Throughout our lives, we are faced with many decisions and situations that can ultimately change the destiny of our lives. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” a young traveling couple is faced with this life-changing decision. From the irony of the title to the symbolism of the different events and objects, the story is perceived differently among readers. Once the audience realizes that Jig is pregnant and the couple talks about a possible abortion, it answers a lot of uncomfortable questions left in the readers' minds and, in my opinion, the outlook of the entire story takes a turn for the worse. . Another important idea to grasp is the symbolism of the story's setting; the couple speaks at a train station in Spain surrounded by suitcases with labels. All these details of the story help the reader to decipher how and what the difficulty really is between the girl and the American. As we dig deeper and read other sources talking about the same topic, we find that many other people agree with me on the symbolism and many disagree with me on the symbolism. The irony of the title is beyond belief. Many people have participated in white elephant gift exchanges, especially in the run-up to Christmas. This is a game where people buy a generally nice, but expensive, gift. This gift is random for some and cannot be easily eliminated. Wise GEEK defines a white elephant gift as a “gift that is something unusual, somewhat unnecessary, or embarrassing” (par. 2). Reading this selection, we see that the possible pregnancy is certainly embarrassing. Knowing the definition of a White Elephant gift exchange changes the entire perspective of the story. In paragraph 58, the young woman expresses a heavy speech while...... middle of paper ...... realizes, through the irony of the title, how this couple approaches the situation, and how they interacted about the situation, and we can only hope that their different opinions will coalesce into a compromise. Works Cited Hemingway, Earnest. “Hills like white elephants.” Compact literature. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. 8th ed. Boston: Wadsworth, nd 129-33. Print.Lanier, Doris. “The bittersweet taste.” Ebsco MasterFile Premier. Np, and Web. April 27, 2014. Rankin, Paul. “Hemingway’s hills like white elephants.” Ebsco MasterFile Premier. Np, and Web. April 27, 2014. Renner, Stanley. "Move over the girls' side of the hills like white elephants." " Hemingway Review 15.1 (1995): 27-41. Literary Reference Center. Web. April 27, 2014. "What is a white elephant gift exchange. " Wise Geek. Now You Know, March 3, 2006. Web April 27.. 2014