Short Story Analysis: Hills like White Elephants

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the catalyst for conflict. The two characters have different opinions towards the operation Jig is considering, and how it will affect their relationship. The characters are tied down to each other suppressing their personal freedom and the evident pregnancy of Jig is just convoluting that problem because it will subsequently make it much more real. The characters talk about a time when the world was theirs for the taking, when they could go out and do whatever they wanted, yet the current constraints of the pregnancy have now halted that. Hemingway writes:

“We can have everything.”

“No, we can’t.”

“We can have the whole world.”

“No, we can’t.”

“We can go everywhere.”

“No, we can’t. It isn’t ours anymore.”

“It’s ours.”

“No, it isn’t. And once they take it away, you never get it back.” (1).

A decision is made by Jig to go through with the operation, but it seemingly fails to resolve the conflict. The reader is left to decide what will happen between the characters when the train arrives. The American is portrayed as longing for the freedom the other train passengers seem to have implying that the two may part ways when the train arrives.

• Hemingway commonly uses his self proclaimed "Iceberg Theory" in his writing and it is quite applicable to Hills Like White Elephants. The story and dialogue are quite bare-boned and only offer a dry back and forth between the characters. The conflict highlighted in the story is only scratched and hinted at through this, showing only the tip of the iceberg. This effectively urges the reader to dive into the meaning to reveal the underlying information. It creates a looming sense of tension within the story yet the basic style of writing offers no internal monologue. This is turn forces the reader to interpret the thoughts and emotions of the characters. Jig’s closing statement enforces this when she gives no inclination to how she is really feeling by stating that, “I feel fine,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” (Hemingway

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