Landscape Symbolism in Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” Essay
Authors frequently use elements of nature in their works to underline conflicts, illustrate an idea, reflect the feelings of characters or amplify the drama. Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Swift, Maugham, and many others often intertwine individuals with surroundings. In his short story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway also uses landscape features in a meaningful way. The author’s depiction of Ebro valley in this literary work is symbolic of a choice to have a child, and the dry, treeless land on the opposite side is representative of the life after abortion.
Jig’s indecision about birthgiving is reflected through the change in the metaphorical perception of the valley and hills. Through the power of the character’s observation and imagination, these natural sights become a symbol of life, something that is pleasant and full of energy and force as opposed to a flat country that is “brown and dry” (Hemingway 475) Yet, in some instances, brief moments of doubt about the decision to have a child, she stops recognizing elephants in hills and fails to believe that she could reside among those lively green spaces.
Consequently, hills cease being a symbol of life and become lifeless terrain elements again that serve solely as beautiful natural decor. This change in the role of a natural element is representative of a difficult choice of whether to give birth. The disbelief in the reality of the valley echoes the same fear. There are also other landscape features that are connected with this dilemma.
The barren land on the other side of the railroad is juxtaposed to the greenery and hills in the aspect of harmonious and loving family relationship versus abortion and relationship stalemate. If river banks represent the positive outcomes of a maternity decision, then that which is beyond their eyesight are the notions they dread. Jig, looking at the valley, says, “We could have all this,” which seems to be life, pleasure, love, and harmony (Hemingway 477).
She changes her mind again and contradicts this remark. The positive symbolic elements that the valley and hills represent will lose their relevance if she decides against having a child. Thus, the landscape on which nothing can grow, such as the wasteland on the other side of the railroad, represents abortion. The elements of this barren terrain vividly illustrate the outcomes of it. The two types of scenery are also intricately connected to symbols in other ways.
The valley, as opposed to flat, treeless plains, can be symbols of happiness and infertility, respectively, that represent a family and the end of the relationship. The valley is the dream of a happy life that abortion will make impossible. Jig understands that once the abortion is made and the life is taken, “you never get it back,” which might mean that she may lose the potential to give birth again (Hemingway 477). Nature illustrates this decision when she looks at the barren side of the landscape. It appears that nature as a whole, including hills and dry land, forms a strong connection to the protagonists’ dilemma.
In conclusion, the valley and treeless wasteland are symbolic of the consequences of the protagonists’ life choices. Rich with vegetation, Ebro valley represents new life which becomes evident from Jig’s desire to animate the hills and concentrate on observing the beauty of trees and rivers. On the other hand, the dry land is the symbol of death and infertility which is seen through the dialogue with the American.
Work Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills like White Elephants.” The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction, edited by Ann Charters, 6th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003, pp. 475-478.
