I was somewhat surprised that "Hills like White Elephants" has stood the test of time. In some aspects it holds literary merit, in others, the story just doesn't measure up. This story was somewhat interesting to the reader, but it seemed a bit difficult to follow. In "Hills like White Elephants," the narrator follows two characters, a man and a woman only known to the reader as the American and Jig. The narrator starts off by explaining the setting. They are sitting in a bar at a train station in a valley in Spain. They continue to describe the hills and valleys and then the American orders two drinks. The American and Jig begin to have a conversation. At first, they talk about alcohol, but then they move on to talk about an operation. Jig mentions how the hills look like white elephants. It seems like the American wants Jig to have an operation and he sounds very nonchalant about it. She doesn't say much until she asks if he will still love her. He assures her that he will and says that he knows a lot people who lived happily after the operation. The American tells Jig how much he cares about her and isn't going to force her to go through the procedure. The bartender says the train is coming in five minutes and the American takes their bags to the platform. When he comes back he asks if she's ok and she says that she's fine. "Hills like White Elephants" was published in 1927 and its vagueness has stood the test of time. This story written by Hemingway uses a style of writing known as "Iceberg Theory," where the story is only told omitting unnecessary material. In doing this, Hemingway also succeeds in providing as little of his main theme by using surface elements to tell the story. Much symbolism is brought into the setting of this story as the girl refers to the hills as white elephants. The two hills can be seen as the side profile of a woman who is pregnant, one hill being the breast and the other as the stomach. White e