neither option is objectively right, but the two partners view them differently.
Other symbols amplify the themes. The trains represent transitions and departure in life. The woman’s line “we could have everything” hints at the potential life within her womb. The fertile landscape echoes this latent potential, reminding the woman of motherhood’s life-giving possibilities even as the man asks her to forfeit them. The word “operation” sterilizes the poignant gravitas of her choice, reflecting the man’s emotional distance and refusal to acknowledge his own mixed feelings.
The couple’s poor communication highlights their isolation from one another. They talk around the abortion issue through metaphors like white elephants rather than directly. The man rushes to solve the problem rather than sit with the woman in her struggle or recognize his own ambivalence. Their inability to articulate feelings reveals how profoundly disconnected they are despite physical closeness. The abortion becomes another symptom of relationships patterns that likely trouble them deeper than this one decision.
The open ending leaves the couple at an impasse, their crisis unresolved. The man fails to recognize the woman’s needs and convince her to proceed confidently. She knows going through with it will sever something vital between them, but cannot express why without his support. Hemingway’s objective narration forces readers into the ambiguity between them. Like the couple, we grasp at interpretations when so much goes unsaid.
By leaving much unspoken, Hemingway immerses readers into the subtext and omissions that comprise the “berg” beneath the dialogue “iceberg’s” tip. The artful impressionistic style makes small talk and silences alike resonant. Details like the heat, drinks, and passing trains speak volumes through their symbolism. Hemingway’s sparse prose mimics real conversations’ layers, forcing us to confront the emotional weight of all that cannot be put into words.
“Hills Like White Elephants” demonstrates Hemingway’s famous iceberg theory by making subtext the real story. While literally about abortion, on a symbolic level it explores communication failure, ambivalence over life transitions, and tensions between youth, freedom, and responsibility. The man and woman’s inability to articulate feelings or understand each other poignantly reflects difficulties faced by many couples. Through emotional restraint and minimalism, Hemingway creates a layered snapshot of a relationship at a pivotal juncture.
The issue of abortion provides a gripping backdrop as it splits the couple along gender lines. The man pushes for it based on abstract concerns like travel and fun, unable to sympathize with the woman’s moral struggle or maternal stirrings. She knows the procedure will drain their relationship of joy and meaning regardless of his breezy assurances. Their debate encapsulates timeless tensions between men and women over pregnancy, dependency, sacrifice, and divergent definitions of the “good life.”
Hemingway does not moralize about the right choice but leaves it open like the trains representing each way forward. The focus is the failure of communication and understanding that isolates the couple within the relationship and may haunt them no matter what they decide. The man’s detached focus on removing the obstacle rather than recognizing its emotional significance will likely persist and damage their intimacy. Through this snapshot, we gain poignant insights into the interactions and mindsets threatening relationships.
“Hills Like White Elephants” demonstrates Hemingway’s talent for economically evoking human drama through subtext, symbolism, and impeccable prose rhythm. In a few pages, he conjures the complexity of moral dilemma, romantic tension, and the pathos of how we hurt and confound those we love. The dialog feels painfully authentic down to the silences when words fail. Ultimately, it is a masterclass in revelatory fiction through telling omissions, perfect for classroom discussion and analysis. The story’s emotional resonance endures as a testament to Hemingway’s ability to expose quiet human truth at the heart of a spare vignette.
Through sparse but loaded exchanges, “Hills Like White Elephants” reveals Hemingway’s unique ability to tell an emotionally complex story in miniature. The setting’s rich symbolism and layered subtext convey the couple’s dilemma entirely through implication. We come to know them not through introspection or explicit backstory but through each line’s connotations as they circle their predicament. Hemingway’s fiction operates through such artful obliqueness.
This visually evocative glimpse into a relationship crisis instantly immerses readers into the couple’s tension and uncertainty. Details about the valley, drinks, and baggage all build emotional density through the accumulation of metaphor and symbol. The man and woman’s dialogue rings painfully true to how we avoid voicing fears or wounds within intimate relationships. Their inability to understand each other’s vantage reminds us of times we failed loved ones through detachment or denial of their struggles.
While the abortion debate remains relevant, the story is timeless in portraying a crossroads moment between lovers unable to truly communicate when it matters most. How the couple got here and where they will go afterward remain unknown. But in this snapshot of damage and disconnection, Hemingway freeze-frames a penetrating character study and reflection on relationships. His ability to conjure such emotional complexity using sparse dialogue and minimal narration continues to influence fiction writers decades later.
“Hills Like White Elephants” demonstrates Hemingway’s famous “iceberg theory” of storytelling at its finest. The bulk of meaning and emotion lurk beneath the surface, conveyed through subtle clues that compel close reading. Hemingway’s stripped-down prose and detached yet weighted narration make every detail resonant with implication. The setting’s rich symbolism builds added depth as the couple dances around, addressing their dilemma directly.
Hemingway refuses to overtly moralize or guide readers’ interpretation of the characters’ dynamics. We are left to discern tensions between autonomy, obligation, transparency, and compromise that have long complicated relations between men and women. The dialogue rings so true partly through what goes unspoken—the gulf between the couple symbolized by the railroad tracks. Their inability to voice fears or understand each other’s vantage will likely persist regardless of the woman’s choice.
This modernist miniature demonstrates Hemingway’s belief that prose could be poetic through the rhythm of what is omitted. “Hills Like White Elephants” is a hallmark of this “iceberg theory”—the author’s ability to conjure emotional complexity entirely through subtext, subtle details, and rich but sparse language. The setting itself tells much of the story, and the couple’s evasive dialogue dynamically conveys their undisguised tension. Hemingway’s fiction replicates the layers of the real conversations we have every day. This enduring short story shows his singular ability to excavate profound human truths within the seemed banality of the unspoken.
