Hills Like White Elephants – Criticism

Ernest Hemmingway takes up the issue abortion in his short story Hills Like White Elephants without uttering the word ‘abortion’, instead Hemingway uses the theory of omission where he presents the message through the story’s subtext, which is a rather subtle approach. It seems like Hemingway discretely is trying to influence the reader’s perception of the issue at hand. Hemingway’s short story represents another way of dealing with the much debated topic; his way of illustrating the difficulties with abortion goes very much in tune with the fact that abortion is a taboo to many. Although one must admire his tactic, it would have worked even better if he had the guts to address the issue openly instead of disguising it behind a veil of symbolism and exploration of the setting and dialogue between the two main characters. The absence of narrator works well to the extent that the reader is presented with a discussion about abortion in its raw form, when that being said the short story would have had more success if having put abortion on the spot. The mother-to-be or couples dealing with the difficult decision of having an abortion or not need to talk about it and hearing pros and cons as well, a more forthrightly approach would have reached another audience than the people Hemingway reaches by accidence.