Forced Smiles in "Hills"

Kendra J. Briscoe

English 112, Section DL01

Professor Eric Hibbison

September 18, 2004

Revised September 27, 2004

Forced Smiles

Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants is about Jig and her American companion, who seem to have differing opinions on how to handle Jig’s apparently unplanned pregnancy. The man would like for Jig to have an abortion, which he refers to as an “operation.” Jig, however, seems indecisive, almost like a child. Throughout the story, Jig is commonly referred to as “the girl,” perhaps indicating that she is very young. The American is called “the man” throughout the story, maybe to put more emphasis on his being older and perhaps more influential in the relationship than Jig. Jig also has a tendency to ask many questions, making her seem almost unsure of herself and making the American’s power over her even more obvious.

The story is told almost entirely through conversation. Nancy Hemond Brown points out that during the narrative passages “mostly simple sentences are used.” It is noticed throughout the story that the only time Hemingway bothers with vivid descriptions or strays from the conversation is to build symbolism. In fact, while in the bar, the two main characters, Jig and her companion, the American, through quoted conversation, order two Anis del Toro and water. In the line after ordering the water, they are discussing the taste of the drinks with no filler conversation or story building between the ordering and the arrival of their drinks.

The story also shows the differing views on their relationship. Jig seems to be of the impression that maybe they can keep their baby and raise it. She seems to think that their relationship is a serious one. Her views of the world around her – the reference to the white elephants and her observations of the conditions of the land at the train station – seem to have deep meaning and much thought in them. The American, on the other hand, looks over at their bags on the wall of the train station and sees “labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.” Jig’s thinking is more along the lines of something long- term and permanent. The American’s mind seems only on the places where they had sex. If he cared more about Jig and the situation, his thoughts may have been portrayed as the places they had spent time together, or had fun, or caught trains. In the Arizona Quarterly, James Barbour wrote that “Hemingway’s female characters seem like mere sexual vessels.” In a paper posted on Free-CliffNotes.com, the author wrote that the symbolism in the story pertains not only to the hills and white elephants in the title, but also to the sexual innuendo in the story as well. The author points out that the trunk of the elephant is one of the “references to sexuality in the form of phallic symbols” within the story, and the bull on the Anis del Toro is “a symbol of virility.” The American shows an obvious reluctance to have this baby, apparently because it would slow down his sex life and erase the freedoms that are related to an unattached male, such as picking up and traveling at will, as he is doing now.

Though he tries to show his concern for Jig and empathy for her feelings about the situation, the man obviously does not want this child. The American has made his feelings known and has hopes to convince Jig that this is not the right move for their relationship. However, he wants her to feel as if this were her decision and not one that he pushed upon her. In Forget the Legend and Read the Work, Margaret Bauer points out that “Jig’s imaginative ability…gets readers’ sympathies, whereas the man’s flat literalness insults her and alienates readers.” The reader feels almost sorry for Jig for having to put up with the coldness and blatant selfishness of the American.

Toward the end of the story, Jig smiles at the American two times after he moves their bags “over to the other side of the station.” Until this time, Jig had not smiled at him at all, and only smiled once, a few lines before, throughout the entire story. Mary Del Fletcher states that this could represent the American moving the bags either to the “fertile” side of the track and perhaps relenting, giving in to Jig’s desire to have the baby, or to the side of the station that is on the main line to Madrid, taking them one step closer to the abortion. To me, it seems odd that Jig smiled and I cannot see the American giving in and wanting to have the baby. In fact, at no time in the story does Jig verbalize her desire to neither keep nor abort this child. Jig has made no argument to change the American’s mind. I think that he moved their bags to the main line toward Madrid. I think the smile is a phony one and is more of a request to the American to not talk about the subject anymore. Nilofer Hashmi said in her review of the story that Jig’s last smile seemed “a bit forced, perhaps with Jig barely in control of her emotions because her dream (even if momentary) is about to be killed.” Jig has accepted the inevitable – her child will not be born.

When the story concludes, Jig and the American are still waiting on their train to Madrid and they are still no closer to agreeing on whether or not Jig will have the operation. Jig’s last sentences in the story, “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine,” are more than likely a way to avoid any further conversation with the American on the subject, as well as one more accent on the trouble the couple has communicating. Obviously Jig’s troubles have not dissipated in this time, but she would rather not be badgered about the situation any further. The situation between the American and Jig will never be the same, regardless of Jig’s decision to either have or abort the baby. From reading the text, I do not think Jig is strong enough to leave the American before aborting the baby. I believe that she will have the abortion and later realize what a mistake she made. As long as the American is able to get his way with Jig, he will stay with her. However, sooner or later Jig will realize that she has sacrificed a lot for the American and that these actions were not reciprocated, and I think she will end up leaving him. As Hashmi put it, “the hills, after all, are distant, a dream that shows us how much Jig wants a child and therefore how much she gives up when she gives in.”

This essay was posted with permission of Kendra Briscoe, a student at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, in October, 2004. References to ideas of critics are from the page of summaries in this website.


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