Hemingway is considered one of the greatest writers of all time, and a master of the short story. In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway examines a number of important literary themes, delving deep into the human psyche and consciousness. Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” touches on the lives of two characters, an American and a woman named Jig. The two sit in a Spanish restaurant, drinking beer and talking past each other about Jig’s unplanned pregnancy. The story revolves around the conversation that the two have in the restaurant, illustrating some of the painful truths that Hemingway observed about the human condition.
“Hills Like White Elephants” is a work that truly shows Hemingway’s mastery of the short story. His heavy reliance on dialogue allows the reader to immerse him or herself into the psyche of the characters. Some have claimed that Jig’s character is portrayed as a victim of her circumstance, and the ultimate loser in the story; however, this interpretation of the story ignores the nuance of the conversation between Jig and the American. Jig is clearly under pressure in this situation; Hemingway explicitly states that the conversation between Jig and the American is putting both of them to the test; the conversation takes place in a railway station described as “between two lines of rails in the sun” (Hemingway). The rails offer two choices to the characters: in one instance, the characters may take the option to have an abortion and presumably drift apart, or they may have the baby. Each choice offers an uncertain outcome for both of the characters in the story. What should be noted is that each of the characters has a choice in the story; the American clearly wants Jig to have the abortion, but is unwilling to say so directly. However, Jig clearly does not want the abortion, and longs for the support of her partner, which she seems unwilling to get. Jig may feel pressure in the situation, but she is not a victim; she has power in the decision, and the ability to choose which set of rails she takes onward, so to speak (Renner).
Thus, Jig cannot be considered a victim in the traditional sense, but looking deeper, she is a victim in some ways. Although she retains the power to decide whether or not to allow her pregnancy to continue to full term, she is also under a variety of different pressures regarding keeping the pregnancy or terminating it. The American, as previously noted, does not seem to support Jig’s desire to keep the baby; as a result, the story implies that if Jig does keep the baby, the American will more than likely leave her (Hemingway). In Hemingway’s time-- and even today, to some extent-- single motherhood was and is frowned upon. Jig faces the decision of having an abortion, which she clearly finds morally and emotionally reprehensible, or choosing to have the baby and face the potential fallout from widespread knowledge of her indiscretions outside of marriage for the rest of her life (Renner). In an ideal world, a woman would be able to make this type of decision free from outside pressures, with the input of her partner; however, Jig is indeed falling victim to the potential consequences of both having the baby and terminating the pregnancy.
The American’s lack of sincerity is never in question throughout the short story. Although the reader knows little about his personality and cannot discern whether he would stay with Jig if she chose to keep the baby, his manner of speaking makes it clear that he does not want Jig to keep the pregnancy, regardless of what his actual words are. The dialogue between Jig and the American regarding the pregnancy contains blatant references for his desire for an abortion:
‘Well,’ the man said, ‘if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple.’
‘And you really want to?’
‘I think it’s the best thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to.’
‘And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?’
‘I love you now. You know I love you.’
‘I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you’ll like it?’
‘I’ll love it. I love it now but I just can’t think about it. You know how I get when I worry.’
‘If I do it you won’t ever worry?’
‘I won’t worry about that because it’s perfectly simple.’ (Hemingway)
The American lacks power in the situation, and it clearly makes him uncomfortable; the only power he has is to tell Jig that the operation is simple and try to convince her that she should have it done. He is sincere in his desire for Jig to have the operation done, but clearly feels that the only way he can convince her that it is the right thing to do is to be empathetic and tell her that he wants everything to go back to the way it was before the pregnancy occurred.
The American’s lack of sincerity regarding his desire and love for the potential baby is the fundamental conflict of the story. The titular “white elephants” are a reference to a type of unwanted gift; the “white elephant gift” is one that is given but is fundamentally worthless and meaningless. Pregnancy, so often referred to as a gift of life, is meaningless and a source of conflict and pain in this story.
Hemingway uses dialogue as a primary method for delivery in the story because it allows the reader true insight into the situation. There are no unnecessary descriptions or descriptors breaking up the flow of the conversation; the reader is immersed in the nuanced subtext of what the characters are discussing. Although technically speaking to each other, the characters seem to be instead speaking past each other, losing the intention and meaning behind the words as they try, futilely, to communicate with each other. Smiley writes, “Feminine language tends to be relationship-oriented while masculine is goal-orientedJig’s controversial objective is to establish intimacy through shared emotions and joke-telling. Tannen notes that intimacy for women is shared words, intimacy for men shared actions” (Smiley). Jig and the American are speaking past each other, feeling isolated from each other yet bound by a common problem.
Thus, the American’s sincerity is never meant to be questioned by the reader; indeed, even Jig never questions the American’s sincerity, because she knows and understands the nuance of his words. He, on the other hand, does not understand the nuance of her words. He cannot make the emotional connection that Jig desires-- and thus will never be able to convince her of anything-- because he lacks the ability to connect verbally and emotionally with Jig. Jig’s response to her perception of the American’s insincerity is to tell him repeatedly to shut up, shutting down any kind of potential emotional connection that the pair ever could have had (Hemingway).
When Jig speaks with the American and gauges his emotional response to her pregnancy, she immediately knows that he is being insincere. She feels sad, alone, and burdened by this knowledge, and she faces a monumental choice that is now much harder, because she faces it alone. Nothing in the story indicates that Hemingway attempted to portray Jig as a victim of the American, or as a victim in general; if she is a victim, she is a victim of society and the expectations that are placed on women in society. Jig’s decision on which train to take, and which direction to move is one that she must make on her own. She is not victimized by the loneliness, but she is burdened by it. Being burdened by something is not the same as being victimized by it, however, and Hemingway does seem to make a clear delineation between victimization of the character and the burden that the character carries in the story.
Works cited
Hashmi, Nilofer. "" Hills Like White Elephants": The Jilting of Jig." The Hemingway Review, 23. 1 (2003): 72--83. Online.
Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills like white elephants." The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, (1927): 211--14. Online.
Link, Alex. "Staking Everything on It: A Stylistic Analysis of Linguistic Patterns in" Hills Like White Elephants"." The Hemingway Review, 23. 2 (2004): 66--74. Online.
Rankin, Paul. "Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants." The Explicator, 63. 4 (2005): 234--237. Online.
Renner, Stanley. "Moving to the Girl’s Side of ‘Hills Like White Elephants.’." The Hemingway Review, 15. 1 (1995): 27--41. Online.
Smiley, Pamela. "Gender-Linked Miscommunication in'Hills Like White Elephants.'." Hemingway Review, 8. 1 (1988): 2. Online.
