In the short story, Hills Like White Elephants, Ernest Hemingway tells a story of a couple and their conflict. They are in Spain, a place where abortions are legal, waiting to board a train. The scenery is beautiful; they’re surrounded by mountains and trees. Throughout the story there are many conflicts between the characters, internal and external. The woman is struggling with whether or not to get an operation and the man is pressuring her to do so. Hemingway uses persuasive language and literary devices such as symbolism and similes to emphasize gender roles and how society won’t talk about touchy subjects directly or choosing to ignore them all together. 

First, the language is emphasized by the conflict with the man and woman. Hemingway purposely uses their dialogue to portray the gender role. While the man and the woman are waiting for the train the man orders drinks for the two of them, ‘“Dos cervezas,’ the man said into the curtain. ‘Big ones?’ a woman asked from the doorway. ‘Yes. Two big ones”’ (Hemingway 527). Besides ordering for her, he does it in a language she doesn’t understand, which is clearly unnecessary because the woman responds in English. The male dominance in the relationship reflects gender roles in modern society. Although they are changing they still exist; men often order for the woman because they feel as if they know best. The man in the story does this by pushing his opinions about the operation onto the woman when he says, ‘“It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,” the man said. ‘Its’s not really an operation at all.’ The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on. ‘I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s not really anything. It’s just to let the air in”’ (Hemingway 528). During the story the reader can infer that the operation is an abortion even though it is not directly stated. The man seems to think that he knows all there is to know and that abortions are easy, painless procedures. As most people know, abortions take a great physical and emotional toll on the recipient. Without this type of dialogue, the story would be boring and meaningless.

Second, the gender roles are clearly conveyed through Hemingway’s language choice and descriptions. The normal gender roles of society involve the man being more dominant over the woman. He makes choices for her and even pushes his opinion onto her. In the story the identity of the woman is solely dependent on that of the mans. Everything we know about the girl is described in correlation to the man; he is the American and she is the girl with the American, we know her by the name he assigned her, Jig. He also uses love and the idea of love to manipulate the woman into doing as he wants, he says, “’I love you now. You know I love you’ ‘I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things like white elephants, and you’ll like it?’ ‘I’ll love it. I love it now but I just can’t think about it. You know how I get when I worry”’ (Hemingway 529). She is clearly unsure about the abortion and instead of talking about her feelings, he makes it about himself. He says to her, she knows how he gets when he worries implying the abortion or just the thought of a child is much harder on him than her. As we continue to read the story we learn that the realize that the relationship between the couple is more one sided. Hemingway purposely has the character’s dialogue formatted in a way where we aren’t really sure who is talking or who said what. This also gives the effect of the man’s control because he seems to start or end most of the dialogues. He ignores her in the end of the story when she asks him to stop talking and he continues to talk. He decides to take the couple’s bags and put them on the train giving the woman no choice but to go. Hemingway purposely ends the story with the woman saying, “’I feel fine… There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine”’ (531). Now we assume she gets the abortion and we can tell through the tone that she isn’t fine and she finally gave up. She gives in to the man because he is relentless and manipulates her to get the abortion.

 Lastly, the talk between the couple about the abortion feeds into the lack of communication of the touchy/taboo subject. Society tends to hide its problems in hopes that they will just go away. The woman never says the word “abortion” but she alludes to it using a simile as a symbol, “Hills Like White Elephants”. The white elephant refers to a thing no one wants or wants to talk about and the white refers to the innocence or purity of the child. The symbol of the elephant allows the woman to talk about the child without actually referring to it. As the woman keeps referring to the White Elephants, the man’s responses become less and less. She says, ‘“They look like white elephants’… ‘I’ve never seen one,’ the man drank his beer. ‘No, you wouldn’t have”’ (Hemingway 527). Here he responds to her statement and puts her off. The second time the woman brings up the White Elephants by saying the mountains looked like them, the man responds by saying, ‘“That was bright’’’ (Hemingway 528). This time he still responds to her but he makes more of a statement than continuing the conversation or acknowledging her comparison. The third time the woman brings up White Elephants, the man totally ignores her, she says, ‘“…They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees’ ‘Should we have another drink?’’’ (Hemingway 528). The woman clearly wants to address the operation yet he refuses to acknowledge it. She also refuses to say it directly to him because of the distasteful nature of the subject as viewed by society. By using this evasive language and symbolism, Hemingway is able to convey things without coming right out and saying them.

By having the man display control over the woman in the relationship, Hemingway portrays the gender roles in society. He doesn’t come right out and say it but he hides it in the dialogue of the characters. He also disguises many different messages through the use of symbolism. The White Elephants symbolizes the abortion and is used in order to make it easier for the woman to talk about it. Society does not really accept these topics nor do many people talk about them. That is why it is so effective to hide them in a story with deeper meaning. On the surface it’s a couple having a conversation before a train ride but if you look closer, they are battling a deeper conflict.
