Hills Like White Elephants, By Ernest Hemingway

The girl, the American and the woman all symbolize the decision that must be made. The girl symbolizes youth, innocence and naivety. She is totally ignorant of the consequences of an abortion because she is young, beautiful and in the prime of her life, and experiencing new things all the time. Hemingway uses her to show a young, pregnant girl trying to decide if she wants to remain carefree like the American or if she wants to be like the woman and be wise and mature. The girl battles back and forth with an inner conflict, two different sides pulling at her final decision; If she has her baby she will ruin her youthfulness and destroy her romantic relationship with the American, but it very well could transform her into a woman who is wise, mature and focused on someone other than herself. The girl is getting tired of the same routine of drinks and a social life and she decides to do something very different. She decides to keep her baby, to become a woman and leave her carefree and childish ways behind. However, the only thing that is standing between the girl and the life she wants for herself and her child is the American.

The train depot is surrounded on both sides by fields: one side with trees and fields of grain, and the other contains nothing but dust (Hemingway 324). The two sides of the train tracks represent the choice Jig will have to face between pregnancy and abortion.

“Hills Like White Elephants” displays the differences in how a man and a woman may view pregnancy and abortion. Jig, a woman, sees pregnancy as a beautiful aspect in life. Hemingway uses symbolism in the couple’s conversation to imply the woman’s pregnancy. The woman refers to the nearby hills on the train platform as elephants; “They look like white elephants”. She compares the hills to her own situation, pregnancy; “They’re lovely hills. They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees.”

Ernest Hemingway was a groundbreaking author during the 20th century and he left behind many famous pieces of work. He used his own life experiences to contribute ideas and inspiration for his stories whether they involve his military career or his family life (“Ernest Hemingway). Hemingway also uses language in such ways that can convey feelings and ideas throughout his pieces. His use of language and dialogue in some of his short stories really paint a picture for the reader on the situations presented (Link). In the short story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway uses Jig’s ambivalence towards the whole situation with herself and the American to convey the idea that Jig holds all the power in the decision although the American, who is powerless, believes he has a say in the matter.

“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 the short story "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway we were presented a man and his girlfriend. They order a couple drinks as they wait for a train. As the story continues, more details of what the couple is discussing unfold. Although it is never actually said we learn that the couple is talking about whether to have an abortion. "It's really an awful simple operation, Jig."(42) It's is also

“Hills Like White Elephants” tells a story of a man and woman sitting at station waiting on a train to take them to Madrid. The story is told from the narrator’s point of view. There are two main characters. The man is referred to as the American and the woman is called Jig. The man is the antagonist and the protagonist is Jig. The story is more about Jig and her current situation. There is very little information given about the characters but the reader is told that Jig is going to Madrid to have an operation but only hints about the type of operation. The reader is led to believe Jig is going to have an abortion. In the short story “Hills like White Elephants”, the author Ernest Hemingway portrays “Jig”, the protagonist as a mixture

“What does it mean?”, a question most would ask themselves after reading the short stories “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. In both the stories, the authors left the importance of the events lie beneath the story, through the voice of the narrator. These two stories often cause the reader to question the story 's sole purpose, and leaves them with many questions since the important themes are strategically placed beneath the surface of the story, in the subtext. Both Faulkner and Hemingway leave a great amount of information unsaid, yet provide enough evidence for the reader to conclude what the story must actually be about. These two stories have a similar theme; something along

The story is concluded with the train arriving in five minutes, and with no resolution concerning the abortion or the couple’s relationship. Ernest Hemingway does not waste a word or line in this short story, giving everything a deeper meaning or importance. Hemingway uses various images and objects that project emotions and feelings that are not explained in words. They are left for the reader to infere for themselves. By looking at the symbolism of the title, the scenery, and drinks, we are able to analyze the truth in the couple’s relationship.

In retrospect, the regulations of abortions varied significantly depending on the country. Ernest Hemingway, an American author, perhaps best conceptualized abortion in Spain without ever even using the word “abortion” in his short story, Hills like White Elephants. Hemingway introduced a secondary character who was an American male. Thus, ideologies and stigmas held in American states regarding abortion create a complexity and interconnection of different cultural viewpoints of abortion. One may further study the history of abortion policies in America to have a further understanding of how Hemingway weaved together the different perspectives. In his Hills Like White Elephants, Hemingway highlights the taboo theme of abortion when it is not done for medical purposes. The short story features a younger girl as she contemplates boarding a train to Madrid for what is mostly likely an illegal abortion as it is seemingly done by choice and not because of illness. Hills like White Elephants contributes to the political and social matters that stood behind the matters of abortion. Hemingway perhaps made the stylistic choice to not discourse abortion verbally because of the complex laws and to further illustrate the discreetness behind the process and individual reasoning’s of abortion (Levin

This is notable in the conversation between the two as a child’s life figuratively depends on the outcome of this brief un-honest conversation, which is assumably another intended message by Hemingway directed at perceptive readers of his short story. As mentioned, the absurdity of the conversation between the two lovers is present within their communication, but this also displays the absurdity of the human condition as both characters lack the honesty to be frank or straightforward with each other. This trait is not only common within the victorian conservatism of the 1920’s and 1930’s but also in the present day. The subtly in which Hemingway stresses the dishonesty between “The American” and “Jig” is apparent in the retraction of the observation made by “Jig”. When “Jig” says, “They’re lovely hills” and “They don’t really like look like white elephants. I just meant the colouring of their skin through the trees” it is obvious by this statement that her emotions or opinion regarding abortion have changed (“Jig” is now considering keeping the child). Typical of his character, “The American” suggests the two should have another drink, plainly ignoring or not paying any attention to the opinion of “Jig” (which is another effort of Hemingway’s to show the couples inability to communicate truthfully). Alcohol plays a less important role in the absurdity of “Hills Like White Elephants”; however, it is still a strong metaphor for

Ernest Hemingway was an American author and journalist. One of his most famous and controversial pieces “Hills Like White Elephants” is frequently discussed among authors and readers. In this short story there is a girl and a American man sitting at a train station. The girls name is Jig, we come to find out that she is pregnant and that the two are disusing whether to keep the baby or not. They question each other to see if the options would ruin their relationship. Hemingway portrays things to serve as double meanings. Two of the main subtopics and questions formed from this paper is whether or not Jig has the baby. And whether of not the tense relationship between the two lasts. Among the many authors who have their own opinion on what these things mean is, timothy Obrien, who wrote, “Allusion, Word Play, and the Central Conflict in Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants”. In his paper he focuses on certain phrases to conclude his belief that Jig does get and abortion and that the relationship between Jig and the American does not last. A professor at Illinois state university by the name of Stanley Renner, author of “Moving to the Girls Side of “Hills Like White Elephants””, does not think the relationship lasts. Although the relationship does not last he believes that the baby does. David Wyche, author of “Letting the Air Into a Relationship: Metaphorical Abortion in “Hills Like White Elephants””, he is not

Written in 1927, Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” “redefined the possibilities of the short story” (Charters 1700). It has been said that Hemingway was influential in reworking the genre of short

I read a short story called Hills like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemmingway. This story presents to the readers a conversation between a young man and women who are located at a station, drinking beer, arguing whilst waiting for a train to take them to Madrin - the town in which we learn the girl is said to be having an operation.

The American manipulates Jig to abort the child when he says “it’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig”. “It’s really not an operation at all” (156). Jig agrees with the American when she says “I do it, and then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants” (157), even though it is clear she wants to keep the baby. Jig is giving in to him by agreeing with him that the baby doesn’t exist and this is shown when she says “they’re lovely hills; they don’t really look like white elephants” (157). Therefore, though Ernest Hemingway works, he is prejudiced to woman by not giving them the rights to make their own decision and by making them not to express their opinion upon abortion.