Hills Like White Elephants: A Literary Analysis

Many stories have endings which leave the audience asking what happens next? They end with cliffhangers and loose ties which leave readers with deep curiosity and thoughts possible ways the story could have concluded. In Hills Like White Elephants, by Ernest Hemingway, at the conclusion of the story, the reader questions if a man and Jig, a woman, decide to either have an abortion or marry. In the early 1900’s, adoption and single parenthood were not viable options, restricting the couple’s options to abortion or marriage. The story begins with Jig’s statement that she does not want an abortion and wants to be together as a family. The man, however, is against this idea and states he is happy with only the two of them. The story ends with …show more content…
There is no way Jig would be able to take care of a child by herself because of the time period and her self-proclaimed love for the man would not let her do anything except what he wanted. The man was manipulative and did not have pure feelings of love for Jig therefore would have continued to be selfish and tell Jig to abort the baby. The man’s selfishness is especially apparent when he tells Jig, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig… It’s not really an operation at all” (Hemingway 230). This is because she knows the complications that could occur (death) and knows it is illegal, but he tells her anyways to do it because of he is self-centered. The abortion will occur, causing deep emotional issues within Jig’s life and making her a different person. The relationship would then have nowhere to go. Jig would be emotionally scarred and would also not know what happens next. She would not be able to forgive the man for controlling her and making her abort the baby. In the end, the relationship would fall apart in which case they would mutually agree to part ways. Jig would hold grief and anger within her and the man would be happy because he wanted to continue to be