The Meaning Of Love In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

What is the meaning of love? Many people believe in love at first sight, and this number seemingly goes down, as some people simply don’t find love at first sight or second and so on. Love may not be finding the absolute perfect relationship but what one can say is perfect in their eyes. The feeling that is strung along with this is complete disappointment. In Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, the feeling of disappointment is felt throughout the audience, as the reader learns of the situational struggle and the extremely uncomfortable topic of the unborn baby sitting with them at the restaurant. It is ironic that pregnancy is perceived as a disappointment, a burden. As if the couple didn’t have enough going on as it was, let’s

Early on, the man orders “two Anis del Toro” (Hemingway, 390). This is used by many, especially writers, as a method of sweeping your problems under the rug. In this case, the American was doing was potentially anchoring the girl down with him. The man is not paying attention to her and could just be trying to forcibly mesh her into his life. This consequently leads to the girl getting annoyed of the man saying that all they do is “look at things and try new drinks” (Hemingway 397). There is something more to this life is what her mind tells her, but the at-ease attitude of her boyfriend doesn’t coincide well with that. To be blunt, the girl craves change, and it is uncertain whether or not the American man can provide that now or ever. The man just sits there and says that all will be good once this issue is taken care of, so this annoys the girl. She is tired of this cultural mirage and living in another person’s fantasy. The man sees a child being born not as the next step in his life but a methodical bump in the road. We can confirm this when he says that the clouds do not look like white elephants and then “drank his beer” to further ignore the obvious shot at him for continuing to ignore the fact that there is a creature inside her