Hills like elephants
Hills like elephants The short story "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway has a lot to do with making decision in a relationship. The story shows problems within a relationship and a lack of communication between a couple. Throughout the story, the couple is trying to argue about having an abortion. The couple has different mindset than each other, because of which they don’t agree with each other. The hills symbolize two different situations that the pregnant girl is faced with. Both hills are completely opposite of each other, and each "hill" or decision to the situation has a consequence that is just as different as the appearance of the hills. The hills symbolize big obstacles that we must climb, but they are not enormous mountains. This represents the fact that the girl's baby is a major obstacle in her life, but it is not the end of her life and she will make it through. Hills also are viewpoints to look out from, but also block the view for those who dwell in the valley. This represents how in the story Jig looks at the hills and sees opportunity, yet at the same time the man looks at the hills and sees nothing, his vision of a happy future is blocked by the obstacle of the child. American and Jig have a decision to make and there is no easy way out. I learned an important lesson from the story about relationships. Relationships grow as communication grows. American had less communication with his wife and always had different point of views than his wife, which made their relationship worse and therefore they couldn’t agree upon a decision. Being a girl, I can relate to this story as much as any other girl can. However, the story leaves us unclear with the result of Jig’s decision.