that Jig's pregnancy is pushing them into. This also represents a significantirony and paradox in that it is ironic that, while a couple, they are divided and separated, and it is a paradox that two can be both separateness and unity. Of course, the answer to the riddle of the paradox is that two going in the same path is unity while two in divergent directions is separateness. These quotes represent two as separateness:

the station was between two lines of rails in the sun.

It stopped at this junction for two minutes

He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks.

In an ironic statement, Hemingway uses the last reference to two to enlighten us on the man's perspective and give the reason for their growing separateness. The man carries "the two heavy bags" round the corner of the station, then looks up the tracks for the train: he "could not see the train." This is a metaphor for the man's experience: he can't see the metaphorical train that is about to hit him. The train symbolizes the disagreement about the abortion that is threatening a collision and will wreck their relationship when it finally arrives.

The story revolves around the conflict between a man and a woman, who are faced with the decision of what to do about a pregnancy.  They view the situation differently, and they communicate differently.  Hemingway is demonstrating the "two" sides to every situation through the two individuals.  He is also demonstrating the difficulties in a romantic relationship, which is made up of two people.

What the two characters say to each other is also double-sided.  They are both trying to express themselves, but also to please the other person.  The woman says she'll do what the man wants, but she says it with a lack of confidence.  She obviously wants him to defer again to her.  He replies that he will not try to influence her, but he continues to do so.  Everything said has a double meaning.

Finally, the characterss lives can now go down two possible paths.  They can choose to keep the baby, or abort the baby.  Hemingway illustrates the dual nature of any decision, showing how every choice opens up new choices.  Nothing in singular.

In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” we can infer that the sun is bright and hot, and we can also sense the symbolism of the number two. Let’s look at each of these details more closely.

First, the sun is apparently shining down brightly on the little train station where Jig and her partner are waiting for the express to Barcelona. We are told that the rails on each side of the station are “in the sun.” The distant hills, which Jig says look like white elephants, are also illuminated by the sun. It is a hot day, too. As Jig and her partner talk, though, a cloud moves over the landscape. This cloud doesn’t fully block the sun apparently, but it dulls the brightness. We might say that it is somewhat symbolic of what is happening to Jig and her partner. Something has dulled their relationship, and that something is Jig’s pregnancy and their discussion of abortion.

The number two is also symbolic in the story. The train will only stop at the station for two minutes, yet Jig and her partner have to wait forty minutes for it to arrive. Those forty minutes provide plenty of time for their uncomfortable conversation, but the two minutes of the train’s pause present a sense of urgency. The story has echoes of both time dragged out and an urgent decision to be made. Notice, too, that Jig and her partner order two glasses of beer and two of the anis drink. Two is usually a number of unity, but that is ironic here, for Jig and her partner are not united. The man wants Jig to have the abortion. She is hesitating, of two minds, so to speak, about it. Indeed, the two rail lines in the story also symbolize the separation between Jig and her partner. Hemingway provides a great deal of meaning with a simple number.