Kyle Williamson
Mr. Russell
EN-103-15
December 1, 2010
Tough decision
The story Begins with a detailed description of the view of the river Ebro, and the white hills beyond it, from a train station in Barcelona. A man and a woman are having some drinks at the bar in the station as they wait for the train to Barcelona. The woman’s name is jig and the man’s name is unknown to us. As the couple drinks, the woman tells that man that the hills in the distance remind her of "white elephants." (Hemingway). The man says that he does not think they look like white elephants. This sparks a little argument between them, which the woman tries to avoid by pointing out a painting which is advertising liquor. The couple decides to have some more drinks.
As they continue to drink their conversation remains tense. The man than begins trying to convince jig to have an abortion, But only, he says, if she wants to. He explains to her how simple of an operation it is. Jig wants to know if this will solve their problems, and get their relationship back on track (Hemingway). He tells her that their relationship is on track, but that he is distracted because of his "worry" over the pregnancy (Gummy). She agrees to have the abortion, but says she is only agreeing because she no longer cares about herself. The woman is trying to make the man feel guilty.
Without actually saying it the man tells jig that he is willing to have the baby, but implies that he would prefer that she have the abortion. He then responds by saying he doesn’t want her to have the abortion if she doesn’t want it. The woman is worried because she wants to have the baby, but does not want to lose him. The man is content with their current life and does not want it to change.
The story ends buy the man picking up the bags and going to the other side of the tracks. There is a lot of dispute on what this could mean. It could mean that they went on with the abortion and are continuing their track. Or it could also mean that they are moving on to the more fertile side of the land and are having the baby. Some people find love easier in life than others, but when found, love brings many hard decisions. In the short story, Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway, the main characters, Jig and the man, are faced with a tough decision in their relationship. On their trip together to Barcelona, they stop at a train station and talk about the decision they have to make. The woman can either follow what the man wants and abort their child or end their relationship by having it.
By following the woman’s body language and eye contact to objects around the bar, you can see that she is faced with a major decision. When describing the scenery, jig is describing her feeling for the child because a white elephant is a mystical creature a child would like. She wants the baby, but she is afraid that she is going to lose the love of her life. . She loves this man so much that she even states in their conversation, "I don’t care about me” (Hemingway). I think that this clearly represents that she will do anything to keep their relationship together. Even if that means doing something she really doesn’t want to do.
The woman hinted to the man throughout their conversations that she wanted to start a family, but the man ultimately makes the decision for her. I think that the man is being selfish and only thinking about himself. He is content with his current livelihood and does not want it to change because of a child (Gummy). The theme of the short story, Hills like White Elephants, is true love requires tough decisions. The man picks up on her narrow and symbolic bits of conversation and figures out that she will choose what he wants (Gummy). In the story, when Jig is explaining to the man how she wants, "it all, he instead tells her they cannot have everything. Near the end of their story, the man takes their luggage to the other side of the tracks. I believe that this represents symbolically the decision to keep moving and have the abortion. The woman demonstrates how much she loves the man by going on and having the operation despite her own feelings.