As is so typical of Ernest Hemingway's minimalist style,
much of the meaning of "Hills Like White Elephants" comes from what is not said and what
lies beneath the surface--his renowned "iceberg effect." Often a second reading of his
stories reveals more to the student since knowing the outcome assists in finding how it
came about. However, in this story, even the outcome is
unresolved.
Nevertheless, it is this ambiguous conclusion
that leads the reader to an understanding of the character of the man who is myopic in
his relationship with Jigs, the girl. For instance, while the couple are waiting for
the train to Barcelona and sit at a table, Jig "looks off at the line of hills" and
reflectively notes that they look like white elephants, but the man replies without
interest without pausing in his drinking of a beer:
"I've never seen one," the man drank his
beer.
"No, you wouldn't
have."
"I might have," the man said. "Just because you say
I wouldn't have doesn't prove
anything.
He becomes angered
at the suggestion that he cannot expand his thinking, a contention made relevant in the
ensuing conversation as Jigs tries to escape her thoughts by drinking absinthe, known
for its psychoactive properties:
"It tastes like licorice," the girl said and put
the glass down.
"That's the way with
everything."
"Yes," said the girl. Everything tastes of
licorice. Especially all the things you've waited so long for, like
absinthe."
The man, "who
lacks imagination" as a character from another of Hemingway's stories describes such a
man, dismisses her reflections. Likewise, he seeks to dismiss the subject of his desire
for Jig to have an abortion so that they can "...be fine afterward. Just like we were
before." Repeatedly, the man speaks of his concern for Jig--"if you don't want to you
don't have to." But Jig's knows that things will be
different:
"...But if I do it, then it will be nice again if
I say things are like white elephants, and you'll like
it?"
Another aspect that
develops the meaning to the apparently trivial conversation is the few lines that
Hemingway puts between this dialogue. For example, towards the end of the story, the
man tries to convince Jig by saying, "But you've got to realize---" and she abruptly
responds with "I realize"; however Hemingway narrates that she looks across at the hills
on the dry side of the valley and the man looks at her and at the table. These actions
of the girl and the man indicate their points of view on their serious topic. For, Jigs
sees beyond to a dry, dispassionate relationship, while again the man is myopic and
selfish. Thus, there is no resolution to their conflict since there is no change in
character.
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