Men Without Women. "Hills Like White Elephants" is commonly studied in literature courses because, while brief and accessible, it contains ingenious symbolism, efficient and powerful dialogue, and it deals with universal themes applied to a controversial topic (abortion) which is explored without ever being explicitly stated. These elements combine to make the story an apt introduction to Hemingway's minimalist narrative style, as expressed in his Iceberg Theory. It also illustrates the extent to which setting can contribute to meaning in fiction