A Loquacious Erudite's Asylum For Mellifluous Disquisitions: Symbolism

Post Written by Chris Stein

There are many obscurities in Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants, but there is also symbolism and an underlying theme. Given the overly vague nature of the story, the reader could interpret this story in many different ways, possibly even missing the theme completely. This reenactment is almost as awkward as me trying to read it and decipher the true meaning. Only watch if you're willing to waste 9:46 of your life on assessing the awkwardness of both my struggle and a rather comedic attempt to recreate the world's most vague story.

What makes the short story so difficult is that Hemingway never explicitly mentions abortion. This quality employed by Hemingway creates more thought provoking literature as well as a challenge to correctly interpret the author's true thoughts. In a similar way, music and songs that don't explicitly state their meaning or purpose often elude the typical listener in understanding, but if you slow down and purposefully analyze a song to come up with the sometimes hidden theme, you will have a better appreciation for not only the song but the artist as well. The song "Slide" by the Goo Goo Dolls is a perfect example of this. Many of us probably enjoy music from the Goo Goo Dolls, but have we ever once stopped to think about the lyrics? "Slide" is a song about a pregnant teenage girl living in a strict Catholic environment who, along with her boyfriend, debate on whether or not to keep the child or have an abortion. Probably the most obvious link to abortion is found in the verse "don't you love the life you killed." Never in the song does lead singer John Rzeznik say the word abortion, upon further analysis of the song, it becomes clear that the main theme, laced into a Billboard ranked #9 song for 20 years, is the theme of abortion.