“Hills like White Elephants” is a short story written by the eminent writer Ernest Hemingway. The story is set in a city of Spain, Zaragoza. As Hemingway wrote after the World War I, many of his stories focus on the depression and despair which was caused by the war. Hemingway portrays how people lost faith in themselves and in God. Due to this they started to indulge in faithless and vulgar activities like mindless physical intimacies and they just let go of their norms and traditions.
“Hills like White Elephants” revolves around two characters; a girl named Jig and a boy who is referred to as “The American” in the whole story. The story begins when they are sitting at a bar waiting for their train which will take them to Madrid from Zaragoza. From the very beginning of the story, reader can detect the tension between the two characters. They are annoyed and irritated by one another but are trying to hide by drinking beer and trying to act cheerful. Apparently, the girl is pregnant and the boy wants her to have an abortion because the baby would cramp his perky lifestyle. The girl does not want to have the abortion as she keeps on asking him, “does not it mean anything to you?” but she pretends that she is alright with the decision.
The American very conveniently tells the girl that the process of abortion will be quite simple but he omits an important fact; that whether it will be safe or not. Here, Hemingway is also trying to insert the fact that for Americans emotions are not that important; they are only interested in sexual endeavors. Many critics say that it is one of the reasons that the male protagonist has not been given a name. He represents the men of the post world war. Moreover, this incident in the story is also autobiographical. Jeremy Ball in his article, “A Biographical Analysis of Hills Like White Elephants”, writes: “Fortunately for Hemingway, he soon found literary success and married Hadley Richardson, who brought with her a comfortable trust fund. The couple decided to move to Paris in 1921 Two years later, just when Ernest Hemingway was beginning to make a name for himself as a writer, Hadley became pregnant, and Hemingway had to put his career on hold so the couple could travel back to North America where the hospitals and doctors were preferable at the time. The Hemingway family was able to move back to Paris in 1924, but a few years later, around the same time "Hills like White Elephants" was written, Ernest and Hadley's marriage began to disintegrate, and the couple divorced in 1927. Interestingly enough, the title of the book in which "Hills like White Elephants" was published was Men without Women.” Hemingway’s wife’s pregnancy put a hold to his career which is quite similar to the American’s notion. He thinks that if Jig would not have the operation, he would have to let go of his adventurous dreams and ideas.
One of the most important themes in Hemingway’s work is disillusionment. This themes particularly arises from the affect and consequences of World War I. In this story also, both the characters are disillusioned. They both know that there is a drift between there relationship that has been caused by the unplanned pregnancy. But they are not ready to admit it out rightly. They both keep on beating about the bush, consoling themselves and one another that everything is fine.
Moreover, in Hemingway’s writing the characters are ambivalent, that is the protagonists have mixed feelings for each other. They love them but also get irritated by them, like Jig is pretending that she will have an abortion but in the end she gets so irritated that she simply says to hi, “Will you please please please stop talking?” Similarly, in this story Jig resents the idea of abortion which his boyfriend is trying to force on her but she also wants a perfect romantic relationship with him. She is angry at him but does not want to mar the relationship by saying something in the heat of the moment. This feeling arises from the disillusionment which both the characters face.
According to Jig, the hills, which surround the area where they are sitting, resemble whit elephants. White Elephants are basically representative of baby which Jig can see but her boyfriend cannot. This shows that how much see wants a baby and think that they will be bale to cope with the financial aspects as well. But her boyfriend simply refuses to think about anything except forcing her for an abortion (Cummings, 2008). Furthermore hills are also symbolic of the pregnancy whereas white elephants are something that is unwanted by the owner and he desperately needs to get free of the burden.
Fred Edwards in his critical analysis of the story writes that many symbols in the story point towards the barrenness that Jig will suffer from if she decides to have an abortion. He writes: “We see a contrast between barrenness and fertility while the girl is surveying the terrain which corresponds to the decision she has to make at this time on whether to have an abortion or not. On one side of the station she looks off at the country which is brown and dry-barren. On the other side of the station she sees fields of grain and trees along the river-fertility. These scenes contrast life or death- the same question she is pondering. Trees are also symbolic of life itself.”
The train, which they are waiting for, also represents many things. First, it represents that when they will get on the train they will be moving towards a new land. If Jig decides to keep the baby, it will be a new experience for her. Moreover the train stops or mere minutes which represents the brief time she has to make the decision. Moreover, Fred Edwards writes: “The trip also takes them from Barcelona to Madrid. This is a westward direction. The west represents the setting sun which is equivalent to death-the death of the child and their relationship as they know it.”
The male protagonist of the story is also trying to blackmail Jig emotionally. He keeps on telling her that it will be her decision but at the same time he keeps on forcing her to go for the abortion. He says: “I don't want you to do it if you don't really want to." But on the other hand, he keeps on talking about the issue till Jigs also starts to think of it and ultimately says: “I don’t really care about myself.”
Trent Littleton, in his critical interpretation, of the story very aptly writes: “first, the reader feels immediately privy to a discreet conversation not meant to be overheard Hemingway notes this in the abrupt, choppy fashion they cease speaking when the waitress nears. The two dawdle and dance around the subject at hand, drinking as a means of distraction from the important. An irritation seeps into the paradigm as they draw closer to the subject of the abortion, poking at it without delving very deeply at all, not trying to understand why the other feels how he or she doesSecondly, this literary point of view spawns the sensation of being completely aware, yet unable to act. It is a paralyzing ineffectiveness which absorbs the reader. People have strong personal convictions about intentionally terminating a pregnancy, but Hemingway leaves no room for reader interaction. Whatever happens, will, but you weren't supposed to be listening in on their private conversation, anyway.”
Many critics write that Hemingway did not want to directly talk about this issue (of abortion) and that is hwy he never even mentioned the word in the story. But he used symbols and stark imagery to represent the despair, confusion and bleakness to represent the very dilemma of the protagonists, and even of that era in which he was writing.
The male protagonist is also stereotypical male of Hemingway’s stories; he is very sure of himself, he takes charge and issues orders without thinking that he is write or wrong. Even when he is facing a dire problem, he acts aloof and very cold. In the same manner, the American is a man’s man and refuses to budge from his typical ideas. Somewhere along the conversation, he does feel guilty but does not change his decision regarding abortion. He does feel that his girlfriend is a bit reluctant and afraid to go with “the operation” but does not make any move to comfort her.
The girl, Jig, on the other hand is unsure of herself. She cannot make the final decision, that whether she should have the abortion or not. She realizes that her relationship with her boyfriend would not be the same as before but still she thinks that if she will do what he says, they will go back to their former frivolous lifestyle. But in the end, a great change is noticed in her. She stops being the miserly self and smiles serenely at the boy and says, “Yes, I am fine.” The reader is not told what decision she makes at the end but her ‘serene smile’ may be deceptive as she may have decided not to abort the baby.
Therefore, in this story, Hemingway not only shows the tension between two people and their conflict over an unborn baby but also that how the world was rapidly changing ; in terms of norms, believes and faith. There was confusion all over and people had stop distinguishing what was wrong and what was right for them. They had grown selfish like the American and they were trying to mend which could not be mended like Jig was trying to mend their relationship.
References
Ball, J. (2009, May 27). A biographical analysis of "hills like white elephants". Retrieved from
Cummings, M. (2008). Hills like white elephants. Retrieved from
Edwards, F. (n.d.). Critical analysis of "hills like white elephants". Retrieved from
Littleton, T. (2011, August 30). Ernest Hemingway’s "Hills like white elephants" - a critical analysis. Retrieved from
