"Hills Like White Elephants" and the Hemingway Iceberg

Emily Hughes

November 4, 2014

I am indefinitely drawn to Hemingway's writing style.  I loved "Hills Like White Elephants" and have always admired his idea of writing like an iceberg.  By taking such a minimalist approach to language construction, Hemingway creates stories stripped of everything but pure emotional charge.  This ability to draw out characters' innermost emotions gives an unmatched intensity to both "Hills Like White Elephants" and "Indian Camp."

In "Hills Like White Elephants," Hemingway is able to create two distinct characters using simple dialogue and extremely minimal prose.  The characters are not even given names, and are referred to as "the American" and "the girl with him."  The scene begins with a short discussion about drinks and the landscape (the "hills like white elephants").  However, Hemingway quickly shows his reader that this train station conversation is only the top eighth of the metaphorical iceberg.  

Their casual conversation seems to hide a larger secret, which can be observed by the disjointed commentary of the man and the girl early on in their dialogue.  Their thoughts are not directed towards anyone in particular; both the American and the girl with him are speaking words without hearing the other's response.  They are both quick to comment on everything but their situation (the hills, the beaded curtain, the taste of their drinks) which only serves to perpetuate the uncomfortable avoidance of the girl's surgery decision. 

When they do begin to discuss the possible abortion, Hemingway begins to create a heavy distinction between these two characters and their personal motivations.  It becomes clear that the American is trying to focus the conversation on her surgery and the decision it entails.  The girl refuses to discuss the actual pregnancy or abortion, instead insisting on ordering more drinks and idealizing their relationship's past.  Both of these actions emphasize how intensely she has grounded herself in a romanticized past.  Hemingway ends the story with the girl's insistent statement, "There's nothing wrong with me."  This brings the conversation full circle, and ends both characters in the same emotional place they began.