I was reading “Hills Like White Elephants” again (I say again because I read it in high school and maybe one other time since) and this time I was struck with the meaning moreso than before. So I might try to give a little explanation of what I think “Hills Like White Elephants” is about.

It’s pretty commonly accepted that the surgery the man and woman are talking about is an abortion. I think that’s something that every class who ever has to learn anything about Hemmingway hast to learn. I never really understood much else in the story though.

But this time, my attention got caught by the phrase, “Everything tastes of licorice.” This really cemented the idea that this couple was caught up in monotony, despite being somewhere foreign and supposedly exciting, and being able to just “drink and look at things” to their heart’s content. Or at least the woman is getting sick of it.

She thinks that maybe she’s done with this exciting life and wants to start a family. The man doesn’t. Both are uncomfortable with enforcing their opinion on the other. However, the woman gets the sort of short end of he stick. Despite all the man’s instances to the contrary, she won’t be the same after the abortion. She will live her life in a constant state of wondering what could have been. While the man says they “could have everything” she insists that they cannot. If they get the abortion, she can never go back to this state where everything is carefree, and if they don’t then they definitely can’t, as they’ll have a child to tend for.

This essay is a woman on the edge of changing her life one way or another and not ever being able to choose a path that will let her keep normalcy. What a predicament!

I don’t know if this is the “correct” interpretation, or one that’s commonly accepted, that’s just what I thought from reading it again, and it’s more than I think I understood any other time I’ve read it, which was really cool, figuring it out.

(photo credit: me!)