At the heart of the short story “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway is the reformation that affects Spanish and American cultures. It shows the reality of a struggle between the two key characters, the young girl and the American. Differences in their personalities and perception of life in general, especially appertaining to wealth and prosperity carry the weight and the theme of the story. Finding themselves in a train station, the two persons drink their time away amid squabbles. The author highlights the differences between the two main characters by using various linguistic and stylistic devices. It takes critical thinking and thorough analysis to understand the storyline and the overriding theme. All in all, in “Hills like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway uses dialogue, setting, symbolism and irony to present the story that is characteristically Modernist. Read literary analysis of another story of this author For Whom the Bell Tolls

Dialogue is most evident and extensively used device in the story. Antagonism between the personality of the young lady, the American gentleman and the bar lady is clearly outlined in their one of their discussions. Although the American and his companion woman are travelling together and have been probably doing things together, there is a huge gap in expectations. Whereas the lady is adamant that they can forget the past and walk together into a brand new future, the man is quite skeptical, largely relying on the past experience he has had with the lady. However, the reader is not aware of what transpired in the past and can only guess what caused such difference between them. This is a wise application of suspense as the audience is left on their own to join the dots and make sense out of the silent cold war between their hearts.

Secondly, the setting is well in tandem with the events in the story. First of all, the bar in which the American and his companion cool their heels as they wait for the next train to Madrid is situated in a very hot locality. On arrival, most probably from the hotel in which they have been staying, their first solace is downing a few pints of alcohol. They do not seem to stop drinking throughout their stay in the train station. At first glance, drinking seems aimed at drowning the unfriendly exchanges between the American and his lady friend. As a matter of fact, they do not seem to agree on anything else apart from the next brand and quantity of alcohol to consume. As disagreements ensue, the lady proposes that they drink in silence. This bespeaks of their inability to solve their differences amicably and in a sober manner. It appears that the writer uses this setting to communicate the fact that the concerned parties cannot agree on anything worthwhile, and what they do destroys and deconstructs their relationship. This is a powerful literary device used to hide the obvious from the eyes of the reader.

In addition, it is ironical that the heat of the day causes the lady to take off her hat, lay it on the table and have alcoholic drinks. Resorting to quench their thirst with alcohol rather than cold flavored water is the height of irony. It is a known fact that alcohol dehydrates rather than hydrates the body. It may be opined that the continual ordering and subsequent drinking of more alcohol is the result of a wrong choice made by the parties. Instead of helping them, their choice worsens the situation. This is a clear reflection of the real-time relation between the American and the girl, who lacks touch with reality. Superficiality does not work to solve the problems as it only ignores their existence. It is apparent that the problems between the American and his lady friend are more complex than they assume. From the lady’s perspective, a reader can deduce that the liveliness of their relationship is as dead as white elephants. This may be due to the fact that the girl could see the image of extinct creatures, white elephants, while the man could not. Therefore, the American man symbolized hope, while his counterpart was a symbol of hopelessness.