Throughout all of history, there have been certain stereotyped roles for both men and women. With the majority of the time, women having been second fiddle to men in both relationships and in society. In the short story by Ernest Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants,” we are shown two different characters, who are trying to make a decision on an unknown matter. As shown in the story, women in relationships and society are shown to not have much of an influence on any matters, even if it directly affects them. . As the story progresses, it is implied that Jig is pregnant and the American is wanting Jig to receive an abortion to be rid of the child so it can be just the two of them. The stereotypes portrayed in this short story not only
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From Jig describing the mountains as “white elephants” to the train station, each symbol in the story helps give way to show exactly what is happening in the story. At the start of the story, Jig says about the line of hills in the distance “They look white elephants,” to which the man responded “I’ve never seen one.” (Hemingway 274). During this quick banter between the two characters, white elephants are brought up. A white elephant summed up is an ugly gift that no one wants, which symbolizes the unborn child that Jig is carrying. While this may seem as just bickering between the two, it actually shows how the two characters view the mountains and what they symbolize. While at first Jig sees that they look like white elephants, she later takes back what she says implying that she is thinking about keeping the child after all. While Jig is comparing the child to a “white elephant,” it also shows the widely-known expression of “the elephant in the room” which is a topic that neither person wants to discuss, but they know that they have to. Symbolism plays a huge part in the story, which helps the reader able to understand what is happening in the …show more content…
Unfortunately in this story, the American and Jig are arguing about whether or not she should receive an abortion or not. Throughout the story, the dialogue between the two characters is one-sided with the American taking control and telling Jig what is going to happen and how she will feel about it. Even discussing about the operation the American says, “They just let air in and then it’s all perfectly natural” (Hemingway 275). The ignorance in that comment shows how the American does not understand the pressure and feeling of having an abortion done. The story is set in the late 1920’s, which during that time period abortion was illegal. Abortion was not made legal in the U.S. until 1973 in the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, which gave women the right to receive an abortion if they would choose so to have one. The level of disrespect that the American shows to Jig is shown even more as the story progresses after continually verbally attacking Jig. It finally culminates with Jig saying, “Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me” (Hemingway 276). After this is said in the story, the reader unfortunately is shown that Jig will do what the American wants to keep him happy, but not worry about what she wants or will happen to her As the story starts to wrap up, the reader is starting to
From Jig describing the mountains as “white elephants” to the train station, each symbol in the story helps give way to show exactly what is happening in the story. At the start of the story, Jig says about the line of hills in the distance “They look white elephants,” to which the man responded “I’ve never seen one.” (Hemingway 274). During this quick banter between the two characters, white elephants are brought up. A white elephant summed up is an ugly gift that no one wants, which symbolizes the unborn child that Jig is carrying. While this may seem as just bickering between the two, it actually shows how the two characters view the mountains and what they symbolize. While at first Jig sees that they look like white elephants, she later takes back what she says implying that she is thinking about keeping the child after all. While Jig is comparing the child to a “white elephant,” it also shows the widely-known expression of “the elephant in the room” which is a topic that neither person wants to discuss, but they know that they have to. Symbolism plays a huge part in the story, which helps the reader able to understand what is happening in the …show more content…
Unfortunately in this story, the American and Jig are arguing about whether or not she should receive an abortion or not. Throughout the story, the dialogue between the two characters is one-sided with the American taking control and telling Jig what is going to happen and how she will feel about it. Even discussing about the operation the American says, “They just let air in and then it’s all perfectly natural” (Hemingway 275). The ignorance in that comment shows how the American does not understand the pressure and feeling of having an abortion done. The story is set in the late 1920’s, which during that time period abortion was illegal. Abortion was not made legal in the U.S. until 1973 in the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, which gave women the right to receive an abortion if they would choose so to have one. The level of disrespect that the American shows to Jig is shown even more as the story progresses after continually verbally attacking Jig. It finally culminates with Jig saying, “Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me” (Hemingway 276). After this is said in the story, the reader unfortunately is shown that Jig will do what the American wants to keep him happy, but not worry about what she wants or will happen to her As the story starts to wrap up, the reader is starting to