The short story begins: “The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white” (229). As the setting of the story is introduced, Hemingway presents the tone as both whimsical and inquisitive. The story comments on itself and the nature of the setting as well as the condition of Jig progressively throughout the story. Hemingway refers to the “station between two lines of rails in the sun” (229) as a definitive statement to reveal points of contrast between the sides of the tracks. The “white” that Hemingway alludes to in his beginning description begins his representation of purity and innocence through Jig. As Hemingway broadens the setting of the story, he identifies the “crossroads” that the main characters are facing as they have traveled from the United States to Madrid …show more content…
The station, like the abortion, provides a connection between their situation and the setting: they are caught in a stationary spot that they have yet to make a decision upon. Therefore, the image of “... the line of hills” (229) that the girl regards as “white elephants,” focuses on the shape of hills that illustrate the woman’s pregnant stomach and her ultimate decision that is controlled by her male counterpart. Also necessary to observe is that the pregnancy, which is usually seen as the stage that harbours new life, acts as a burden for the American that he tries to get rid of. The deliberate use of this negative tone associated with the pregnancy fosters an image of the difficulty in the girl’s decision. Johnson comments on this image by articulating that, “It is both barren and fruitful. On the side which they sit facing, there are no trees and no shade, and in the distance the country is brown and dry; on the other side of the valley, there are ‘fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Ebro”