Hills Like White Elephants Analysis

The Domination and Conquest of Nature Humanity’s attributes can be encapsulated with one specific characteristic: the seemingly intrinsic yearn to conquer nature. Archaeologist often cite the invention of agriculture as humanity’s key development, and, fundamentally, agriculture also represents man’s supremacy and superiority over the earth and over other animals. Humans tend to see the repression of nature as an accomplishment, and those who argue for conservation are often seen as weak, passive, and effeminate. Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants” is centered on the relationship and the discourse between a man and a woman. Throughout the story, the man attempts to convince the woman undergo an abortion, but the woman continues

For example, the man focuses on the station and the track tracks, and the woman is focusing on the environment, namely the hills. The woman compares the hills to white elephants (Hemingway #). When the man does not seem to understand the comparison, she expounds upon the metaphor, saying, “[t]hey don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees,” but the man ignores and dismisses her comment (Hemingway #). The metaphor is representative of both the fetus and nature. The woman, representing nature, supports the conservation of the fetus, and the man, representing artificial, argues for its destruction. The man cites that they will be happy, and the woman is unsure (Hemingway #). This is a reflection on the central argument; mankind argues for the domination of nature, but people are unsure. O’Brien claims the comparison between the hills and the white elephant is important because white elephants are seen as “both ‘annoyingly useless’ and a precious gift, something to be discarded and something to be… cherished” (23). Thus, the hills represent the dichotomy in humanity; nature must be cherished, but