The symbolism is obvious in this story. A reader could be forgiven if he or she shouted, "Would someone please shed some light on love, on relationships, on truth and dignity in this story and stop babbling through the gin!"

In the White Elephant story -- as in the other two stories -- there is no resolution, no solution, readers don't know if the woman has her baby, or decides to do what the man wants, have the abortion. But light is important in this story too. The mountains looked like white elephants. There was "no shade and no trees" so the visual is focused on bright light. Shrill light, but there is not much light shed on the real difficult decision facing the couple. There is a lot of talking around the issue. "Let's try and have a fine time," said the man. She says that the mountains look like white elephants, adding, "Wasn't that bright?"

Communication between two people engaged in a love affair should have more substance than what readers experience in this very short story. The clues are everywhere that these two have a tough time getting down to the reality that is facing them. Here they sit, waiting for transportation to Madrid for an abortion, if he gets his way. But they beat around the bush and discuss everything except what is the most vitally important. She said, "That's all we do, isn't it -- look at things and try new drinks?" His answer to the problem is to have her go ahead and have the abortion, after all it's the "…only thing that has made us unhappy," he said.

(it is very interesting that both Hemingway...

Emily could not explain why she didn't pay taxes; she couldn't tell the drug store person that the poison was for rats (even though it wasn't). People felt sorry for her because they had no idea what was going on in her life, they gossiped and conjectured, but since she didn't speak, and her house assistant didn't talk, no communication was available.
Conclusion: The major theme in this story is not love, or the lack of it, although love was an important aspect the story. The theme that had the most impact was the lack of honest, meaningful communication that could lead to fuller understanding. Something prevented that communication in each instance, and that void created the overriding theme in each story.

Works Cited

Carver, Raymond. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love: Stories. Ed. R.

Carver. New York: Vintage Books, 1989, c1981.

Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." In the Best of Faulkner. London: The Reprint Society:

1955.

Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills Like White Elephants." In the Oxford Book of Short Stories. Ed.

V. Pritchett. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.