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Hills Like White Elephants By Ernest Hemingway

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Recommended: Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants

Josephine Love
Mrs. McPheeters
Honors English 10
May 25th, 2023

Jig Character Analysis Essay
“Hills Like White Elephants”, a short story by Ernest Hemingway, demonstrates a powerful and deep interaction with a subtle but intense dialogue. From the beginning of the story, the reader is drawn by the vague details given about an operation that the two are discussing. The interaction is between an American man and a young girl named Jig who are in a relationship. Jig is a strong, sympathetic character who is trying to figure out an uncomfortable and difficult situation and develops a sense of individuality as the story progresses.
The setting in this story is symbolic of the struggles Jig is having in their relationship addressing abortion. Jig …show more content…

The straightforward difference that they both have from each other is the procedure, and how he wants her to have it while she doesn’t. The story is placed in Spain, and there is a language barrier between the two. Jig is using the man for translations from the woman. In the text, this is demonstrated when the conversation states “Four reales.’ ‘We want two Anis del Toro.’ ‘With water?’ ‘Do you want it with water?’ ‘I don't know,’ the girl said. ‘Is it good with water?” (Hemingway 2) This describes the language barrier that Jig faces when in Spain. She also is significantly younger than him, according to context clues in the evidence. She is referred to as a girl, which can typically be interpreted as somebody who is young. The American is addressed as a man, which is interpreted as somebody who is older. Her age is demonstrated by her playful nature in contrast to the Americans' thicker surface. In the text, this is demonstrated when Jig quotes “Yes,’ said the girl.’Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you've waited so long for, like absinthe.’’Oh, cut it out." ‘You started it,’ the girl said. ‘I was being amused. I was having a fine time." (Hemingway 3). Her playful and young nature illustrates the difference between her and the Americans’ ages. These differences are very important, especially for how the man and Jig interact. Hemingway made Jig significantly different from the American to …show more content…

Her senses soon start to come to her when faced with a big decision that she has to make at a young age. This can be demonstrated in the text when the American travels to the other end of the station. In the text, this is quoted as "I'd better take the bags over to the other side of the station,’ the man said. She smiled at him. ‘All right. Then come back and we'll finish the beer" (Hemingway 4). When Jig smiles, this is the signal of her finally coming to her senses. The American traveling to the other end of the train symbolizes him leaving and returning to the dry and barren land, and her smiling and being okay with staying on the greener and lively side. When he returned, she was sitting at the table. In the dialogue, the discussion they had is quoted “Do you feel better?’ he asked. ‘I feel fine,’ she said. ‘There's nothing wrong with me. I feel fine” (Hemingway 4). This is a sign of her independence and being okay with being alone without the man, as this ultimately signals the end of their relationship as she knows it will never work

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Ernest Hemingway uses repetition and ambiguity in his story, “Hills like White Elephants'' to exhibit the idea that in order to maintain a healthy long-term relationship, communication and consideration of one another’s values are needed. Throughout this story, a couple, Jig and the American, are having an intense and emotional conversation about whether Jig should have an abortion. She displays very sensitive feelings about the procedure, and the American takes advantage of this by trying to manipulate her, repeatedly stating it is her choice: “if [she doesn’t] want to [she doesn’t] have to. [He] wouldn’t have [her] do it if [she] didn’t want to” (477). By doing this he falsely implies he has no opinion, but later contradicts himself by

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Another instance of Hemingway in superiority when it comes to describing a scene is when he describes how Paul feels about his life in general. “He would not go down to his father's office. He would miss that one. He wanted his life to go smoothly. It had just gotten going that way.”.

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But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to,” (Hemingway 3). The Girl, however, dismisses him and keeps her independent opinion no matter what judgment may spring from the man. The short story ends with the girl saying,, “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine,” (Hemingway 4). She asserts her confidence and the way she feels, not conforming to the man’s beliefs.

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The first words out of the girl’s mouth are, “‘’What should we drink?’” (p. 323). This sets up the idea that the man holds the power in the relationship. Then, it is revealed that the man speaks Spanish while the girl does not; the girl is reliant on him to translate everything for her. The man goes on to dismiss almost everything that comes out of her mouth that he doesn’t want to talk about.

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Throughout the short story (1), “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway is speaking about a seemingly unwanted pregnancy and a woman’s uneasiness with going through an abortion. However, Hemingway never explicitly says in this work of fiction (2) that it is about abortion or that the woman, Jig, is uncomfortable with it, but uses symbolism (3) to present this to the audience. At the time “Hills like White Elephants” was published, in 1927, abortion was illegal in most places and a very taboo subject that wasn’t to be openly discussed in public. Thus, Hemingway relied greatly upon the use of symbolism to get his message across for this reason as well as the third person narrator (4) that did not give insight into the character’s thoughts within this piece of literature (5) . He uses symbols such as the train station, white hills, the baggage, and the drinks to point towards the underlying internal conflict (6) of Jig’s decision that is being heavily influenced by the American man, who wants Jig to get the abortion.

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Nevertheless, Ernest Hemingway soon shows that this relationship contains a rift. This becomes apparent once they try conversing to one another. The girl attempts to spark a conversation by mentioning that the hills look like white elephants, but this topic soon turns hostile with the American’s replies. How this conversation is handled already shows that the couple “are trapped in a state of imbalance and disagreement” from the beginning (Link). The problem with the conversation is that the American’s personality of being simple and serious.

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Annotated Bibliography Lanier, Doris. “The Bittersweet of Absinthe in the Hemingway’s ‘Hills like White Elephants.’” Short Fiction 26.3 (1989): 279-288. Literary Resource Center Web.

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They each bring up different points as to why throughout the story. In Earnest Hemingway’s short story Hills like White Elephants written in 1927 he uses the hills themselves, the scenery that the couple is surrounded by, and the beaded curtain as symbols to describe the situation that the couple faces. In this short story, the hills that the train station overlook are compared to white elephants. This is because the conversation Jig is wanting to have with the American consists of whether or not to keep the

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The struggles presented between these two characters bring to light issues in human relationships that weigh into everyday life. Hemingway’s short story reveals to readers how relationships affect communication, decision

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Even though it is not said directly, it is still easy for the audience to understand that what Jig and her boyfriend are talking about is a woman’s matter. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Hemingway does not reveal the underlying meaning, but rather uses symbolism in his story through Jig’s attitude towards her boyfriend, the station in which the couple is at, and the absinthe drink she tries. Jig has an attitude about her that makes seem childish. She repeats her words as if she were a young child would when they want something they cannot have.

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The dialogue in Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” reveals a man’s and a woman’s incongruent conflict on abortion, and the author’s fundamentally feminist position is visible in the portrayal of the woman’s independent choice of whether or not to keep the baby she is carrying. The plot is very simple in the story which is less than 1500 words long. A woman and a man spend less than an hour on a hot summers day at a Spanish train station in the valley of Ebro as they are waiting for a train heading for Madrid. Their dialogue takes up most of the space and only few major actions take place.

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Which is making him more selfish and he does not to have any responsibilities. Also, the reader is also left with a great doubt, as there is no solution. Jig is a Spanish pregnant girl, and she is about to have an abortion. She seems young because she is depending on a careless man.

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