hills like whithe elephants
The couple in Ernest Hemingway’s "Hills Like White Elephants" faces a difficult situation, how to deal with an unplanned pregnancy. To further complicate the issue, it's pretty clear that one partner wants to settle down and have the baby, while the other partner doesn’t. What we see in the story is a discussion of the matter in a train. Written in 1927 when sex education and discussion of birth control were federal crimes in the U.S., the story also comments on what little was known about reproductive issues in those days. Since we don’t know what the characters actually decide, the story is mostly about how they discuss the issues, what choices they explore and also in who has the upper hand in that discussion.
The story depicts a couple at a crisis point in their relationship. Jig and the unnamed American man, are at a train station in Spain trying to decide whether or not they should go through an abortion. Although Hemingway doesn’t really spell it out for the reader, it was very clear to me the type of operation they were talking about. From the symbolic interpretation of the setting, there are only two choices, or two directions, similar to how there are only two rail lines that pass through the station. Unfortunately, both characters have different point of views on the situation. “Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies”. The bamboo curtain is a symbol of boundaries, and separations of their different feelings, thought and values towards the pregnancy, which is an issue the couple is facing. Since Jig is in favor of keeping the baby, and the American disagrees, the pregnancy itself is a curtain between them. The main scenery that surrounds the station, which is the two separate sides of the railroad tracks, plays a primary role in the conflict of the story.” The woman looks at pregnancy as a beautiful aspect
The story depicts a couple at a crisis point in their relationship. Jig and the unnamed American man, are at a train station in Spain trying to decide whether or not they should go through an abortion. Although Hemingway doesn’t really spell it out for the reader, it was very clear to me the type of operation they were talking about. From the symbolic interpretation of the setting, there are only two choices, or two directions, similar to how there are only two rail lines that pass through the station. Unfortunately, both characters have different point of views on the situation. “Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies”. The bamboo curtain is a symbol of boundaries, and separations of their different feelings, thought and values towards the pregnancy, which is an issue the couple is facing. Since Jig is in favor of keeping the baby, and the American disagrees, the pregnancy itself is a curtain between them. The main scenery that surrounds the station, which is the two separate sides of the railroad tracks, plays a primary role in the conflict of the story.” The woman looks at pregnancy as a beautiful aspect