Page 1 KELANIYA B.A.

Part 1 (English Medium) English E 2025 - Introduction to

American Literature Short Story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

Hills Like White Elephants

Ernest Hemingway

Album Men Without Women

The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no
trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of
the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo
beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies. The American and the girl with him sat
at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would
come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went to Madrid.

What should we drink? the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.
Its pretty hot, the man said.
Lets drink beer.
Dos cervezas, the man said into the curtain.
Big ones? a woman asked from the doorway.
Yes. Two big ones.

The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beer glass on
the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills.They were white
in the sun and the country was brown and dry.

They look like white elephants, she said.

Ive never seen one, the man drank his beer.
No, you wouldnt have.
I might have, the man said. Just because you say I wouldnt have doesnt prove anything.
The girl looked at the bead curtain. Theyve painted something on it, she said. What does it say?
Anis del Toro. Its a drink.
Could we try it?
The man called Listen through the curtain. The woman came out from the bar.
Four reales. We want two Anis del Toro.
With water?
Do you want it with water?
I dont know, the girl said. Is it good with water?
Its all right.
You want them with water? asked the woman.
Yes, with water.
It tastes like liquorice, the girl said and put the glass down.
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American Literature Short Story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

Thats the way with everything.

Yes, said the girl. Everything tastes of liquorice. Especially all the things youve waited so long for, like
absinthe.
Oh, cut it out.
You started it, the girl said. I was being amused. I was having a fine time.
Well, lets try and have a fine time.
All right. I was trying. I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasnt that bright?
That was bright.
I wanted to try this new drink. Thats all we do, isnt it look at things and try new drinks?
I guess so.

The girl looked across at the hills.Theyre lovely hills, she said. They dont really look like white
elephants. I just meant the colouring of their skin through the trees.
Should we have another drink?
All right.
The warm wind blew the bead curtain against the table.
The beers nice and cool, the man said.
Its lovely, the girl said.
Its really an awfully simple operation, Jig, the man said. Its not really an operation at all.
The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.
I know you wouldnt mind it, Jig. Its really not anything. Its just to let the air in.

The girl did not say anything.

Ill go with you and Ill stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then its all perfectly
natural.
Then what will we do afterwards?
Well be fine afterwards. Just like we were before.
What makes you think so?
Thats the only thing that bothers us. Its the only thing thats made us unhappy.

The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads.

And you think then well be all right and be happy.

I know we will. You dont have to be afraid. Ive known lots of people that have done it.
So have I, said the girl. And afterwards they were all so happy.
Well, the man said, if you dont want to you dont have to. I wouldnt have you do it if you didnt want
to. But I know its perfectly simple.
And you really want to?
I think its the best thing to do. But I dont want you to do it if you dont really want to.
And if I do it youll be happy and things will be like they were and youll love me?
I love you now. You know I love you.
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American Literature Short Story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and youll like it?
Ill love it. I love it now but I just cant think about it. You know how I get when I worry.
If I do it you wont ever worry?
I wont worry about that because its perfectly simple.
Then Ill do it. Because I dont care about me.
What do you mean?
I dont care about me.
Well, I care about you.
Oh, yes. But I dont care about me. And Ill do it and then everything will be fine.
I dont want you to do it if you feel that way.

The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were 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 field of grain and she saw the river through the trees.

And we could have all this, she said. And we could have everything and every day we make it more
impossible.
What did you say?
I said we could have everything.
We can have everything.
No, we cant.
We can have the whole world.
No, we cant.
We can go everywhere.
No, we cant. It isnt ours any more.
Its ours.
No, it isnt. And once they take it away, you never get it back.
But they havent taken it away.
Well wait and see.
Come on back in the shade, he said. You mustnt feel that way.
I dont feel any way, the girl said. I just know things.
I dont want you to do anything that you dont want to do -
Nor that isnt good for me, she said. I know. Could we have another beer?
All right. But youve got to realize
I realize, the girl said. Cant we maybe stop talking?

They sat down at the table and the girl looked across at the hills on the dry side of the valley and the
man looked at her and at the table.

Youve got to realize, he said, that I dont want you to do it if you dont want to. Im perfectly willing
to go through with it if it means anything to you.
Doesnt it mean anything to you? We could get along.
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American Literature Short Story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

Of course it does. But I dont want anybody but you. I dont want anyone else. And I know its
perfectly simple.
Yes, you know its perfectly simple.
Its all right for you to say that, but I do know it.
Would you do something for me now?
Id do anything for you.
Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?
He did not say anything but looked at the bags against the wall of the station. There were labels on
them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.
But I dont want you to, he said, I dont care anything about it.
Ill scream, the girl said.
The woman came out through the curtains with two glasses of beer and put them down on the damp
felt pads. The train comes in five minutes, she said.
What did she say? asked the girl.
That the train is coming in five minutes.
The girl smiled brightly at the woman, to thank her.
Id better take the bags over to the other side of the station, the man said. She smiled at him.
All right. Then come back and well finish the beer.

He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks. He looked up
the tracks but could not see the train. Coming back, he walked through the bar-room, where people
waiting for the train were drinking. He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were all
waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain. She was sitting at the table and
smiled at him.

Do you feel better? he asked.

I feel fine, she said. Theres nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.

Hills Like White Elephants Analysis

By Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

Type of Work

Hills Like White Elephants" is a short story that observes the classical unities--that is, the
action follows a single storyline (without subplots) that takes place in one place on a single
day.

Publication
 Page 5 KELANIYA B.A. Part 1 (English Medium) English E 2025 - Introduction to
American Literature Short Story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

Hills Like White Elephants" was first published in Paris intransition magazine (spelled with
a lower-case t) in August 1927. In October of the same year, Scribner's published it in New
York as part of a Hemingway short-story collection, Men Without Women.

Setting

The action takes place in the mid-1920s at a train station in Zaragoza, a major city in
northeastern Spain on the Ebro River. Zaragoza is approximately 170 miles northeast of
Madrid. The region around Zaragoza receives scant rainfall. The greenery observed by Jig
may have flourished through irrigation.

Characters

Jig: Woman traveling in Europe with a male companion. The author does not disclose
whether they are single, engaged, or married; however, it appears likely that they are
girlfriend and boyfriend.
The American: Man traveling with Jig.
The Woman: Waitress at the train station.
People in the Barroom

Plot Summary
.
On a hot day at a train station in Zaragoza, Spain, a man and woman sit at a table on the
shady side of the building while they prepare to order drinks. Because only the man speaks
Spanish, he orders for themfirst beer, and then Ans del Toro (absinthe, a powerful
liqueur). A set of tracks runs on each side of the station. The train for Madrid will arrive
from Barcelona in forty minutes on the sunny side of the building. In front of them, the land
is dry. There are no trees. Distant hills appear white in the sun, and the woman says they
look like white elephants.While they sip their drinks, their conversation reveals that the
woman, Jig, and the man, identified only as an American, are at odds over her pregnancy.
She wants the child and hints that she would like to settle down. He wants her to abort the
child, saying the procedure is awfully simple and not really anything. Afterward, he says,
life for them can continue as before. Jig observes that the liqueur tastes like licorice. In
fact, she says, everything tastes like licorice. Her remark, apparently made out of boredom,
irks the man. Oh, cut it out, he says. They go back and forth on the question of the child.
Jig finally says, perhaps with a taint of sarcasm, that she will have the procedure because
I dont care about me. The man says he does not want her to have it if you feel that
way. .Jig gets up and walks to the end of the building. There, she looks around to the land
on the other side. She sees trees, grain fields, and the Ebro River, then says, And we could
have all this. When the man tells her that they can have whatever they wantWe can have
the whole worldJig says, It isnt ours any more . . . And once they take it away, you never
get it back. A woman brings them two more beers and alerts them that their train will
 Page 6 KELANIYA B.A. Part 1 (English Medium) English E 2025 - Introduction to
American Literature Short Story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

arrive in five minutes. The man then carries their two suitcases, each displaying labels from
all the hotels at which they lodged, to the other side of the station. When he returns, he
asks how she feels. She replies, Theres nothing wrong with me. I feel fine..

Narration, Style, Unanswered Questions

Hemingway wrote Hills Like White Elephants in third-person point of view that limits the
narration to what the characters say and do; it does not reveal their thoughts. Hemingway's
styledeveloped in part when he worked as a newspaper reporter and correspondent early
in his careeris simple and compact, with short sentences and paragraphs devoid of
verbosity. Adjectives and adverbs are few. However, this straightforward style, which he
used in all his major novels and short stories, often conveys complex themes and suggests
but does not explicitly statemotives, mind-sets, attitudes, and so on. In this respect,
Hemingway is imitating life, for seldom do two interacting human beingsfor example, you
and your teacher, you and your spouse, or you and your bossknow each others intimate
thoughts. You usually must guess at what he or she is thinking; you must interpret. Among
the questions the narration does not answer are the following:

How do Jig and the American support themselves? Is he one of

the members of the so-called lost generation, a group of writers who knocked
about Europe in the 1920s after being alienated by American values? Does one of them
come from a wealthy family?

What is Jig's nationality? The author refers to the man as an

American, possibly implying that she is from England, Canada, Australia, or another nation
where English is spoken.

Are Jig and the American single, engaged, or married? It seems

likely that they are single, but the narrator never explicitly says so.

What happens to Jig and the American after they leave the train
station?

.
Themes

Confronting the Future

Jig and the American have been traveling in Europe from hotel to hotel in pursuit of
pleasure. However, at Zaragoza, Jig expresses dissatisfaction with their nomadic existence,
especially now that she is pregnant. For her, Zaragoza represents a moment of truth, a
crossroads at which they must confront their future. She apparently wants to have the baby
and settle down to a normal life, symbolized from her perspective by the greenery and
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American Literature Short Story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

thriving grain fields on one side of the station. He wants her to abort their baby so that they
can continue their adventures. Carpe diem!seize the day!that is his rule for living. In an
attempt to persuade him that they are going in the wrong direction, Jig says their life has
become boring and repetitive: Thats all we do, isnt itlook at things and try new drinks?
But the man sloughs off her question and renews his attempt to break down her resistance
to the abortion. One problem for her is that she has difficulty asserting herself. She even
asks his permission when she wants a drink. For example, when he mentions Ans del Toro,
she says, Could we try it? Later, she says, Should we have another drink? Near the end
of the story, she asks, Could we have another beer?
When he continues to press the issue of an abortion, she becomes frustrated and says,
Would you please please please please please please please stop talking? Just before the
train arrives, he asks her how she feels. Theres nothing wrong with me," she says. "I feel
fine. Whether these last two sentences of the story mean that she has decided to choose
the baby over the abortion, or vice versaor simply decided to put off a decision for
another dayis a matter for the reader to interpret.

Inability to Communicate Effectively

.Jig and the American have difficulty articulating their feelings. Rather than bluntly stating
their views, they imply, hint, euphemize. In the end, their conversation frustrates Jig, who
tells the American, "Would you please please please please please please please stop
talking?

Selfishness

The man appears to be manipulating Jig in order to perpetuate a lifestyle in which she is a
convenient outlet for his libido. He is even willing to sacrifice a human life, Jills unborn
child, so that he can continue their joyride.

Over Indulgence

The ancient Greeks had a saying: "All things in moderation; nothing in excess." But Jig and
the American have apparently been living a life of excess. Consequently, life is no longer
fun for Jig. When she samples a strong and dangerous liqueur to try to revive her interest in
their great adventure, she says disappointedly that everything tastes like licorice.
Especially all the things youve waited for so long, like absinthe. Clearly, she is ready to
abandon their dissipated way of life to settle down.

Evasion of Responsibility

The American seems unable to accept responsibility, for whatever reason. Rather than
facing the challenges of normal life, he continually puts them off.
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American Literature Short Story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

Climax

The climax occurs when Jig ends the conversation, saying, "Would you please please
please please please please please stop talking?

. Symbols

White Elephants: From the perspective of the American, one of the hills resembling white
elephants is the enlargement of the uterus that is becoming, or will soon become, evident
as Jig's baby grows. A white elephant is a largely useless object that may be expensive to
own and maintain, according to one of its definitions in standard dictionaries. From the
perspective of Jig, one of the hills may represent the lifestyle of her and the American.
Railroad Tracks: Railroad tracks run side by side but never meet. Thus, they could symbolize
the relationship of Jig and the American.
Zaragoza: The last letter of the alphabet occurs twice in the name of this city. Jig and the
American may be two zs that have reached the end of the road.
Green Side of the Station: Obviously, this represents life, the baby, a new beginning.
Arid Side of the Station: This represents dissipation and death.
Ebro River: This waterway, which originates in the Cantabrian Mountains and flows 565
miles to the Mediterranean, represents vitality, life. It can also represent the passage of
time.
Ans del Toro: This represents the excitement the American offers Jig. But it fails to stir
her.
Baggage: This represents the past, which is the same as the future to the American. When
he picks up the suitcases and carries them to the other side of the station, he is indicating
that he wants to continue as before.

Author Information

Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961) was an American writer of novels and short stories.
Before turning to fiction, he worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Star and served as a
First World War ambulance driver before enlisting with the Italian infantry and suffering a
wound. After the war, he worked for the Toronto Star and lived for a time in Paris and Key
West, Fla. During the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War, he served as a
newspaper correspondent, then lived in Cuba until 1958 and Idaho until 1961, the year of his
death by suicide. His narratives frequently contain masculine motifs, such as bull-fighting
(Death in the Afternoon), hunting (The Green Hills of Africa), war (A Farewell to Arms, For
Whom the Bell Tolls), and fishing (The Old Man and the Sea). All of these motifs derive from
Hemingways own experiences as a traveler and an adventurer. Arguably, he was a better
short-story writer than a novelist, although it was his longer works that built his reputation.
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American Literature Short Story Hills Like White Elephants by Earnest Hemingway

Study Questions and Essay Topics

1. Does Jig love the American? Does he love her?

2. Write an essay that takes a stand on what Jig has decided to do.
3. The following statement containing a quotation that appears in the plot summary
above: When the American tells her that they can have whatever they wantWe can have
the whole worldJig says, It isnt ours any more . . . And once they take it away, you never
get it back. Comment on what Jig means when she says that "once they take it away, you
never get it back.
4. Write a short psychological profile of Jig or the American.
5. Write another ending for the story that tells what Jig plans to do.
..