In “Hills Like White Elephants”, Ernest Hemmingway describes a couple waiting for a train, and their surroundings, they are trying to come to a decision about an operation that we assume to be an abortion.  His specific word choice throughout the piece, enhances his overall meaning greatly. The first time his word choice has an impact is when he states, “The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade” this is impactful because he could have easily given them names or identified the woman in another manner. The author decides to give the man an identity, and then decides to leave the girl without one. The word “girl” has a connotation that makes the woman seem, powerless, immature and ultimately insignificant, the authors conscious decision to call her “girl” instead of “woman” is indicative of his meaning for the piece. Another place where word choice is used is when the man says, “I love you now. You know I love you.” This statement implies that he only loves her because of something that she did, or something that happened, or it says that he hasn’t always loved her. The authors use of dialogue between the man and woman, enhances our understanding of the true conflict of the story. When the woman speaks up about anything, she is each time shut down by the man’s dialogue, an example of this is when she brings up the hills. The woman says, “They look like white elephants.”, this is the first mention of her metaphor, and the man barely acknowledges her. She mentions them a few more time and each time he acknowledges her even less. Eventually his he stops noticing completely, changing the subject immediately to what pleased him. The woman’s dialogue alone is enlightening, through her speech readers can see repetition if her asking others opinions.   She often says things like, “And you really want to?” and even goes so far as saying “I don’t care about me”. These statements highlight her internal conflict, and foreshadow her impending decision. Her decision is eventually indicated subtly through her statement, “I feel fine” “There’s nothing wrong with me, I feel fine”.  Lastly Hemmingway uses word choice again to accentuate her lack of identity by letting the man finally give her a name. Her name is not formally stated but the man does call her by a nickname, this was interesting because it indicated that she would be no one without him saying so. This is very important to the overall theme being portrayed.   

Hemmingway also uses imagery exceptionally to enhance his theme. Most prominently he uses imagery to describe the hills. Throughout the piece he describes the setting, and the hills in detail. The first line of the story is “The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white”, exemplifies its importance, he also makes us pay attention to them by titling his piece, “Hills Like White Elephants”. The woman’s repeated simile, “They look like white elephants” accentuates an important aspect of the conflict. She continues to bring them up in their conversation, and every time the man disregards her. This mirrors her desire to keep her unborn child, and the man’s disregard for her wishes. This ties directly to his use of word choice, when he takes away her identity. Making the hills white, helps us connect them to her child. The hills hold a sense of innocence, but are still thought of large and important. This imagery is important because it mirrors the woman’s thoughts and feelings about her baby, and describes how the author thinks the decision should be taken. This imagery is in stark contrast to how the man thinks of the baby, and the decision to keep it. This metaphor also helps the theme through the hills relation to the woman. By using hills in the distance opposed to something near the train tracks, is indicative of her feelings and struggles. The woman feels as if her desires are unreachable, or just a little too far away. She may feel this way because of the social perceptions of women, or because of the man’s feeling about the child, and how he forces his opinions on her. Also the way the that the setting changes throughout the piece, helps us understand the woman’s feelings. In the beginning of the story, before the operation is mentioned, the setting is sunny and bright. After the operation and the baby are mentioned, the scene is then described again, “The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees”. This change in setting also helps the reader understand how the woman truly feels about the operation, the shadow falling upon the setting, representing the darkness falling over the woman’s mind. 

Hemmingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is a complex and controversial piece, about society and how women is treated. Through the use of word choice and imagery, Hemmingway shows us how the woman in his story feels about her unborn child, and tells us directly how the man feels as well. The elements work together to help us see that the decision is not really hers, but is being forced upon her by the man. I think that Hemmingway attempts to teach us about the injustice that exists in our patriarchal society. It is amazing that his piece and these issues presented are still relevant 89 years later. 
