Hemingway's story "Hills like White Elephants" is not characteristic of the mainstream modernist writers such as Joyce or Woolf that mainly uses free indirect discourse. He uses what he calls the "iceberg principle" only a small portion of the total meaning appears on the surface while the bulk remains submerged but its existence can be inferred what is literally visible. These inferences revolve around symbolic associations that arise and the use of dialogue that mediates the reader through the consciousness of the main character. For example, when Jig rises and looks at the nearby "fields of grain and trees along the bank of Ebro." The reader gets a sense the Jigs wants to have the child, not the abortion and her desire to live a life of normality with the American. However, she appears to deny this part of herself presumably for the sake of the relationship. She claims, "I don't care about me . . . " and "I don't feel any way, . . . " and in the end the reader knows that Jig isn't quite comfortable with having the abortion even though she claims "There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine." The reader feels the character's sense of loss and emotional emptiness. Clearly Hemingway isn't interested in representing consciousness directly, the reader needs to interpret the feelings of the characters from what they say and, importantly, from what they don't say. Nevertheless, Hemingway's unique style is very characteristic of modernism because his language is very ambiguous and requires interpretation from the reader in order to understand the story as a whole. Because Hemingway invites the reader to participate in the scene, the reader is able to submit into the minds of the characters and the characters" experiences become a part of the reader. The meaning of the story is very subjective, it depends on the reader and his interpretation. .
