Response to Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”

My reading of Hills Like White Elephants was the first time I had ever read any material by Ernest Hemingway. Luckily I read the introduction to the story before I started reading, or I would surely have missed the point. Since I did read the introduction, however, I was able to appreciate the effectiveness of Hemingway’s focus on understated dialogue and subtly placed clues that describe the atmosphere and the tension in the situation.

Hemingway’s understated dialogue never explicitly describes the fact that the woman is talking about having an abortion, and it doesn’t need to. Hemingway’s point, it seems, is twofold. First, it seems that he is trying to describe a relatively commonplace situation while keeping the reader’s interest. He does this by generating a rapid-fire, back-and-forth dynamic in the dialogue, mainly by using as few tags and intermediate descriptions as possible during the couple’s actual discussion. This makes the reader read faster, which in turn makes the story seem to be moving at a more aggressive pace. Second, it seems that Hemingway wants to generate tension without outwardly generating it. This is generated, in large part, by the characters’ few well-placed actions. Most of these actions involve the individuals or the couple drinking a different kind of drink. Even the conversation focuses on what they will drink in between bouts of argument. Little clues, like the woman’s focus on the hill and the poster and everything except for her boyfriend, demonstrate her nervousness and unease.

Despite the tension Hemingway generates (the white elephant in the room, if you will), his dialogue still shines through the fact that the characters truly care for each other. The playfulness of her conversation, even at the most upset moment, just feels to the reader like something that two people who are very in love would say. An example of this is when the woman is trying to change the subject and says, “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” This is not something said out of scorn, but instead out of frustration and fear. It is said with her desire to be comfortable during the time of the most difficult decision in her life.

Hemingway does not flatly state any of this. It can all be implied strictly from the tone and careful placement of the few words and actions that make up Hills Like White Elephants. After reading this, I intend to read many more works by Ernest Hemingway.