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Lack Of Communication In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

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It is widely known that a lack of communication within a relationship almost always puts a detrimental strain on it. In Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, the narrative revolves around an unspoken conflict between a woman named Jig and her significant other, referred to as the American man. In the story, Jig and the American man are travelling in Spain. At a train station, they are talking about an “operation” (Hemingway 476) Jig is to have; one can infer they are talking about an abortion. It is clear that the American man wants Jig to have the abortion, while Jig does not. Neither of them communicate clearly throughout the story, instead they are passive aggressive, saying things like “I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want …show more content…

In the story, a girl named Jig and an unnamed American man are travelling in Spain. While waiting for a train, they have a few drinks, and the subject of “an operation” (476) comes up. This “operation” (476) is presumably an abortion, and the two characters have drastically different opinions on the matter. Jig wants to go through with the pregnancy, while her partner wants her to go through with the abortion. Eventually, Jig stops arguing, putting on a smile and telling the American man that she feels “fine” (478). This story is an excellent demonstration of how important communication is within a relationship. Due to the fact that the two characters don’t communicate well with each other, it leads Jig to be in an awkward position. She feels frustrated, isolated, and that she is damned if she keeps the baby, and damned if she doesn’t. With a healthier relationship, their situation and these feelings could have been entirely avoided, if only Jig and the American man had more openly communicated. We as human beings rely on communication to survive, and it is therefore inevitable that the relationships we create do as well. Without honesty and excellent communication, all relationships are doomed, no matter the

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Examples Of Ambiguity In Hills Like White Elephant By Ernest Hemingway

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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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Hills Like White Elephants Rhetorical Analysis

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Throughout their conversation, you can decipher a tone where the conversation sheds light on his feelings towards the procedure and her feelings. He says “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig. It’s not really an operation at all” (Hemingway 124), in an effort to persuade her to in fact have the abortion. She, on the other hand, seems silent at first, but then questions how their life will be better after this procedure. Her uncertainty shows in her responses, and in other findings “… the sensuous beauty of a love relation that is quickly deteriorating, now that she has become conscious of her lover’s selfishness” (Maynard 273).

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Good People And Hills Like White Elephants: A Comparative Analysis

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Lane Jr. who's struggling with his faith will support and stand by Sheri and her decision concerning the pregnancy. Ernest Hemingway's" Hills Like White Elephants” allows his readers to come to the conclusion as to whether the couple in question will terminate or keep the unborn child. As Jig, and the American are

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Compare And Contrast Selfishness In 'Hills Like White Elephants'

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The American suggests that their single, carefree lifestyle doesn’t include a child and he was indifferent to the situation. Furthermore, the American suggests the operation only if she was in agreement; however, never insisting on the operation, leaving the situation

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She tells him that “[She is] fine," and that "[There is] nothing wrong with [her]. [She is] fine" (Hemingway 232). The two most logical possibilities for a resolution are that she either feeds into the man’s persuasion and follows through with the abortion or the relationship between the couple dies and she decides what to do about the child on her own. Both possibilites are equally reasonable and there is no evidence that favors one over the other.

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Hills Like White Elephants Literary Analysis

1554 Words | 7 Pages

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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Although never explicitly stated, the assumption of the reader is that the procedure the couple is conversing about throughout the story is an abortion. Very uncommon at the time but encouraged and argued for by the American the woman is conflicted by this decision of whether or not to have the procedure done. During the argument between the American man and Jig, he points out that, “We can have the world”(Hemmingway 231). This alludes to the life the couple could have if she got the procedure done but Jig responds with, “No, we can't. It isn't ours any more”(Hemmingway 231).

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Relationships are the core of everything we do in life. We love someone, so we do something for them; we value someone 's opinion, so we respect them; we dislike someone, so we avoid them. Relationships cause people to act on their emotions which impact how and why they do the things they do. Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” is about a couple trying to come to a conclusion on a delicate matter. While the man strongly promotes his opinion the girl is hesitant but wants to do whatever will make him happy.

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How Does Hemingway Create Tension In Hills Like White Elephant

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While abortion and having a child are two very serious topics, the man does not appear to be taking the situation sincerely, whereas the girl is more concerned. The man clearly does not want the girl to carry through the pregnancy, “we’ll be fine afterward, just like we were before” (Hemingway 361). The girl is silent at first and does

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The Dialogue In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

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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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Hills Like White Elephant is a short story by Earnest Hemingway from 1927. The story is talking about a failing relationship between an American man and his girlfriend. This couple is at a critical point on their lives. At the bar in a train station in Spain, the girl, Jig, does not want to end up her pregnancy, but she is going to sacrifice the baby to satisfied him. Because he is critical of the exploitation of his girl’s feelings concerning the continuation of unbalanced relationship.

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Conflict, be it within oneself or with another person is oftentimes difficult to overcome in the best of circumstances, and it is arguably never more difficult than when the outcome is a matter of life and death. This theme of a power struggle is central to Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”, in which the characters known only as Jig and the American struggle to find a compromise which makes them both content while discussing Jig’s pregnancy and possible subsequent abortion. Hemingway uses several examples of symbolism including hills resembling white elephants, a bamboo bead curtain, and a railroad track to emphasize the separation which is driven between individuals in a relationship who fail to find a solution due to miscommunication. Indeed, remaining consistent with Hemingway’s iceberg style of writing, these seemingly simple examples of common elements of a Spanish railway station are representative of a much more complicated paradigm of human relationships.

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In short, the man tells the woman that he doesn't want her to go through an abortion if she does not want to. However, this is a lie because then the man says, “.. if it means anything to you”, he uses reverse psychology, which is one of the most basic ways to manipulate someone. Kenan’s story makes it simpler to understand the way significant

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The man put on a facade about how he wanted Jig to be happy and make the decision herself, yet he continually tried to convince her to have the abortion. Undoubtedly, the man did not want to take any responsibility for their relationship and the baby, and wanted the easy way out. He did not respect her view on the subject, therefore he forced the idea that the abortion would be their best option. Since Jig was submissive and dependent, she agreed, “Oh, yes. But I don’t care about me.

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