"Hills"

Matt Billingsley

February 8, 2004

English 112 93C

“Hills Like White Elephants” Critical Essay
A Turning Point in Opposite Journeys

Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story that depicts a situation in a couple’s lives as seen by an onlooker. Jig and her American lover are somewhat distraught facing a troubling dilemma, an abortion, as they wait for a train in a station in between the cities of Barcelona and Madrid, in the country of Spain. Besides their conversational tactics, clues and symbols are present in Hemingway’s writing to make the reader ponder the possible outcome of this situation as well as some underlying traits of the characters involved.

In the beginning of the story, the side of the station where the couple is waiting is described as having “no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun.” Further, the temperature outside is “very hot” and like most people, the couple may be somewhat irritable by the heat, causing further tension in their conversations. It doesn’t take long for this to become apparent as the American man retorts with extreme literalness to Jig’s sarcastic comment on how he wouldn’t have ever seen a white elephant before by saying “Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything.”

The couple seem to be nomadic in nature as Jig makes the comment “that’s all we do, isn’t it—look at things and try new drinks,” as well as the description of their luggage having “labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.” The combination of drinking and traveling presents a side of the couple who seem to want to run away or forget about their problems as traveling and drinking both will do. However, in this story, Hemingway describes Jig as being “the girl” and the American, simply, “the man” thus indicating an age difference between the two and “the man” possibly being some sort of fatherly figure to the girl, or at least, up until this point in the relationship. Jig’s repetitive question asking such as “could we try it?” or “wasn’t that bright?” signify that she seeks approval from the man as well as having some kind of dependency issue with him, as he is normally the decision maker of the two.

In their setting, there is a bead curtain that separates the couple, who is sitting on the outside of the station, from the bar inside the station. The beaded curtain is of particular significance as Hemingway refers to it time and time again. First, as the setting is being described, the purpose of the curtain is “to keep out flies.” Next, it is further described as having an advertisement for a drink, “Anis del Toro,” painted on it. Immediately after, the American calls for the waitress through the curtain to order these drinks, thus signifying the separation the two have from anyone else at the station. This symbolizes the couple’s isolation from the rest of the world with their dilemma, receiving no sort of outside interference or interjections pertaining to their relationship. That’s probably the only way they would have it. This also brings forth the idea that perhaps the couple isn’t right for each other and have possibly taken criticism from family or friends, hence their constant traveling or running away. The beaded curtain is presented to us again and perhaps most importantly, when Jig takes two strings of the beads and holds them, as if deliberating two alternatives after the American comments on how the pregnancy has been “the only thing bothering us, … the only thing that has made us unhappy.” This is the turning point of their relationship, as Jig realizes that the American isn’t the person she once thought he was.

The American goes on to explain how the operation is “perfectly simple” and how he thinks “it’s the best thing to do,” further displaying his dominant role in the relationship. Jig then turns the tables of the conversation by saying “I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me,” as to say that once again, she forfeits to the American making the decisions for them both, although this time is different. As she stands up and walks to the edge of the station with such disregard to the life-altering decision she has just made, we begin to realize that maybe she is calculating her conversation with the man to find out how he really feels about the abortion or, more importantly, their relationship in general. As she stares off into the distant river and mountains, she says sarcastically, “And we could have all this. And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible.” The American goes on to agree with her with her by telling her that they “can have the world” and they “can go anywhere.” She now begins to openly disagree with him at this point as she replies “No, we can’t. It isn’t ours anymore.” When the man argues that the world is theirs, she clarifies that she is speaking of the unborn baby when she says, “No, it isn’t. And once they take it away, you can never get it back.” Jig begins to understand the true nature of the American and the basis of their relationship—to live life seeking pleasure and avoiding any sort of responsibility.

The American, responding to Jig’s sudden defiance, desperately attempts to turn the tide of the underlying battle by saying “I don’t want anybody but you. I don’t want any one else.” The “anybody” or “any one else” he refers to here is a child as he adds “And I know it’s perfectly simple,” returning to his reassurance of how easy the procedure for the abortion is. At this point, he realizes he is losing and must now give into Jig. He then looks over at their bags, perhaps pondering the thought of leaving her in light of their recent disagreement and finally says, “But I don’t want you to. I don’t care anything about it,” acting as if now he really didn’t care whether or not Jig had the baby or not, in spite of all of the pressure he laid her before.

With the train’s arrival imminent, the American tells Jig that he is going to take the bags to the other side of the station. She instructs him to come back afterwards so that they can finish their beers. Returning from dropping off the bags, he stops at the bar in the station to have another beer, instead of immediately returning to Jig. This, to me, signifies that he understands that Jig has no intentions of having the abortion and also that he plans to leave her because of her decision. He knows that he is about to be on a train with her in possibly close quarters, so he takes this time at the bar to consider the whole situation without any distraction from her or her presence.

When the American arrives back to Jig, she smiles at him and he asks “Do you feel better?” Her reply “I feel fine. There’s nothing wrong with me, I feel fine,” tells me that although the decision was tough, she has decided to have her baby and doesn’t expect for the American to stick around to have a family with her. Her smile indicates that she also has no remorse for this decision and she is accepting the responsibility whole-heartedly, which makes her a woman instead of a “girl” and the American a boy instead of a “man.”

--posted with permission of the writer in March, 2004


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