Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story written in 1927 published in “Men with Out Women.” Hemmingway begins this story by describing the surroundings of the characters who are waiting at a train station near the Spanish city of Ebro. Across the valley, there are hills described as looking “long and white” (116 Hemmingway) Hemmingway moves on to describing the train station stating it is treeless and sun-beaten and has parallel rales running across it. The male character, referred to as The American, and the woman character, referred to as Jig, are sitting at the train station’s bar pondering what to drink. Reading further into the story the conversation evolves into an ambiguous exchange of word highlighted by hollow
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Starting on line forty-three The American forcefully starts a line of disjointed hollow statements in an effort to convince Jig that “the operation” will not be as hard as it may seem. “’It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig.’ The man said. ‘it’s not really an operation at all.’ The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.” (Hemmingway 116) As if Jig has heard The American assert his thoughts of the operation a thousand times before, she looks off uninterested at the ground where the table legs are sitting. More prominently, just as looking down at a person conveys a sense of power and domination, looking down as someone is talking to you is a sign of submission and defeat. Interpreting this as Hemmingway informing us that this was a long fought battle between Jig and The American with Jig on the losing side. The American continues on his quest to convince Jig that the operation will be a positive step in their relationship stating, “That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.’ The girl looked at the bead curtain. . .” “The thing” that The American is referring to in the quotation is the pregnancy, but what is more revealing in this quote is the body movement of Jig; she looks to the curtain. Assuming the curtain is to the side …show more content…
This use of setting begins as early as the title, “Hills Like White Elephants” as stated earlier this is symbolic of the pregnancy. Secondly, and perhaps less obvious is the train station, this is a liminal space within the story, it represents their relationship is at a crossroads. Hemmingway describes the rail way station in the first line stating, “On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun.” (114) This is symbolic of the choice that Jig is being forced to contemplate as she awaits the train. Further expanding on this the idea, the two-dimensional nature of railroad tracks highlights the notion that there is no compromise to be had; either the relationship continues with the abortion or it will end if Jig decides to keep the baby. Contradictory, much like parallel lines these two tracks of railroad will never meet, indicating that no matter what Jig chooses to do their relationship will be forever tarnished by her decision. Thirdly, the juxtaposition of the barren desert railway station and the white flowing white hills highlights the dichotomy of life and death. This is extenuated by the fact that the girl continuously refers back to the hills as if looking to the future with the baby and at one point walks out of the station’s bar and inspects the barren landscape at her
Starting on line forty-three The American forcefully starts a line of disjointed hollow statements in an effort to convince Jig that “the operation” will not be as hard as it may seem. “’It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig.’ The man said. ‘it’s not really an operation at all.’ The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.” (Hemmingway 116) As if Jig has heard The American assert his thoughts of the operation a thousand times before, she looks off uninterested at the ground where the table legs are sitting. More prominently, just as looking down at a person conveys a sense of power and domination, looking down as someone is talking to you is a sign of submission and defeat. Interpreting this as Hemmingway informing us that this was a long fought battle between Jig and The American with Jig on the losing side. The American continues on his quest to convince Jig that the operation will be a positive step in their relationship stating, “That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.’ The girl looked at the bead curtain. . .” “The thing” that The American is referring to in the quotation is the pregnancy, but what is more revealing in this quote is the body movement of Jig; she looks to the curtain. Assuming the curtain is to the side …show more content…
This use of setting begins as early as the title, “Hills Like White Elephants” as stated earlier this is symbolic of the pregnancy. Secondly, and perhaps less obvious is the train station, this is a liminal space within the story, it represents their relationship is at a crossroads. Hemmingway describes the rail way station in the first line stating, “On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun.” (114) This is symbolic of the choice that Jig is being forced to contemplate as she awaits the train. Further expanding on this the idea, the two-dimensional nature of railroad tracks highlights the notion that there is no compromise to be had; either the relationship continues with the abortion or it will end if Jig decides to keep the baby. Contradictory, much like parallel lines these two tracks of railroad will never meet, indicating that no matter what Jig chooses to do their relationship will be forever tarnished by her decision. Thirdly, the juxtaposition of the barren desert railway station and the white flowing white hills highlights the dichotomy of life and death. This is extenuated by the fact that the girl continuously refers back to the hills as if looking to the future with the baby and at one point walks out of the station’s bar and inspects the barren landscape at her