"Hills Like White Elephants" Because the poem is mostly made up of dialogues, a lack of environmental description makes every setting worth of meditation. Almost every detail of setting, even those that may seem innocuous, actually demonstrates the struggle between the two characters about whether or not to have an abortion.
The white hills in the distance are probably the first theme oriented setting, since the author mentions the hills and white elephants in the title. I imagine the hills symbolize the rounded enlargement of the girl’s stomach, indicating her pregnancy. “White elephants” can be considered as useless or unwanted things, or valuable possessions which owners cannot dispose of, or the avoidance of a difficult topic. I think each meaning of the phrase can explain the situation depicted in the poem when referring hills to elephants, where the boy thinks the baby will disrupt their peaceful and happy life and both the boy and girl are trying to avoid the topic of abortion.
Another setting beer appears many times throughout the poem, which shows that they avoid conservation or directly face the pregnant issue. They order beer for three times and after the first round the girl wants to try Anis Del Toro. At the end of time, after moving the luggage, they each drink alone, the man stops in the bar room has another drink while the girl sits at the table drinking.
The railroad tracks is another setting shows the great gap between the couple. “He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks.” Tracks, running side-by-side but never meet together, represent the between Jig and her boyfriend, which is being but never coming together. These tracks also divide the land to two parts, which shows the division exits between them.