hills like white elephants

The theme of a story is what the author is trying to express, it is the central idea of the story. The actions and feelings of the characters portray the theme throughout an entire short story. In the short story “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway, the theme is of courage and bravery when faced with difficult decisions. The theme of courage in “Hills like White Elephants” is portrayed by Jig’s uncertain curiosity of what she should do in the situation she is in. Although the situation is not clearly spoken, with how Hemmingway uses the theme and symbolism, it is possible to get a view that Jig and the American are discussing the topic of abortion. Jig displays courage slowly throughout the story as she is communicating with the American. Her first show of courage is when she states “I was being amused. I was having a fine time.” Being that she is trying to figure out what she should do and is in an obvious state of uncertainty, she still is putting on a brave face for the man she says she loves. A way for Jib to portray her bravery at one point is to say that she “doesn’t care about herself” so she can just do it and all will be fine. By making herself seem distant of who she is and to make herself feel the strength she needs to feel to make a decision she plays it off that she doesn’t matter in this situation so it makes the decision easy to make. She shows courage by trying to act strong. In the end, as she is thinking of what she could have and what she deserves, it seems that she is starting to think that there is nothing wrong with her and that she may be thinking of changing her mind of what she should do. This is visible when she tells the American "There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” The setting contributes to the theme of “Hills like White Elephants”. The setting is in a hot, dry area, at a desolate train station bar in Spain. This setting makes for a serious conversation to unfold for there is nothing else there to do in