hills like white elephants

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             The title of Hills like White Elephants can be analyzed a lot deeper. I think that the hills refer to the shape of a woman's belly during pregnancy and the white elephants represent a property that needs much care for and is very delicate. I view white, as a pure color that is very delicate just like a baby is when it is born. The girl states that, "They don't really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees,"(page 757) which I think she is talking about the color of her belly being a pale color. The landscape itself is a symbol. The railway station with the lines of the track running parallel, symbolizes that their lives are running together but are separated. Hemingway then tells the reader that a train will be passing through and will stop for only two minutes. This symbolizes the importance of the girl's decision to have the abortion. It is a big decision and there is not much time to sit around and think about her choice. The train also symbolizes change and movement, something that the couple needs because their life seems to be very routine. The story also talks about, "a curtain made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out the flies."(Page 756) I think this is symbolizing the couple on one side of the curtain trying to keep everyone else out of their lives for the time being. The girl takes a look at the beads and states that, "they've painted something on it"(page756) and it was a name of a drink. The girl asks for one and she finds that it tastes like black licorice. I think that she's saying that once she lets something through the curtain everything is going to be bad. It also could be saying that she is trying a new drink and is hoping that it will taste different than all the others. Then the girl says, " Everything tastes like licorice. Especially all the things you've waited so long for, like absinthe.