Literature

Hills Like White Elephants

By Ernest Hemingway

ü Background of the story

"Hills Like White Elephants" from the 1927 collection Men Without Women is one of the most famous American short stories ever, by one of America’s most famous authors, Ernest Hemingway. You’ve probably heard of Hemingway. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953, and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. Hemingway is considered to be one of the great innovators in 20th-century fiction. 

You probably won’t be able to get out of high school or college without running across this very short story about a pair of lovers at a crisis point in their relationship. As can often happen in such situations, everything comes to a head in a public place. The narrator reports on their conversation. Sounds simple, right?

If it is simple, then why do so many people have such a hard time with this story? Well, the characters don’t ever specifically say what they are arguing about, and as the reader, we must infer what they're discussing. It's quite a good literary trick, and one that helped propel Hemingway to literary fame, while influencing generations of writers to come

ü Setting

In train station, overlooking the Ebro River, somewhere between Barcelona, Spain and Madrid, Spain

ü Characters

v  Jig

Jig is one of the most unusual characters in literature. The lack of physical and biographical details about her makes her seem like a blank slate onto which we can project whatever we want.

She’s often seen as a victim of the man – a woman forced into having an abortion against her will. Since the ending is wide open, and we don’t know what either of the characters does in the long run, such interpretations miss the point of the story. This is very much a story about the way people and stories communicate. To get at Jig’s character, we can ask this question: what is being communicated to us about Jig? We’ve made you a list of things we think are being communicated about Jig. She:

»         Speaks English

»         Doesn’t (or pretends not to) speak any Spanish

»         Relies on the man to translate for her several times

»         Has seen white elephants

»         Drinks beer

»         Has had absinthe

»         Is willing to try new things

»         Wants to settle down

»         Tells the man what to do

»         Communicates directly, and through simile and hinting

»         Is aware of nature and her natural surroundings

»         Is the only character in the story who has a name (or maybe a nickname)

»         Is pregnant

»         Doesn’t want an abortion

»         Is young enough to be called "a girl"

»         Has been traveling with the "American" man and staying in hotels with him

»         Doesn’t say she loves the man

»         Doesn’t call the man by his name

»         Wants the man to think she’s smart

»         Feels that she can only have an abortion if she no longer cares about herself

»         Knows women who have had abortions, and implies that things didn’t turn out well for them

»         Threatens to scream in public

»         Shuts down completely when the conversation with man seems to be going in circles

We can squeeze out lots of information on Jig, but none of it gets us closer to knowing what she finally decides to do, or really knowing her the way we might know some other fictional characters. You could probably make an even longer list of things we don’t know about Jig.

v  The American Man

Often vilified as an insensitive, uncaring man who bullies Jig into an abortion, the American is another unusual character. It's possible that we know even less about him than we do about Jig, and perhaps he's even more mysterious. To keep things consistent, we’ll follow the same strategy we did in Jig's "Character Analysis." This way we can compare lists, and see if this guy is really a villain or not. We’ll look at what the story expresses about the character. He:

»         Speaks English and Spanish, at least

»         Translates for Jig several times

»         Has not seen white elephants, but could have, no matter what Jig says

»         Drinks beer

»         Gets irritated when Jig brings up absinthe

»         Doesn’t want to marry Jig, but claims he is willing to do so

»         Is trying to convince Jig to have an abortion

»         Communicates this to her directly, but minimizes the reality of an abortion

»         Seems oblivious to the natural surroundings

»         Is identifiable as an American (by the narrator)

»         Is the father of Jig’s child

»         Has been traveling with Jig and staying in hotels with her

»         Tells Jig he loves her

»         Calls her by name (or nickname)

»         Claims to be very worried by the situation

»         Doesn’t seem to think the abortion is a big deal

»         Knows women who have had abortions, and implies that things turned out well for them

»         Claims to think that the unborn child is the only obstacle to their happiness

»         Persists when Jig asks him to stop talking, but eventually does stop

Like Jig, the man seems to feel that there are only two options available to them, marriage or abortion. He doesn’t appear to want any part of marriage and babies, but he doesn’t seem to take into account how difficult a decision this is for Jig. This might mean that he’s uninformed, or it might just mean that conceiving a child means something very different to him than it does to Jig. Also remember that the man, like Jig, probably hasn’t received much in the way of sex education.

As with Jig, we’ll leave you with a few questions: why does the narrator identify him as American? Does this imply that the narrator has seen the man around, and knows a little about him? Is there something that identifies the man as American? What are some things that could identify him as American? Does anything within the conversation between the man and Jig identify him as American?

ü Problem

The emotion of Jig makes her confusion and lead to a decision to have an abortion. The American, her boyfriend who doesn’t really care to her is just taking advantage to her confusion and convincing to do the operation.

ü Plot

The story takes place at a train station in the Ebro River valley of Spain. The year is 1927. This particular day is oppressively hot and dry, and the scenery in the valley is barren and ugly for the most part. The two main characters are a man (referred to only as "the American") and his female companion, whom he calls Jig.

While waiting for the train to Madrid, the American and Jig drink beer and a liquor called Anís del Toro, which Jig compares to liquorice. Their conversation is mundane at first, but quickly drifts to the subject of an operation which the American is attempting to convince Jig to undergo. Though it is never made explicit in the text, it is made clear (through phrases of dialogue such as "It's just to let the air in" and "But I don't want anybody but you," among numerous context clues) that Jig is pregnant and that the procedure in question is an abortion.

After posing arguments to which the American is largely unresponsive, Jig next assents to the operation, while saying: "I don't care about me." However, he then responds, "You've got to realize that I don't want you to do it if you don't want to." He continues, "I'm perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you." She attempts to drop the subject, but the American persists as if still unsure of Jig's intentions and mental state. She insists, "Would you please please ... please stop talking?" He is silent a while, and repeats, "But I don't want you to," and adds, "I don't care anything about it." She interjects, "I’ll scream."

The barmaid comes out through the beaded curtains with two glasses of beer and puts them down on the felt pads. She notes, "The train comes in five minutes." Jig was distracted, but then smiles brightly at the woman and thanks her.

The American leaves the table and carries their bags to the opposing platform, but still no sight of the train in the distance. He walks back through the station, and everyone else is still waiting reasonably for the train. Pausing at the bar, he drinks another Anis, alone, before rejoining Jig. He then asks her, "Do you feel better?" She again smiles at him, "I feel fine. There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine." The story ends.

ü Solution

Think many times before act or decide and what may be the result of it, because regret is always in the end.

ü Summary

An American man and "a girl" sit drinking beer in a bar by a train station in northern Spain making self-consciously ironic, brittle small talk. The woman comments that the hills look like white elephants (hence the story's title). Eventually, the two discuss an operation, which the man earnestly reassures her is "awfully simple . . . not really an operation at all . . . all perfectly natural" .

The woman is unconvinced, questioning "what will we do afterward," but says she will have the operation because "I don't care about me”. A few moments later, however, she avers that they "could" have everything and go anywhere, suddenly as earnest as he had been earlier. When the man agrees that they "can" do these things, however, the woman now says no, they can't, her change in verb tense suggesting that the possible lives they once could have pursued (and produced) are even now, before any firm decision has been spoken, irrevocably out of reach. When the man says that he will go along with whatever she wants, the woman asks him to "please please please please please please please stop talking" or she will scream. The train arrives during this impasse, and once the bags are loaded, the woman, smiling brightly, insists she feels fine.

ü Conclusion

Abortion is a sin of a person who’s taking out or killing the unborn child because of regrets even it is causing emotionally stressed that leads to confusion. Some people think that abortion is a best way to escape from reality yet never. It will never be the best answer to a problem which being untimely pregnant. So to avoid this kind of decision, everyone must think very carefully before act because pain and regrets were always at the end.