Ernest Hemingway's "Hills like White Elephants- is a short story, which contains many symbols that can reveal the story's meaning. Hemingway's story does not say what is going on though it is up to the reader to figure out. The symbols in "Hills like white elephants- give the reader clues of what the writer wants to say.
In "Hills like White Elephants- the author does not actually say in the text what is happening. Then a short story cannot be too specific because then it would not be a short story any longer. The reader can by the symbols realize what the story is really about. Some readers may interpret another way of seeing the truth, but the symbols are there. .
The story is about an American and his girlfriend; they are waiting for the train at a station between Barcelona and Madrid. They are sitting on a café drinking beer and liquorice. When reading the story you figure out that she probably is pregnant and that her American boyfriend is not too happy about it. .
The title "Hills like White Elephants- can tell you something if you think about symbols and the meaning of them. In this short story the American and his girlfriend are sitting on the café and the girl views from one side to another a couple of times. On one side there is no shade, no trees, only hills, which are white, like elephants. On the other side there is a river (the banks of Ebro) and fields of grain. In these past sentences there are various symbols that the author present to the reader. The dry side of the station symbolizes that there is no life, nothing can grow there. The other green side with the river and the trees symbolizes life. The couple is having a discussion something that we actually do not know about. The American is talking to her about an easy operation, while the girl does not want to do it. The title of this novel "Hills like White Elephants- symbolize her pregnancy where the hills symbolize her belly and the white elephant symbolize something that a person normally does not want (You can buy a white elephant in a market place).
