Most of us have heard the expression "there's an elephant in the room," which means that there is a truth being ignored or unaddressed. In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephant's, the story begins with a couple sitting at a bar. However as you begin to read the story, you realize that there is tension between the man and woman.
"Everything tastes of licorice Especially all the things you've waited so long for, like absinthe."
"Oh, cut it out."
"You started it," the girl said. "I was being amused. I was having a fine time."
"Well, let's try and have a fine time."
"All right. I was trying. I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasn't that bright?"
"That was bright."
"I wanted to try this new drink. That's all we do, isn't it-look at things and try new drinks?"
"I guess so."
There's obviously an elephant in the room that the two can't seem to address just yet. As I read this story, the tension between the two characters made me feel uncomfortable and I felt like I was spying on someone's private conversation. Once the man attempts to abruptly address the elephant, the woman still doesn't want to talk about it, as if she is in denial over the whole situation. Later the reader can assume that an unwanted pregnancy was in fact the elephant in the room.
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