Hills Like White Elephants - wikipedia Hills Like White Elephants `` Hills Like White Elephants '' Author Ernest Hemingway Country United States Language English Genre ( s ) short story Published in Men Without Women Publication type short story collection Publication date 1927 Preceded by `` In Another Country '' Followed by `` The Killers '' `` Hills Like White Elephants '' is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It was first published in August 1927, in the literary magazine transition, then later in the 1927 short story collection Men Without Women. Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Analysis 2.1 Symbolism 3 Dialogue 4 Reception 5 References Synopsis The story focuses on a conversation between an American man and a woman at a Spanish train station while waiting for a train to Madrid. The woman compares the nearby hills to white elephants. The pair indirectly discuss an `` operation '' that the man apparently wants the woman to have, which is implied to be an abortion. Analysis There is little context or background information about the characters. The reader must infer their own conclusions based off of the dialogue. This has led to varying interpretations of the story. One point of debate is whether or not the woman decides to get an abortion. Critics like Stanley Renner assert that the details in the story imply that the woman decides to keep the baby : `` The logic of the story 's design enjoins the conclusion that she smiles brightly at the waitress 's announcement of the train because she is no longer headed in the direction of having the abortion that she has contemplated only with intense distress ''. Other critics conclude that the woman ultimately decides to get an abortion. Furthermore, most critics acknowledge that the story has several possible interpretations : `` The two organizing questions of the narrative -- will they have the abortion or the baby ? Will they break up or stay together ? -- imply four possible outcomes : 1 ) they will have the abortion and break up ; 2 ) they will have the abortion and stay together ; 3 ) they will have the baby and break up ; and 4 ) they will have the baby and stay together ''. There are many essays written which argue for all of these possibilities and more. There is no universal consensus because of the nature of the story ; the reader is simply not given much information. Symbolism The description of the valley of Ebro, in the opening paragraph, is often seen as having deeper meanings : `` It has long been recognized that the two sides of the valley of the Ebro represent two ways of life, one a sterile perpetuation of the aimless hedonism the couple have been pursuing, the other a participation in life in its full natural sense. '' Critics also point to the various positions of the characters, with relation to the train tracks and the valley, to show a wide variety of possible symbolic interpretations. Doris Lanier writes about the significance of Absinthe ( also called `` Anis del Toro '' ) in the story. She explains the drink `` was alluring not only because of its narcotic effects but also because of its reputation as an aphrodisiac. '' Lanier asserts that every detail in `` Hills Like White Elephants '' is intentionally placed by Hemingway, and the Absinthe could have several possible connotations. She postulates that `` the addictive quality of the drink... is meant to emphasize the addictive nature of the couple 's lifestyle... It is an empty, meaningless existence that revolves around traveling, sex, drinking, looking at things, and having pointless conversations about these things ''. Another possible interpretation of the Absinthe relates to it 's appeal and effects. Like the man and woman 's relationship, it is alluring at first, but `` It becomes a destroyer of the child, who is aborted ; a destroyer of the girl, who endures the physical and emotional pain of aborting the child she wants ; and a destroyer of the couple 's relationship ''. It is important to note that this interpretation assumes the couple have the abortion and end their relationship ; neither of these are certain, due to the ambiguity of the story. Dialogue `` They look like white elephants, '' she said. `` I 've never seen one, '' the man drank his beer. `` No, you would n't have. '' `` I might have, '' the man said. `` Just because you say I would n't have does n't prove anything. '' The girl looked at the bead curtain. `` They 've painted something on it, '' she said. `` What does it say ? '' `` Anis del Toro. It 's a drink. '' `` Could we try it ? '' The reader must interpret their dialogue and body language to infer their backgrounds and their attitudes with respect to the situation at hand, and their attitudes toward one another. From the outset of the story, the contentious nature of the couple 's conversation indicates resentment and unease. Some critics have written that the dialogue is a distillation of the contrasts between stereotypical male and female relationship roles : in the excerpt above, for instance, the woman draws the comparison with white elephants, but the hyper - rational male immediately denies it, dissolving the bit of poetry into objective realism with `` I 've never seen one. '' By saying, `` No, you would n't have '' she implies he had n't had a child before, or had n't allowed birth in the past. She also asks his permission to order a drink. Throughout the story, the woman is distant ; the American is rational. There may be more serious problems with the relationship than the purely circumstantial. While most critics have espoused relatively straightforward interpretations of the dialogue, a few have argued for alternate scenarios. Reception `` Hills Like White Elephants '' has been criticized for being anti-feminist ; it has also been interpreted as being pro-feminist. The anti-feminist perspective emphasizes the notion that the male dominates the female in the story, and she ultimately succumbs to his will by getting the abortion. Frederick Busch asserts that the woman `` ' buries her way of seeing as she will bury her child ' ''. However, critics also argue that the female character makes her own decision in the end, and the story is actually pro-feminist. Stanley Renner claims that `` Hills Like White Elephants '' is primarily empathetic towards the female character : `` So firmly does the story 's sympathy side with the girl and her values, so strong is her repugnance toward the idea of abortion, and so critical is the story of the male 's self - serving reluctance to shoulder the responsibility of the child he has begotten that the reading I have proposed seems the most logical resolution to its conflict. '' There is evidence for both possibilities, and there is no clear consensus. References ^ Jump up to : Renner, Stanley ( Fall 1995 ). `` Moving to the Girl 's Side of `` Hills Like White Elephants '' ``. The Hemingway Review. 15 ( 1 ) : 27 -- 41 -- via Gale Cengage Literature Resource Center. ^ Jump up to : Lanier, Doris ( Summer 1989 ). `` The Bittersweet Taste of Absinthe in Hemingway 's `` Hills Like White Elephants. '' ``. Studies in Short Fiction. 26 : 279 -- 288 -- via EBSCOhost. Jump up ^ Gillette, Meg ( Spring 2007 ). `` Making Modern Parents in Ernest Hemingway 's `` Hills Like White Elephants '' and Viña Delmar 's Bad Girl ``. MFS Modern Fiction Studies. 53 : 50 -- 69 -- via Project MUSE. ^ Jump up to : Renner, Stanley ( Fall 1995 ). `` Moving to the Girl 's Side of `` Hills Like White Elephants '' ``. The Hemingway Review. 15 ( 1 ) : 27 -- 41 -- via Gale Cengage Literature Resource Center. Jump up ^ Smiley, P. `` Gender - linked Miscommunication in ' Hills Like White Elephants. ' '' Hemingway Review, Fall 1988. Vol. 8 No. 1. p. 2 Jump up ^ Renner, S. `` Moving to the Girl 's ( sic ) Side of ' Hills Like White Elephants. ' '' Hemingway Review, Fall 1995. Vol. 15 No. 1. p. 27 Jump up ^ Rankin, Paul ( 2005 ). `` Hemingway 's Hills Like White Elephants ''. The Explicator. 63 : 234 -- 237 -- via EBSCOhost. Ernest Hemingway Bibliography Novels The Torrents of Spring ( 1926 ) The Sun Also Rises ( 1926 ) A Farewell to Arms ( 1929 ) To Have and Have Not ( 1937 ) For Whom the Bell Tolls ( 1940 ) Across the River and into the Trees ( 1950 ) The Old Man and the Sea ( 1952 ) Non-fiction Death in the Afternoon ( 1932 ) Green Hills of Africa ( 1935 ) Posthumous A Moveable Feast ( 1964 ) Islands in the Stream ( 1970 ) The Dangerous Summer ( 1985 ) The Garden of Eden ( 1986 ) True at First Light ( 1999 ) Under Kilimanjaro ( 2005 ) Short stories `` Indian Camp '' ( 1925 ) `` The Doctor and the Doctor 's Wife '' ( 1925 ) `` The End of Something '' ( 1925 ) `` The Three - Day Blow '' ( 1925 ) `` The Battler '' ( 1925 ) `` A Very Short Story '' ( 1925 ) `` Soldier 's Home '' ( 1925 ) `` The Revolutionist '' ( 1925 ) `` Mr. and Mrs. Elliot '' ( 1925 ) `` Cat in the Rain '' ( 1925 ) `` Out of Season '' ( 1925 ) `` Cross Country Snow '' ( 1925 ) `` My Old Man '' ( 1925 ) `` Big Two - Hearted River '' ( 1925 ) `` A Clean, Well - Lighted Place '' ( 1926 ) `` A Canary for One '' ( 1926 ) `` Fifty Grand '' ( 1927 ) `` Hills Like White Elephants '' ( 1927 ) `` The Killers '' ( 1927 ) `` The Undefeated '' ( 1927 ) `` Che Ti Dice La Patria ? '' ( 1927 ) `` In Another Country '' ( 1927 ) `` On the Quai at Smyrna '' ( 1930 ) `` Fathers and Sons '' ( 1932 ) `` A Day 's Wait '' ( 1933 ) `` The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio '' ( 1933 ) `` A Way You 'll Never Be '' ( 1933 ) `` The Snows of Kilimanjaro '' ( 1936 ) `` The Capital of the World '' ( 1936 ) `` The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber '' ( 1936 ) Short story collections Three Stories and Ten Poems ( 1923 ) In Our Time ( 1925 ) Men Without Women ( 1927 ) Winner Take Nothing ( 1933 ) The Fifth Column and the First Forty - Nine Stories ( 1938 ) The Snows of Kilimanjaro ( 1961 ) The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War ( 1969 ) The Nick Adams Stories ( 1972 ) The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway ( 1987 ) Ernest Hemingway : The Collected Stories ( 1995 ) Story fragments `` On Writing '' Poetry 88 Poems ( 1979 ) Complete Poems Letters and journalism Ernest Hemingway Selected Letters 1917 -- 1961 ( 1981 ) Dateline : Toronto ( 1985 ) The Cambridge Edition of the Letters of Ernest Hemingway ( 2011 ) Adaptations The Sun Also Rises 1957 film 1984 film Opera The Select ( The Sun Also Rises ) Ballet `` The Killers '' 1946 film 1956 film 1964 film Bukowski short story A Farewell to Arms 1932 film 1957 film 1966 TV series To Have and Have Not 1944 film The Breaking Point ( 1950 ) The Gun Runners ( 1958 ) Captain Khorshid ( 1987 ) For Whom the Bell Tolls 1943 film 1965 TV series Metallica song The Old Man and the Sea 1958 film 1990 miniseries 1999 film Other film adaptations The Macomber Affair ( 1947 ) The Snows of Kilimanjaro ( 1952 ) Hemingway 's Adventures of a Young Man ( 1962 ) Islands in the Stream ( 1977 ) See also Nick Adams Michigan cottage Idaho house Key West home Hotel Ambos Mundos, Havana home Finca Vigía, Cuba home Pilar ( boat ) The Spanish Earth ( 1937 film ) Bacall to Arms ( 1946 cartoon ) Hello Hemingway ( 1990 film ) In Love and War ( 1996 film ) Hemingway & Gellhorn ( 2012 film ) Cooper & Hemingway : The True Gen ( 2013 documentary ) Papa : Hemingway in Cuba ( 2015 film ) Hemingway Foundation / PEN Award Kennedy Library Hemingway collection Family Elizabeth Hadley Richardson ( first wife ) Jack Hemingway ( son ) Pauline Pfeiffer ( second wife ) Patrick Hemingway ( son ) Gregory Hemingway ( son ) Martha Gellhorn ( third wife ) Mary Welsh Hemingway ( fourth wife ) Grace Hall Hemingway ( mother ) Leicester Hemingway ( brother ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hills_Like_White_Elephants&oldid=815970795 '' Categories : 1927 short stories Short stories by Ernest Hemingway Abortion in fiction Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 18 December 2017, at 11 : 41. 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Question: hills like white elephants what kind of operation are the characters discussing
Answer: abortion