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Carlos Viganoni
Burdick
Comp 2
2/11/2014
“Hills Like White Elephants”
1. The American and who is supposed to be his girlfriend, are considering whether she should go
through an operation of some kind. The operation that is discussed about can be interpreted as
an abortion.
2. The point of view in this story is the Dramatic/Objective narrator.
3. The protagonist is the American. The antagonist is the procedure that the American is trying to
convince his girlfriend, “Jig”, of undergoing. The major conflict is Man Vs Man as they argue
back and forth to see if the girlfriend will accept to go through with the abortion, in hope of
their love life to return to how it was before.
4. The story takes place in a station “between two lines of rails”. Near by the station, you can
observe that “The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white”. Also, “On this side
there was no shade and no trees”. It is interpreted that the station is located somewhere in Spain,
since the train that they are waiting to board is coming from Barcelona with destination to
Madrid. As they wait for the train, they both sat at a table in the shade just outside the building
where they ordered two beers or “cervezas”, as they would say in Spain, to try to quench their
thirst. The day in which this story takes place is scorching, and the surroundings of the station
are very dry. The temperature, and dry setting can symbolize the type of relationship they have.
Their attempt to figure out whether they will go through with the abortion makes her
