In the following essay, Maynard explores the ironic manner in which symbols of unity operate in "Hills Like White Elephants."

Ernest Hemingway's short story "Hills Like White Elephants" is about a selfish man who wants his girl friend to have an abortion so that they can continue to have fun and be unencumbered by a child. The man's callousness and sterile view are contrasted with the girl's sensitive, sensuous response to life. As an ironic contrast to their present disunified relationship, a leitmotif of oneness, or unity, threads through the story. This leitmotif takes the form of the repetition, with variation, of the word two.

Before considering scenic irony and the leitmotif of unity, we should first observe the general features of the scene. The first paragraph creates the stage on which all of the action, what little there is, and dialogue take place (the leitmotif is...