Conflicts in "Hills Like White Elephants"

“Perfectly simple” is restated a couple of times in the conversation which tells us that out of the two only one wants the child and the other doesn’t want the child (Hemingway). The American man thoughts are not more important than Jig’s. Even if the American man is supporting her to get an abortion it’s still Jigs decision. His opinion does matter to her because she wants his thoughts about what’s best for them and their unborn child. Jig is torn between remaining reckless and carefree and making a family with the man she loves. “‘Because I don’t care about me’” states that she is willing to do almost anything for the American man but is blocked by her mother instinct to protect her child (Hemingway). Jig is indecisive in what she wants because she questions herself and the American man what if questions. “‘I realize…can’t we maybe stop talking’” this tells us Jig finally realizes that by asking a lot of rhetorical questions to the American man she has the answer she needs even if it’s not the answer that she wants (Hemingway).

“Hills Like White Elephants”, by Ernest Hemingway, is a short story published in 1927 that takes place in a train station in Spain with a man and a woman discussing an operation. Most of the story is simply dialogue between the two characters, the American and Jig. This couple is at a critical point in their lives when they must decide whether or not to have an abortion. Certain themes arise from this story such as choices and consequences, doubt and ambiguity, and how men and women relate. Hemingway also uses many examples of symbolism in “Hills Like White Elephants”, including descriptions of the surrounding scenery, the hills themselves, and the station where the action takes place.

In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants,” the lives of Jig and the American, the main characters, are put on display for a brief period of time.  Jig and the man have had a romantic relationship for quite some time, and now their future together is in jeopardy.  The impregnation of Jig has caused the American to pressure her into getting an abortion.  We find these two individuals in the Valley of the Ebro.  Traveling from Barcelona to Madrid, the couple takes these few minutes to discuss the future of their baby.  Jig now must make one of the most important decisions of her life – to have the abortion and stay with the American, or to have the baby and end the

The ending of the story is rather ambiguous as it is not completely obvious what decision the two end up making. The man could have talked the girl into undergoing the procedure, or not. At one point toward the end, Jig tells him to “please please please please please please please stop talking”, and when he doesn’t she threatens to scream. This probably means that she had made up her mind, but it could be in either direction. In the end, she smiles at him, and he asks her if she feels better; she says that she feels fine. That could mean that she had made peace with the decision to abort their child or that she was proud of herself for finally standing up to him and making her choice not to abort final. Either way, making this choice is harder on her as she would be the one to undergo the operation, and she very well knows that he most likely will not stay with her if she decides to keep the child. No matter what she chooses, however, their relationship will never be the same.

Regardless if she stayed with him and remained unhappy or left him and had the baby on her own, the decision is Jig’s. However, the story ended off in an ironic way because Jig says, “I feel fine…there’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine,” even though the reader can see that this “happiness” is forced since she didn’t achieve what she wanted (Hemingway 478). Jig realized that not openly discussing the fate of the baby was most likely the best decision for her since she didn’t have to give in to any of the American’s demands, yet her heart still yearns for him and what makes him happy. Even when a situation isn’t discussed, actions speak louder than

The American Man clearly expresses his thought about the situation as he tries to convince Jig that after the abortion everything will be the way it once was. This is conveyed in the conversation between the American Man and Jig when the American Man says, “That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.” Jig replied, “And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy” (Hemingway 275). The American Man believed that after the abortion, they would be once again happy as the pregnancy was making them unhappy and resulted in them arguing with each other. Jig being naïve, just wanted them to be happy like they once were and she questioned whether they really would be happy after going throw with such a big step. The American Man was desperate in convincing Jig as he says, “We can have everything… We can have the whole world… We can go everywhere… It’s ours” (Hemingway 276). The American Man was trying to assure and was promising Jig that he would give her everything that her heart desired from the world. He was

Hemingway wanted to use these two powerful literary elements to give a strong illustration about this subject. Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. Clues through the two literary elements give way to the idea that the American and Jig are discussing the heated subject. The American says to Jig, “I don’t want you to do it if you feel that way” (69). Abortion is never mentioned through the story; however, clues like this symbolize that the two lovers have very different opinions.

The ending of this story, like the majority, exhibited an ambiguous, yet somewhat hopeful ending. Hemingway tried to use the context of the girl’s comparison of the hills to white elephants as a way to show disconnection on the true topic (mostly hinted to being abortion); meaning, her retraction of that comparison in the end can be interpreted as her changing her stance and deciding to keep the baby. It is important that the story ends with both the American and his girlfriend on the same page because it backs up the feelings the narrative evokes (which is a feeling of inability to understand and communicate with one another, since before this final scene they had just

Also in the end the boy takes the bags to the other side of the train station so that when the train gets there they can get onboard. While the boy walks back the Ernest Hemingway states, “Coming back, he walked through the barroom, where people waiting for the train were drinking...They were all waiting reasonably for the train.” This quote proves that the boy and the girl still haven’t come up with a decision whether to keep the child or to have the abortion. This quote also shows that the boy thinks that everyone who is at the train station have their minds made up on whatever they are thinking of.

Puzzle stories are often times tales that will leave readers debating them for generations, and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemmingway is most definitely no exception. The entire story is based around a decision that Jig—one of the main characters—has to make, but never once is the audience told outright what the decision is. However, despite the clear intent to keep the truth from the audience, it is fairly possible to pick apart the story, read the characters, and discover that Jig and The American are discussing whether or not Jig should have an abortion. All of the context points toward it being a life changing event; there is an operation mentioned, and a ton of symbolism revolving around life and death that point toward the characters’ dilemma being to abort or not to abort their unborn child. However, the symbolism and context clues point toward Jig’s final decision being to have the abortion.

[Jig] “I don’t want you to do it if you feel that way.” [The American] This is obviously sarcasm from Jig. Jig knows that if she had an abortion everything would not go back to the way it was before, which is what is “fine” for the American. Hemingway writes Jig talking ironically towards the American to show she has gained some confidence to talk back to him.

It’s skeptical that the girl might be underage and might be having a baby to an older man, which leads to the dilemma of why the American might not want to have the baby. Notably, when both the American man and the girl were waiting at the bar, in line (87) the girl had to ask the man if they could have the drink. Now, she probably asked because she's under age or maybe she asked because she doesn’t care about the baby’s health, but as shown, the American man wants the girl to terminate the

The story takes place in a train station. At a train station you choose where you want to go, buy a ticket, and reach your destination. The train station symbolizes the American man and his girl’s relationship at a crossroad. The women does not know where to go with their decision about having the operation. The man is stern that she should get the operation.

The descriptions are needed to understand some important points as seen by the references of “the girl” (younger) and “the American” (older). The description of the place and the decision that they have to take is directly connected because with the type of life that the couple has, a baby would not be the best event to happen.

If I had to pick one story that had a strong setting to tell the theme, I would pick Ernest Hemingway “Hills Like White Elephants”. The story takes place in the Spain, and there are two main characters an American man and a girl names “Jig”. We learn that the story is based on this couple talking about if they should or should not have an abortion.