Ernest Hemingway’s style in almost all of his works is to provide little backstory and leave room for mass speculation. One such work, Hills Like White Elephants, perfectly illustrates this style. Elephants portrays an American man sitting in a train station talking with a girl about a conflict unknown to the reader. Many have read into the language that Hemingway leaves and have come to the conclusion that the two are a couple and are going to get an abortion. Some forget to look at how Hemingway uses the language and situation to indicate how the couple’s relationship will turn out. The couple’s language is very thin, indirect, and bland. Analyzing the language Hemingway uses will allow readers to accurately predict whether the couple’s relationship will continue or not.

“What should we drink?”, with this, the enigmatic conversation between the American and the girl begins. The two are sitting at what appears to be a bar in a train station, presumably on their way to get an abortion. This situation would be very stressful and serious for any other couple, but the language between the American and the girl is purely small talk; almost as if they were passing time on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The couple continue to discuss what they want to drink, speaking in short sentences. This continues until the girl inserts a small joke about the hills in the distance looking like white elephants, as if to refer to the elephant in the room. This short small talk reveals a great deal about how the two feel for each other. The American becomes slightly annoyed with the girl’s comment. They argue for a bit, saying they should try to have a good time. A lot can be read in to during this discussion. Both the American and the girl are not enjoying themselves or each other’s company and they both know that this is the result of the situation they are in. The girl wants to keep the baby while the man wants the abortion. This discourse is echoed in the conversation as her comment about the white elephants bugs the American. She wants to have fun and try to make jokes about the situation while he just wants to get it over with. This combined with the bland discussion shows that their relationship is definitely in trouble. Both want completely different things and are clearly upset with each other for it. The short language shows that they are beyond compromise and have made a decision. This decision will loom over them for the remainder of their relationship and as it looms over them now, they are unhappy. 

The couple’s discussion continues for a while with petty arguing here and there, with the conversation coming to a pause after the girl begs the American to stop talking. This is a sharp turn from how the girl was feeling earlier, wanting to have a fun, lighthearted discussion. She specifically silences him because he starts arguing with her about the decision they are making. She is clearly extremely angered with him because of what he is making her doing. This raises the question, will she ever not be angry with him because of the decision? She may find small amounts of happiness at times, but will she ever be truly happy and in love with this man again?

Once the girl asks the American to stop talking, he steps out to check on the status of the train. When he comes back, he asks the girl if she is better to which she responds, “I feel fine… there’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine,”. This is perhaps the most telling line of dialogue to predict the outcome of the couple’s relationship. Here, the girl has decided she does not want to discuss her feelings any further with the American. She shuts off the communication between the two of them, making sure the man has no room to ask her feelings on the subject. This provides a large reason for the reader to believe that she does not love this person anymore and may in fact hate him for what he is making her do. She no longer wants any real communication with the American, she simply wants it to end. If she is unwilling to communicate her feelings about possibly one of the largest events in her life, then she will never be able to truly communicate any of her future feelings about what she considers important. This will lead to a lack of trust and bitterness toward one another. By this analysis it is easy to predict that the couple’s relationship will end.  