What is the use of symbolism in writing? Is it merely to confuse the reader or is its true intent to make the reader think about the meaning of the story? A symbol is a person, object, or event that suggests more than its literal meaning (Meyer 220). In Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants," Hemingway uses a plethora of symbols to convey the idea that the young girl, Jig is ambivalent to having an abortion and that her older American boyfriend does not want to have the baby. Although the word abortion is never used in the story, the reader understands the concept through Hemingway's symbolism.

In the beginning of the story, Jig and her boyfriend are waiting for a train in the valley of Ebro. They did not take a car or any other customary means of transportation. Thus, the train means choice. On a train, the track can only lead one way or go in the opposite direction, which means that Jig has not made a decision about what she is going to do. At the end of the story, we still do not know what Jig is going to do or what train she is going to take. In addition, the valley of Ebro has a river running through it, the river representing life, the life of the bab

Jig might be having the abortion because she is drinking during her pregnancy. Jig does not even think twice about drinking, she is the one that even said, "let's drink beer" (614). Even though in this time period a pregnant woman drinking was acceptable, it was suggested that the woman drink very little alcohol. However, Jig does drink a lot of alcohol at the train station. She continues to drink through out the story and even tries Anis Del Toro, which is illegal alcohol drink in most countries due to the drink killing people when consumed in large quantities. She is already thinking of the child as dead and not being a part of her. Moreover, Jig says, "everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you've waited so long for, like absinthe" (614). This line means that Jig has been waiting to become pregnant and now that she has, she feels she has to kill the unborn baby. Absinthe is a kind of drink, however, it is also considered a poison. Which could mean, that in Jig's mind, she has already made up her mind that she is going to kill the baby, however, in her heart, she still has not made her decision.

y. Right now, Jig does not know if she is going to keep the unexpected pregnancy and her boyfriend wants their life as it used to be, without the pregnancy. However, the final decision is Jig's decision.

The use of the words "everything" and "not anything" also have meaning throughout story. The boyfriend is constantly telling Jig, "it's really not anything" (615). He feels that the child that is growing in Jig's stomach is nothing; that he does not even think of it as a part of himself. He does not want the baby and has put it out of his mind. However, on the other hand, Jig, by at the end of the story has started to think of the child as something. She tells her boyfriend that "we could have all this... and we could have everything" (616). Jig knows that having the child will make her look like a whore in the eyes of her community, thus she knows that she has to get rid of the baby, but in her heart she wants to keep it.

The woman could also look at pregnancy as a beautiful aspect of life. In the story, the woman's pregnancy is implied through their conversation. She refers to the near by hills as elephants, "They look like white elephants" (614). She is comparing the hills to her own situation-- pregnancy. "They're lovely hills. They really don't look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees" (614). Just as the hill

Some common words found in the essay are:
White Elephants, Elephants Hemingway, Moreover Jig, White Elephant, Del Toro, white elephant, white elephants, Ernest Hemingway's, story jig, baby jig, Hills White, hills white elephants, jig boyfriend, jig looks, indian society, meaning white, hills white, feel fine, meaning white elephant,
Approximate Word count = 1681
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)