In Hills Like White Elephants, Ernest Hemingway uses imagery to elaborate on difficult life topics. In 1927, women did not have many if any societal rights. Women were expected to be submissive and put their identities in the men that they were associated with. When topics about Women’s Rights came up in conversations, there was not much controversy because men had the final say on decisions. Therefore, if a woman became pregnant during this time period, it was ultimately the man’s decision to abort the child or not. If abortion was the intended results in the man’s mind, then that was what was going to follow, which leads to the significance of the analyzation of the phrase “white elephants” throughout the short story (Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants”. The Carolina Reader. Ed. Ben Harley and Nicole Fisk. Department of Enlgish, USC Columbia; Hayden-McNeil, 2016. 527-531. Print). The repetition of the phrase “white elephants”, in Hills Like White Elephants, is used to express the woman’s discontent with the man’s decision regarding her body and abortion. This is important because it uses word choice, characterization, and imagery to discuss the abortion in which the woman has no say in.  

In the opening, “the American and the girl” have just sat down at a table to order drinks. Hemmingway refers to the woman as “the girl” rather than using a term such as “woman” This word choice exemplifies the lack of women’s rights during this time period. The connotation of “girl” instead of “woman” is that a girl would be someone meek, mild, weak, and too young or inexperienced to make life decisions. By choosing to use “the girl” rather than “the woman” Hemmingway has established that the reader should interpret “the girl” as someone too weak, young, and inexperienced in life to make the decision of whether to have the abortion or not. 

 Hemmingway refers to the male character as “the American.”. Using this characterization Hemmingway has now given the male lead traits that the reader can identify with. However, Hemmingway does not define a culture for the girl. Not giving the girl a culture to characterize her with sets her apart from the American because readers have no way to culturally identify with her. By giving the American characterization and not the girl, Hemmingway has established that the girl is not important enough to create characterization for. The girl was not viewed as important enough to characterize much less make her own decision about whether to abort a baby from a body or not. 

The first time that the phrase “white elephants” is used is in the conversation between the man and the girl right after the waitress brings the couple their first round of beers. The girl says, “’They look like white elephants,’ she said.”. The man’s response allows us to think that he does not understand what the girl is trying to tell him. He states, “’I’ve never seen one,’”. However, after reading further context of the story, we know that she longs to have the child, but as a result of gender differences and a lack of women’s rights at this time period, her opinions are not heard. The hills looking like white elephants is a symbolism of fertility and desire in the distance that she cannot reach due to her circumstances. By telling the American the hills look like white elephants the girl is expressing her desire to not abort the baby from her body. The hills looking like the curved backs of elephants is a symbol for the hills resembling a curved pregnant belly, the curved pregnant belly that the girl desires but the American will not allow her to have. This symbolic observation by the girl is an appeal to the American to consider her wants and needs for her own body in a time period where women’s rights were not considered at all. 

The next time that the girl speaks of the hills in resemblance to white elephants is on page 528 after they talk about the beer tasting like licorice. “’All right. I was trying. I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasn’t that bright?’”. Here, we see the girl really searching and trying to persuade the man to keep the baby. Before the girl makes her response, the man previously says, “’Well, let’s try and have a fine time.’”. This gave the girl her opportunity to open the topic of the conversation with the possibility of persuading the man to allow the pregnancy to go on. By asking the question, “’Wasn’t that bright?’” evokes a response from the man. The girl is really trying to change the man’s mind at this point in the conversation. The diction that the girl is using prompts a response from the American, forcing him to become a part of a conversation he is trying to avoid. The girl wants to discuss the pregnancy while the American tries to avoid the topic. This diction of the girl forcing the American into the conversation really shows her attempt to persuade the American to consider her right to her own body.

Further down the same page, the girl states, “’They’re lovely hills,’ she said. ‘They don’t really look like white elephants I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees.’”. By consistently comparing the hills to white elephants, we know that the girl sees the idea of pregnancy to be something that she longs for, but cannot have. Directly after she makes her statement, trying to submissively persuade the man to change his mind, he ignores her comment, “’Should we have another drink?’”. Changing the subject shows that the man had already made up his mind, which goes to support the fact that women ultimately had no say in finalized decisions, even about their own body.  

The repetition of the girl referencing the hills to white elephants shows her desires to not have the abortion. This repetition of the phrase used in an attempt to pursued the American to allow her to have a right to her pregnancy reaffirms the unequal gender roles. Each time the phrase “hills like white elephants” is referenced, the more desperate the girl becomes and the more dismissive the man becomes. The last persuasion by the girl and the quick dismissiveness of the American shows the climax of the main conflict, the disconnect between the agreement/disagreement for the abortion. In the end we find out that the couple does get on the train to travel to Madrid to have the abortion. Leaving the hills in the past shows the girl leaving her hopes of keeping the pregnancy. The lack of rights that the girl has is the reason why she gets on the train to Madrid, forcing her to give up a pregnancy she wants because the American does not want her to have the child. The girl’s right to her own body is discounted because of the time period she is in. Instead the American, a man, makes the decision for her. Forcing her to leave the hills that look like white elephants behind her, forcing her to end the pregnancy.
