Hills Like White Elephants

White elephant - “a possession that is useless or troublesome especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of”. I can see how this symbolization relates to the white hills explained in the stories as “white elephants”. I think the significance between the story and the meaning is the “white hills”. Not that they “look like white elephants” but more about the conversations between the 2 individuals in the story and them constantly looking out at these hills with a plan in mind. Although not stated in the story I feel that plans of building or creating something on these empty, plain hills are in the works. The American and this woman that are conversing before boarding their train to Madrid seemed to have tense but casual conversations. The conversations in my opinion seemed as if they were investors of some sort and are having a discussion about what may work and not work. Some of the words they used were “we could have everything” “we could have the whole world” “It isn’t ours and once they take it away you will never get it back”. All these conversations were had while gazing at the hills in a distance that replicated white elephants. Land in my opinion is expensive to maintain and it is a possession that can be troublesome when you try to change an existing community. It is definitely something you can not dispose of easily. Trying to take someone's “plain, dry land” can be someone else’s farm land or home. It can mean something to them. For someone to come and build skyscrapers and roads can be horrible. While researching the meaning about the “White Elephant” I came across a quote that I believe relates to the story. “His services are like so many white elephants, of which nobody can make use, and yet that drain one’s gratitude, if indeed one does not feel bankrupt”. This sums up my whole point. No one can make use of these “investors” and with them trying to take over the land that belongs to so many will definitely drain all the good thoughts people have of you. The only ones that would be happy and open to this are the ones involved with the destruction, demolition, and money aspect of creating an empire on what they claim as “dry, brown land that looks white through the trees”.