How is setting symbolic in the story, “Hills Like White Elephants”?
In “Hills Like White Elephants,” the narrative is almost all dialogue between Jig and the American man, so we must take our clues from them. It appears that the American man is trying to persuade his partner to get an abortion. The topic of their conversation is never directly stated, only ambiguously implied by Hemingway. However, if we bring into play the symbolism of Jig’s statement that the hills resemble white elephants, we might be able to make a more definitive case that this is in fact a story about unwanted pregnancy. Some have interpreted the hills as representing the rounded shape of a pregnant woman’s belly. A more interesting symbolism is not of the hills per se, but of the white elephants.
