John Morales Wolfe English 1302.113 September 13, 2015 “Hills Like White Elephants” True to his signature Iceberg Theory, also known as the “theory of omission”, Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is deceptively simple, conveying far more through subtext than through the actual written text. In “Hills Like White Elephants” both the American and the girl speak in short sentences; their thoughts and feelings are left to the interpretation of the reader. Not much happens. The American and the girl sit at a table outside a train station and drink while waiting for a train to Madrid. The American wants the girl to have an operation; it is never specified as to what the operation is, but it is obvious that he wants her to have an abortion. Although the short story is primarily a conversation between the American and the girl, …show more content…
“Hills White Like Elephants” is written in the third person perspective, so other than “the American” and “the girl” the characters are alternatively written as “the man”, “he”, and “she”, with the one exception of the man calling the girl “Jig” about halfway through the story: “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig” (Hemingway, 790). Jig perhaps represents how the characters dance around talking about the issue. The man is knowledgeable, worldly, and in control of the situation. He initially avoids talking about their problems, and leniently pushes for the girl to have the operation, oversimplifying the process, declaring it to be “perfectly simple” (Hemingway, 790). He is patronizing and provides no sympathy or understanding for the girl’s hesitation to proceed with the abortion. He identifies more with the other people who are “waiting reasonably for the train (Hemingway 792). The man is self-involved and literal; while the girl is more imaginative and interested in the world around