Hills Like White Elephants

This study guide will help you analyse the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. You can also find a summary of the text, as well as inspiration for interpreting it and putting it into perspective.

Presentation of the text

Title: “Hills Like White Elephants” (1927)
Author: Ernest Hemingway
Genre: Short story

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was an American writer and journalist. Through his succinct style of writing, Hemingway became one of the most recognisable modernist authors in the US. He is credited with adapting the psychological iceberg theory to literature. “Hills Like White Elephants” was originally published in a literary magazine called transition. Later, it was included in the author’s short story collection, Men Without Women.

Extract

Below, we provide a short extract from our study guide:

Title

The title of the story, “Hills Like White Elephants” is a simile that seems to refer to the setting of the narrative, without giving too many details about the plot. In the story, Jig is the one that describes the mountain view in this way: “ ‘They look like white elephants,’ she said.” (p. 475, l. 19)

However, the title has a deeper symbolical meaning, beyond being a reference to the setting. White elephants are usually a metaphor for an unwanted gift. The story suggests that Jig is pregnant and is going to have an abortion. Consequently, the title also refers to Jig’s unwanted pregnancy.