Symbolism and Subtext in Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"
This essay analyzes Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants," focusing on the author's use of symbolism, subtext, and figurative language to explore themes of abortion, gender relations, identity, and personal autonomy. The paper examines the unnamed procedure at the center of the couple's tense dialogue, the significance of the story's setting and title, and the contrasting characterizations of the American man and Jig. It also explores phallic imagery embedded in the landscape and the patriarchal attitudes that define the man's behavior, arguing that Hemingway ultimately sympathizes with Jig as she moves toward a quiet but powerful assertion of selfhood.
- Introduction: Atmosphere and Subtext: Introduces tone, setting, and symbolic framework
- The Unnamed Procedure and Underlying Tension: Decodes the abortion subtext through dialogue
- Identity, Gender, and Character: Analyzes the man and Jig's characterization
- The White Elephant: Family, Choice, and Sarcasm: Explores Jig's sarcasm and the pregnancy dilemma
- Jig's Self-Esteem and the Open Ending: Examines Jig's emotional state and ambiguous resolution
- Phallic Imagery and Patriarchal Attitudes: Reads the landscape as phallic and the man as sexist
- Conclusion: Crossroads and Personal Values: Ties together themes of choice, sexism, and identity
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its interpretive claims in specific textual evidence, quoting dialogue directly and explaining how word choices — such as the man's repeated use of "simple" — reveal character motivation.
- It sustains a consistent analytical lens throughout, connecting symbolic elements (the hills, phallic imagery, the train setting) back to the central themes of gender and personal identity.
- The essay acknowledges interpretive ambiguity rather than resolving it artificially, particularly in discussing Jig's final smiles and the story's deliberately open ending.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates close reading — the practice of analyzing specific word choices, punctuation, and dialogue patterns for deeper meaning. For example, it notes that Hemingway inserts a dash to show Jig interrupting the man, and that her pivot to ordering another beer immediately after signals emotional suppression. This attention to textual micro-details is the hallmark of effective literary analysis at the undergraduate level.
Structure breakdown
The essay moves from a broad introduction establishing tone and theme, into an analysis of the central dramatic situation (the abortion), then to character and identity, and finally through increasingly layered symbolic readings (the white elephant, phallic landscape, patriarchal behavior). A brief conclusion ties the thematic threads together. Each paragraph builds on the previous one rather than standing alone, creating cumulative argumentative momentum.
A profound sense of melancholy envelops the couple at the center of Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." The story takes place in a single scene, depicting a difficult conversation between a couple referred to simply as the "man" and the "girl." Most of the dialogue operates through subtext, as neither character uses direct language except when referring to their drinks. The symbol-laden setting complements the figurative dialogue. The couple is waiting for a train, at a crossroads in their individual lives. The title of the short story encapsulates the metaphoric discourse that unfolds. Hemingway's title can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, none of which are literal. Ironically, however, the couple does discuss white elephants in a literal sense when the man says, "I've never seen one." Through symbolism and subtext, Ernest Hemingway creates a tense, moody atmosphere in which the reader can explore issues related to relationships, self-esteem, gender relations, and personal identity.
That "Hills Like White Elephants" is about an abortion is all but clear, even though no one mentions so much as a pregnancy. After making small talk about the titular hills and their drinks, the man suddenly blurts out, "It's really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It's not really an operation at all." References to letting the "air in" further indicate that the procedure in question is an abortion. Moreover, the girl says, "once they take it away, you never get it back."
Yet even before he mentions the operation, the reader senses great tension between the two. Their tempers are short, as when the girl states, "That's all we do, isn't it — look at things and try new drinks?" They bicker like children: "Oh, cut it out," the man says. Jig replies, "You started it."
Neither the man nor the "girl" has a solid identity in the story. He is referred to simply as an "American." No reference to his physical appearance is offered, nor to his age. The fact that Jig is called a "girl" is significant, but so is her actually being given a name. It is as if Hemingway wants her to be empowered and liberated from her insensitive boyfriend. The author is rooting for her, but her feelings prove too tumultuous for her to think clearly. Instead, she drowns her sorrows in escapism.
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