Preview

Short Story 'Hills Like White Elephants'

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
957 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Short Story 'Hills Like White Elephants'
“Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story that begins with a man and his girlfriend waiting for a train in Spain. They drink alcoholic beverages and speak about an unnamed operation. As one reads further into the story, it becomes evident that the operation being discussed is an abortion. The man is trying his best to persuade his lover to abort their unborn child, but she is uncertain about what she ought to do. The girl, called Jig by her lover, is torn between a moral responsibility to her unborn child and a romantic bond between herself and the American. On one hand, the American is her lover; she doesn’t want to lose their relationship. She seems willing to do anything to stay with him—almost anything. On the other hand, this unborn child has an unspoken connection that every child shares with its mother. Cutting away the baby would be cutting away that connection. Jig has to make a choice. Jig’s choice will definitely shape her future with the American, the baby, and her view of herself. "The railroad junction—a place where one can change directions—symbolically represents a point in time when the couple can …show more content…
Does she decide to save the unborn life within her? Or does she follow the wishes of the American? Hemingway doesn’t leave us with a straightforward answer to this question. The decision that Jig makes remains a secret. Some literary analysts believe that Jig goes ahead with the operation. Others believe that Jig leaves the man to raise their child by herself. Howard Hannum suggests that Jig doesn’t choose simply one or the other: “She has decided to have the abortion but not in order to resume her life with the American. And this is not so much a question of her having the courage to leave him, after the abortion, as it is a clear case of her being unable to tolerate him—of her having left him in her wake.” Is Hannum correct? Are there any more possible routes that Jig can take? How does Jig resolve this moral

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” portrays the turmoil a couple endures when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, the choice to hold onto their current life or to begin a new life. Readers are allowed to intrude on a conversation between an American man and a girl, further conflict is presented through Hemingway’s use of symbolism. The man wants to go through with an abortion while the girl is unsure about which track she should take. Throughout the story, Hemmingway’s use of abundant details about the setting, rather than providing much detail about the characters, reveal a conflict between the man’s desire for the girl to have a “perfectly natural” (Hemingway 116) procedure and the decision to forgo an “awfully simple operation”…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The story opens with its first apparent imagery of the couple ordering beer while waiting for the train. As the man and woman begin their dialogue, the woman makes remarks about the distant hills which the train station is situated between. As they continue talking it becomes known that the woman is pregnant, and the man wants her to have an abortion. “What should we drink?” the girl asks. She has taken off her hat and put it on the table.” It’s pretty hot ,” the man say. “ Let’s drink beer”.………..”I wanted to try this new drink. That’s all we do, isn’t it- look at things and try new drinks.” the woman comments. The drinking of the beer represents the couple’s unusual recreational routine of hanging out together and not really having a serious relationship. This clearly shows that the girl is tired of doing the same thing and wants a chance of looking forward to something new, and her dissatisfaction with the relationship as a whole. Her intention at the present time is to raise this baby and have a family with him.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although we are all humans, we have two very different genders a man and a woman. Each gender comes with a different body and ways our bodies react to things, as well the ability of those bodies. Even within the same gender there are differences in body types and what they are able to do. For example some women are incapable of having children, while other women have an easy time having children. Such as some men are naturally skinny while other men are naturally more big boned and heavier, also having trouble losing weight. There are women with these problems as well. The different body parts that a man and woman have is perhaps the biggest difference between the two genders and is often at the center of argument or debate between the genders. While those are major differences between the genders, the biggest differences is how our minds work and react to different situations in our lives. All those differences between genders also get added on by the diverse cultures and races in…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A lot of the readers can relate to this because everyone goes through that stage of not feeling wanted. For Jig she was referring to her baby that was not wanted. Personally, Jig wanted the baby. Notice when she said “They’re lovely hills, (Hemingway, 1927)”, meaning that Jig was trying to get off the subject. The America man was trying to persuade her to abort it. Noticing that, when he said, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig, (Hemingway, 1927).” Then, he continued, “It’s not really an operation at all, (Hemingway, 1927)” Anyone could clearly see that he was talking about aborting the baby because he kept repeating sentences like “I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s nothing. It’s not as painful, as you think, (Hemingway, 1927)”. In the end, Jig doesn’t want to abort the baby, but does anyway because it seemed like she just wanted the situation to end and also the manipulation by her man who keeps saying that if you get rid of the baby everything will go back as it…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    On one side of the valley, it contained trees and long white mountains, which resembled white elephants to the woman. This side of the path symbolizes life and happiness, the white elephants is seen to symbolize the child she is carrying. Therefore, identifying that Jig desires motherhood and wants to settle down in a family with the American. The other side of the valley, is the complete opposite of life, it was empty with no shade nor trees. This side seems to represent the outcome of the relationship if they do proceed with the abortion and the danger of the operation for the woman, and perhaps it can also be identified as the emptiness of this couples dynamic.“I wanted to try this new drink. That’s all we do, isn’t it look at things and try new drinks?”(476). Jig seems to desire more than just an adventurous lifestyle, such as the American. She wants to settle down and start a family with this man. The painful choices Jig has to decide is whether to bear the child and possibly losing her lover, or want to be with this man enough to get an abortion and forget her wants and needs. The junction not only symbolizes the decision of whether to keep this child or continue on with the abortion, it also seems to highlight that these two people are at different stages in life, one is still looking to have fun while the other is ready to settle…

    • 1176 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Hills like White Elephants” the story symbolizes about an abortion. But, how does the story show the word ‘abortion’? How does the man and woman use it in dialogue? How does Hemingway imply the word abortion, with using different abstract words to describe it?…

    • 557 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jig asks her lover if he will worry about the procedure, and he responds by saying he considers the treatment simplistic, and then Jig states, “Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me.” This statement further asserts the idea that Jig is looking to appease her male counterpart and put her own feelings aside in order to remain with her lover. Jig doesn’t want to lose her current relationship, because her internalized gender stereotypes tell her that women need to be supported by a male figure. Additionally, Jig is continuously being pressured to make her decision by overbearing lover. The man states early on in the story states that, “[They’ll] be fine afterwards. Just like [they] were before,” and then finally claims that the only problem that exists between them is this decision on whether Jig should have an abortion or not. Jig is faced with the decision to either not receive the treatment, which could end in the destruction of her romantic relationship, or to go through with treatment, but regret her decision for the rest of her life. Due to the external pressure to please her lover, like a “good” women would do, Jig receptively states, “I’ll do it,” and soon begins to contemplate this decision. Even though the reader is never…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” was written by Ernest Hemingway. The author seems to be a minimalist where he does not provide explanation about the very issue why the couple is unhappy and annoyed with each other. To have a more deeper understanding on the literature, I have looked up a translated version of it and according to a Japanese translation of the very story, it said that the problem was about her pregnancy and that the man wants her to have an abortion. It was then understandable that why the author might have left that information out of the story because, having an abortion is not something you would talk in public which in this story’s case, they happened to be in some kind of bar. I believe…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American sees it as a problem that can easily be solved as where Jig sees it as a beautiful experience. Jig looks to the hills and says; "they look like white elephants" by saying "white elephants" she is referring to her pregnancy. Jig continues to say, "They're lovely hills" meaning having a baby will be lovely. The American tires to minimize the beauty of it and explains, "It's really not anything. They just let the air in." Even though the conflict is the man and Jigs issue with keeping the baby or getting an abortion, it is ultimately up to Jig to decide. Towards the end of the story when the man gets the final say about the abortion, the girl says, "I'll scream." Meaning she has made up her mind and she does not want to hear anymore from the…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Hills like White Elephants” it shows the struggle one couple faced with deciding whether or not they wanted to tackle parenthood. The couple, “the American” and “the girl” both are unsure of their fate. The American just wants to walk away and the girl just wants to make him happy, “American male protagonist dominates the meeker, weaker-sexed jig of her femaleness” (Busch, Frederick; 234). There are lots of people that the man still has the bigger role in the relationship, but in those relationships comes a lot of animosity to the companion later. In one…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway is about an American man and a girl who goes by Jig. The two are waiting in a train station between Barcelona and Madrid. As the couple waits, they go and get some drinks while they designate an important decision; whether or not they should get an abortion. In the story an ‘abortion’ is never mentioned directly so it allows the readers thoughts to linger on symbolism. Courage is a theme that is revealed in the story through the two devices irony and symbolism. Jig is the courageous one in the story, not because she is pregnant with the child because she seems willing to keep it, thinking it will bring joy to her typical life.…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The railroad tracks symbolize that they are at a crossroads in their relationship. The girl comments on the beauty of the white hills and the country being brown and dry. This statement is symbolic of life and death in which the tense conversation over the abortion operation is about. As the American and the girl talk about the issue of abortion, the girl is often referred to as Jig. This nickname is appropriated because she is always dancing around the topic. The waitress of the story is not mentioned often but I do know that she does not speak English, therefore the girl is dependent on the American. This situation reflects the terms of their relationship also. She is allowing him to make the decision whether or not to have the…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The train station show us the is a choice to be made whether to go forward or to go back. With one train going right taking them to the city to have an abortion and live the life they had before this decision. Then other taking them left away from to city to keep the baby and live the new life set before them. No one can decide for them because this choice will be the defining moment in there lives, all depending on the train they choose to take.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The conflict in this story is the couple’s decision to either keep the baby or have an abortion. During this story the American man and his girlfriend, Jig fail to have a direct conservation about the unplanned pregnancy instead, they bicker and disagree about everything. Here are a few examples of conflict between Jig and her boyfriend “oh cut it out” (591) and “Well let’s try and have a fine time” (591). By the end of the story, the couple’s inability to talk about the pregnancy may have caused them their relationship.…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Life is a very precious thing. The ability to give it is amazing, and the power to take it away is one of the hardest things to do. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants”, he shows the difficult decision some families must make with their child, abortion, through the symbolism of the hills “looking like white elephants” and also the that woman drinking alcohol although she is pregnant.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays