Ernest Hemingway is a famous American novelist and an incredible short story writer. Twentieth-century fiction was heavily influenced by his style of writing, called the iceberg theory: reality floats above the water while connotation occurs below the surface. The majority of Hemingway's works focus on love, war, and loss. Hills Like White Elephants is one of the short stories, which obviously reflects his writing style. The story focuses on the conversation of a couple drinking in a bar at a Spanish train station while waiting for the train to Madrid. Despite the absence of the word "abortion" in the story, it is undoubtedly about the abortion of an unexpected pregnancy thanks to the powerful development of the setting and the symbolism achieved throughout the story. At the end of the story, Hemingway intentionally does not present a clear resolution, but leaves the readers to draw their own conclusion. The main moot point is: “Will they abort or keep the baby?” » I firmly believe that they will decide to keep the baby because the girl extremely wants to keep the baby and she is the one who has a lot of influence on the final decision. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Throughout the conversation, it gradually indicates that she will keep the baby regardless of the reasons given by the man. At first she said the mountains look like white elephants. According to Thai belief, the white elephant is a spiritual symbol and is given to each other as a gift of honor. Besides this meaning, the gift is almost useless but expensive to maintain. Therefore, it is an unwanted gift or burden that is the unexpected baby. However, she quickly changes her mind, saying, "They're beautiful hills." They don’t really look like white elephants.” Obviously there is a very positive change in her mind about the baby. Additionally, she highlights her nervousness about their future after the abortion. After drinking Anis Del Toro, she describes that everything is like absinthe. The attraction and effects of absinthe are interpreted in the context of a couple's relationship, attractive at the beginning, but painful at the end. The girl anticipates a dark future if she has an abortion, which would result in the loss of the baby and the end of the relationship with her lover. With this in mind, she continues to ask the man if he is happy or if he still loves her after the deliberate termination of her pregnancy. She also tries to emphasize her negative feelings about abortion in an attempt to get the man to accept the baby. Furthermore, she claims to foresee a negative future after her abortion by repeatedly denying all the encouraging results given by the man, such as they can have everything, they can have the whole world, they can go anywhere. At this point, the girl has gained strong confidence in her determination. It is clear to her that if the abortion is carried out, she and the man will never again be happy as before; therefore, she will end up losing not only the baby but also the lover. This thought keeps her in a precisely concrete position into which the baby must be brought into life. Finally, her last sentence of the story makes us believe that she has already made her choice. She said: “I feel good. There is nothing wrong with me. I feel good. She feels comfortable because she is determined to follow what she wants to do. Keep the baby. According to the emotional development of the girl throughout the conversation with the man, it is undeniable to say that she will not agree to eliminate the baby, regardless.