The Power Of Jig In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

In this essay I shall be analyzing Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants and how he shows his character Jig gaining power in her relationship with the American throughout the story. Hills Like White Elephants has created a huge amount of debate since its publication in 1927 around what actually happens after the story ends, what Hemingway was trying to convey and Jig and the American’s position within their relationship. It needs to be kept in mind that the attitudes around woman was different from today’s and that many people saw Hemingway as a misogynist, then and now. I strongly believe that Jig is shown to gain power in her relationship with the American throughout the story and that by the end of the story she has decided

There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” Andrade responds to this saying that the line is actually referring to the pregnancy; “there is nothing wrong with having a child and deciding upon it by herself.” She goes on to say that Jig saying “I feel fine” understates her “real feeling of triumph over her boyfriend and society’s emphasis on men dominating women.” Andrade’s first point makes sense to me because though she may be in a situation where being pregnant and having a baby may complicate her life, doing so is not unnatural or wrong. I cannot however fully agree that Jig is conveying a sense of triumph when she says “I feel fine”. For Jig to feel “triumph” because she decided for herself not to get an abortion, even though her partner wants the opposite would, in my mind, imply that she doesn’t care about his wishes, be they selfish or not. I don’t think Jig would act the way she does (asking him about what he wants to do) towards the American if she didn’t care about what he thought. In my opinion, by the end of the story Jig still wants to be with the American so she would have to listen to his wants to a

This is a turning point in the story where it is clearly shown that Jig is speaking up for herself and taking control over the situation. He carries on talking after a short pause to which Jig replies “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” and later threatens to scream if he doesn’t end the conversation about the abortion. This new side of Jig we see starts to stand up for herself, no longer going to listen to the American’s manipulative words. She has made a decision and is no longer confused as to what she wants at that