American Research Journal of English and Literature

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) wrote “Hills like White Elephants” in 1927. The short story showcases most of his originality as a writer in the use of imagery, symbolism, irony, rhythmic language, dialogue, implicature, etc. Considering his genius as noticed in the narrative of less than 1,500 words in length that covers a period less than forty-minutes of the association between the two central characters, an American and his girlfriend, this paper analyses the style of Hemingway along with his treatment of the burning social issue emerging from pregnancy resulted in by love-making and the ways in which the two parties concerned reflect on it from their respective domains. The conflict over the foetus the girl is carrying within herself, for which the American is partly responsible, is temporarily interrupted by the affairs of daily life but is likely to remerge whenever they are to meet in peace. The implication is that they have no peace until the foetus is aborted or the child is born. The title suggests that the American’s attempt to dissuade the girl from having a child tends to increase her determination to have it as a result of the resilience she cultivates in her attempt to resist it. The story continues with a paradox growing from the contradictory exchanges the two make from their respective domains. Yet it remains a question whether the girl’s resilience will last until she becomes a mother. Hemingway leaves it in the air for the sake of the aesthetic quality of his short story. In a ten-part analysis of the story text carried out underten sub-topics coherently knitted together, are demonstrated Hemingway’s achievements in imagery, symbolism, and rhythmic language that are crucial for him as a thought-provoking storyteller.