Did any real life event trigger Hemingways story, “Hills Like White Elephants”?
We must always be wary of our attempts to align the life with the fiction. This is especially true when one undertakes the study of Hemingway. Hemingway’s genius lies in his ability to invent from his experience and knowledge. It is through this invention that he succeeds in creating for the reader some of the most memorable persons, places, and episodes in all of American literature. If you must have a real life prototype for the short story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” Carlos Baker provides one in his book, Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story. See “Stages in the planning of ‘Men Without Women'” in Notes, page 595 (hardcover edition).
