Reaction to "Hills Like White Elephants"

“Hills Like White Elephants”- Ernest Hemingway

The plot of the short story seems pretty straightforward; a man and a girl, clearly together and seasoned travelers, are sitting at the train station discussing whether or not the girl should get an abortion. The interesting this is that there are many thematic traces of feminism, responsibility, and more, in only light descriptive narration and ambiguous dialogue.

The light descriptions reveal a considerable amount about the work. The “labels from all the hotels where they spent nights” show that the two have a transient lifestyle, and have been together for some time. The setting of this story seemed especially important to me, as the author gives little else away. The hills seem reminiscent of a pregnant stomach, full of life and excitement. The train station matches the impasse that the two travelers find themselves at in the story. On one side, there are hills, vegetation, “fields of grain and trees,” and life. The other side is barren and desolate, with “no shade and no trees.” The two clearly have a huge decision to make, one side of the tracks or the other, a child or an abortion, and the few lines of descriptive scenery aid to explain this struggle. Also, the simple act of considering the man a man, implying age and maturity, matched with a girl, known for frivolity and youth, suggests that the girl is considerably more innocent and callow than her companion. Therefore, it comes as a surprise when the girl develops a much more pragmatic view of the world, as seen through her few short lines of discourse.

The dialogue, which makes up most of the short story, develops the characterization of the two companions, as well as my feelings toward them. Like I said earlier, the author implies that the girl is young and innocent, which is bolstered by the man calling her “Jig.” The name is jubilant, free, and young. The man clearly does not really take his companion seriously, even though she has clearly traveled and drank with him for awhile and is now deciding the fate of his unborn child. While the few lines describing the girl’s actions, like looking down when talk of abortion comes up, are a large part of the illustration of the characters, I felt that the lines that they said added even more. That being said, I cannot decide how I feel about the man. On one hand, he genuinely seems to tolerate and go along with whatever the girl wants, even though he continually tries to sway her into doing the operation. However; he does not seem to grasp how having a child would affect their life together the way the girl does. He insists that then “can have everything” and “go everywhere,” basically continuing their lifestyle of travel and drinking. The girl, on the other hand, clearly understands that this train station and decision is a turning point in her life; nothing will ever be the same again. As much as she may want to continue on, she realizes that she cannot, because the world “isn’t ours anymore.” Some of the last lines about taking the luggage to the lively “other side of the station” makes me believe that the girl is actually going to stand up for herself and choose to have a baby, despite her husband and his happiness. The short lines of dialogue between the two hold much more than a brief conversation between lovers; the lines give rise to the themes, characterizations, and eventual outcome of the entire story, even if the reader never sees the end.

Hemingway somehow managed to pack an extensive amount of information into a short story, especially considering the amount of repetitive dialogue. Still, I am not entirely sure which way she decided. While some of the text may point to her choosing to have her child, other sections lean toward going through with the abortion, and she does agree to the operation on the third page. Also, I cannot make a decision about the man’s intentions either. On one hand, he seems open to raising a child, even though he clearly does not want one. However, I also think that he could be manipulative and abandon the girl if she makes the “wrong” decision; there are certainly hints that he is overly controlling throughout the text. Overall, I cannot find a distinct ending for the story in the text that the author gives the reader.