Hills Like White Elephants

The narrator is very brief. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, a man and young girl are traveling together in Madrid, Spain. I can infer from their conversation through their words and through the embedded vocabulary that they are probably headed to an abortion center. The reason I think this is because they spend the entire short story contemplating the idea of an abortion. The decision they are making seems urgent and rushed. The girl looks out the window at the “hills like white elephants” as the man continues to be persistent, as if wanting an answer as soon as possible. This urgency allows me to infer that the only reason why the decision is so urgent is because they are actively heading to an abortion center in that moment.

Women and men have rarely ever been able to wholeheartedly agree upon something, especially something as significant as an unwanted pregnancy. “Hills Like White Elephants” centers around an unwanted pregnancy and how a young couple is talking about it and handing it. While the mention of pregnancy or abortion is never actually said, it can be inferred through their conversations and simple clues Hemingway includes such as, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig” (Hemingway) (Link). The man in this relationship, the American, continues to reassure the woman, Jig, that the “operation” is simple and tons of people have it done. He also continues to repeat “how simple” it is. Jig

“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.

Ernest Hemingway penned a short story titled, “Hills Like White Elephants.” The story takes place at a train station in Spain and depicts a troublesome dilemma for the two main characters. The story begins with the characters casually discussing what kind of beer to partake in; the tone quickly shifts when the man mentions a surgery to his female friend, Jig. The reader is left to infer that the two characters are discussing an abortion. Ernest Hemingway uses symbolism throughout the story so the reader can delve into a deeper meaning without the ensnarement of excessive emotion. Throughout the story, Hemingway uses several examples of symbolism to depict Jig’s inner struggle with the decision she is faced to make.

The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, is about a man trying to convince his girlfriend to have an abortion. The couple sits in a train station waiting for their trip to Barcelona, and are staring outside at the scenery—the line of hills “like white elephants”, as the girl, Jig, remarks. They sit and drink and they try to keep conversation light and to enjoy themselves. As the story progresses, however, cause for their underlying tenseness boils to the surface.

Dean Jr. wants Sheri to not get the abortion, but to have the baby, love it, and raise it without his help. He is thinking only about his personal interest and religious views, though if he followed his faithfully he wouldn’t be making decisions on an abortion. Since sex is seen as only a way to produce children, partners should be married before they have sex, which Lane A. Dean Jr. and Sheri did not do. Lane A. Dean Jr. claims that “He was not a hypocrite, just broken and split off like all men.”(Wallace 5), despite wanting nothing to do with Sheri’s baby that he helped to create. Lane A. Dean Jr. is a hypocrite since he doesn’t follow his own moral and religious beliefs, considering that he knew he had done wrong and prayed for an answer. The American in “Hills Like White Elephants” wants Jig, his partner, to get the operation done, claiming that “"I know you wouldn't mind it, Jig. It's really not anything. It's just to let the air in."... "I'll go with you and I'll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it's all perfectly natural."” (Hemingway 476). The American believes that Jig would be alright with this operation, telling her how simple it was. The American simply wants to push the fact that he doesn’t want a baby on Jig. The story goes on and the American adds more reassurance that an abortion isn’t a big deal "... You don't have to be afraid. I've known lots of people that have done it.." (Hemingway 477). Though many people have gotten

Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants” begins with an American man and a girl waiting at a Spanish train station in Barcelona for the express to take them to Madrid. They drink a variety of beers and discuss the “simple operation” the girl should have. The couple argues throughout the story about whether or not the woman should go through with her operation.

The pregnancy or baby can be seen as the “elephant” in the room. This couple is trying to decide whether or not to get an abortion. The antagonist in this short story is the male the main character (Jig) is taking to at a bar in a train station. In the story this male character is simply referred to as the American. The American does many things that make us believe he is mainly the decision maker in their relationship. He is in charge of their luggage as well as the destination of their travels. This implies a sense of control and dominance. The American is very supportive saying, “If you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to” (227). Despite the support he shows, throughout the story the reader can see that the decision of the women depends greatly on the American’s feelings and views.

This would be the man’s perspective of the baby. He believes that it will get in the way of their travels and mess their relationship up. The more complex meaning would be Jig referencing that the hills looked like white elephants but what she meant was the hills looked like the elephant's skin tone. “They don’t really look like white elephants.

Although the couple in "Hills Like White Elephants" seem to enjoy a life of partying together, the setting’s symbolic details suggest incompatibility in the couple’s relationship. The exposition describes a tense environment that suggests conflict between the couple. There being no shade and no breeze, the couple sits in dry heat while waiting for their train. There is also a pressure put on the decision because of time. The train takes forty minutes to arrive, which represents Jewish law that states an abortion is only ethical if done forty days after conception. Assuming the girl is already thirty or so days pregnant, the couple does not have a lot of time to make this life changing decision. Both the pressure of time and heat symbolize

At first he talks to her with passion and love, but soon goes straight to talking about having sex. The speaker clearly just wants to have sex and nothing more and nothing less. And who knows? Maybe the woman wanted something serious, but all she got was a one-night hitter. The man should have been honest with the woman from the beginning. At the same time, “Hills Like White Elephants” exhibits dishonesty between a couple. For one thing, the American man said, “It’s really an awfully simple operation” (476), when in reality a person’s life is on the line. The American thinks the child would be a nuisance, and “It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” (476). He is filling her thoughts with every negative thing that comes with giving birth to a child. As they were both talking the woman said, “And you think we’ll be all right and be happy” (476) as if questioning him in order for him to change his mind about the operation. Instead the man said, “I know we will” (476), and right there and then he could set things right by letting the child be born. And who knows? Maybe the child would be “’a possession of great value’” (DeFalco, gtd. in Hashmi 75) to strengthen their relationship, but he kept his focus on the task at

The conversation is somewhat sarcastic. The girl begins the conversation telling him about the hills that look like white elephants. “They look like white elephants” she said. “I’ve never seen one,” he says. “No, you wouldn’t have,” she answers him. (9, 10) She is telling him what she thinks about the relationship. She has invested all she had. It could have been that she left her family to go on the road with him. She may have disobeyed her parents and now she feels shame and cannot go back home. Still she is trying to make sense of the situation. But the man’s behavior and attitudes are shouting to her that he is not worthy of her; he just does not care. He has probably never committed to anything, for him obligation to a lifelong relationship is not his thing. The man may be one of those that only knows to use people to his pleasure and advantage.

The title of the story symbolizes the unborn child that resides within the mother. In olden times and even today, White Elephant is thought of popular gift exchanging game played during the holiday seasons. Players often receive an undesirable present as a result of the game, which in this case is precisely what this child classifies as. Indecisive, and confused, the girl does not seem to know what she quite wants. Verbally, the girl tells her significant other that she has made up her mind and she is certain about her decision, yet there was such an undercurrent of uncertainty within her. Her short, unclear responses led not only the man but the reader to believe that she does not know what she wants and whether or not she should undergo the life-changing

Relationships can be difficult, but a lot of couples work through the difficultly by supporting and helping each other. In the short story “Hills like White Elephants”, written by Ernest Hemingway, an unnamed American and a young woman, named Jig, are waiting for a train to arrive. Set in the mid-1920s, the couple are sitting at a bar drinking beers, and awaiting to travel to their next destination. Talking vaguely with each other, Jig describes the hills as “white elephants”, meaning an unwanted gift. During the story, the couple discuss an ‘operation’ that the man wants the girl to have, but she doesn’t to want to, symbolizing wanting to keep their unborn child. In this story, “Hills like White Elephant”, the theme is the ending of a relationship, by the of lack of communication, selfishness and choices.

The couple arrive to a train station and sit down and ordered a couple of drinks. Then a conversation begins. “Its pretty hot the man says, Let's drink Beer”, (HLWE,1).The man and Jig start to talk about their drinks. The conversation goes back and forth a while until Jig says something unusual. She says, “ They look like white elephants,”(HLWE,1) The man replied and continued on talking about his drink. The conversation goes back and forth again until Jig gets upset and the man says “It's really an awfully simple operation”,(HLWE,2) The couple now argues back and forth with about this operation. Both not saying how they truly feel but are implying how they felt without being straightforward. The man wants this operation to occur. The female wants to make the man happy but doesn't want to get this operation. We can only assume there is a unplanned pregnancy between the young couple and the man wants to get an abortion. In the end of the story Jig says yes and agrees to it. She ends the conversation saying, “I feel fine, there's nothing wrong with