Brief Moments

In life, it seems a few brief moments in time can alter people’s lives forever. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” the reader gets to view forty minutes in the lives of a girl, Jig, and her American lover, battling with a life-altering decision. Within these forty minutes a decision may be made that will alter their lives, plus the life of their unborn child eternally.

Ernest Hemingway repeatedly uses references to time, and a strained, hurried dialogue to establish a fast moving rhythm in this short story. Time is first mentioned in the first paragraph when it is revealed that “the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went on to Madrid”. Time is referred to on the Free Cliff Notes website in the statement, “we must take into account that the train is stopping only for two minutes, a very short time. This limited time symbolizes the time Jig has to have an abortion”. Hemingway’s use of short, fast moving verbal interchange, sets the pace for the story, making it seem as if each line of dialogue is another second ticking away until the train arrives.

As readers begin to look into the words exchanged between Jig and the American, they start to realize the operation that these two lovers keep referring to is an abortion. The use of the train is important because a train is an almost unmovable object. It is hard to slow, stop, or reverse, and its arrival is unavoidable. Critic David Grant supports this view in his essay “Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ and the Tradition of the American in Europe” when he states, “The passing of time is associated with pregnancy [and the train]". The imminent arrival of the “express from Barcelona” is a symbolic view of Jig’s pregnancy and the inevitable arrival of a child. Note that Hemingway uses the term “express” for the train, emphasizing the speed of its arrival.

Jig and the American sit outside of a bar waiting for the express at the station. They are away from everyone, debating the future of the child, and each other’s lives. From the story we learn that Jig and the American live an uncontrolled lifestyle: when Jig states “That’s all we do, isn’t it - look at things and try new drinks?” the American responds “I guess so.” This fast-paced lifestyle has put them in the situation they are in now. The point of having Jig and the American removed from the other passengers, shielded by a beaded curtain, is to show their embarrassment.

Time keeps ticking away while the American tries to convince Jig that “it’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig” and “I’ve known lots of people that have it done”. Jig then sarcastically replies, “’So have I' ... 'And afterward they were all so happy’”. The American continues to pressure Jig into aborting the unborn child and possibly their future together as lovers. Jig reacts to the constant barrage of statements by the American, by asking him to “please please please . . . stop talking.” Jig is trying to avoid the situation altogether until it is too late to have an abortion, forcing the American into fatherhood and responsibility. She is trying to hold on to the baby and the American also, as she “put her hand out, and took hold of two strings of beads”. The beads are a symbol of Jig’s hope of keeping the relationship together. This part of the story shows the reader the great divide between Jig and the American's ideals. It further accentuates the rushed dialogue of the two as they hurry to decide on this irresolvable issue before the train’s arrival.

The pace of the story, and time, keep moving fast as Jig and the American sit outside of the bar talking, when the barmaid comes through the beaded curtain to announce to them “The train is coming in five minutes.” After this announcement Jig “smiles brightly at the woman, to thank her.” This shows that time is almost up to decide, and Jig just might get her wish to keep the child. The American then takes his and Jig’s luggage “to the other side of the station,” revealing that maybe he has changed his mind and will have the child. This is further proven when Jig smiles at him also and says, “come back and we’ll finish the beer.” The American seems to have a change of heart in this brief moment of time, when he realizes the train’s arrival is nearing. These last few moments before the train’s arrival are the most important, and telling, part of the story. The American, after placing the two bags on the other side of the express station “looked up the tracks but could not see the train”. This look points out that the American is having a hard time seeing himself with a child, and the responsibility that comes along with it. This failure of imagination is further shown after the American looks down the tracks and enters the bar. He notices the bar patrons “were all waiting reasonably for the train.” After this whole ordeal, he seems to have a change of heart, realizing that he has been unreasonable by rushing Jig into having the abortion. When the American is finished in the bar he comes back to meet Jig, and she smiles at him again, showing her approval. During these last few seconds before the train arrives we get some sort of resolution, although nothing is said out in the open. This all plays back into Hemingway’s stripped- down style of writing, forcing the reader to look between the lines.

The story of the two lovers ends at the bar, as the train is seconds from reaching its destination, as is Jig and the American’s child. While these two lovers’ fast-paced lifestyle and irresponsibility has put them both in a predicament, they seem to have an unspoken agreement at the end of the dialogue. Time was not on Jig's or the American’s side as they raced to decide on the future of their relationship and their baby.

Hemingway emphasized time throughout the story in association with the “express from Barcelona” and quick conversation as verification of the fact that Jig’s pregnancy is coming swiftly. Time is the backbone of the whole story; without time running out, we would not see the urgency that comes along when one makes a decision so daunting. A well-known quote by a man named Peter Strup states that, “Time only seems to matter when it is running.” This seems especially true when reading Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants.” The story of Jig and the American shows that it only takes a few seconds in life when a person’s actions, or decisions, change the course of their life forever.

--posted by permission of the writer in February, 2004


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