The white elephants are a major symbol in this story, symbolizing something that is unwanted. While her unborn child is symbolized by hills that look like white elephants, saying the country is dry and brown symbolizes that maybe she isn’t so excited about having this child, and her feelings towards it are “dry”, which leads them to discuss an abortion. The theme being that abortion is always very controversial is also explained when the girl takes back what she said earlier by saying, “they don’t really look like white elephants.” This quote shows that the girl maybe after all doesn’t want to get an abortion. Although, who in
Writer also uses many examples of symbolism in “Hills Like White Elephants”, including descriptions of the surrounding scenery, the hills themselves, and the station where the action takes place. The differences in each character in their personality, means of communication and desires, truly emphasize the constant opposition that burns between them, this very opposition leads to the couple’s inevitable separation, as Jig discovers herself and her independence through the dilemma at hand. The story might have shown his true feelings about the pregnancy. In the story, the boyfriend is moody and wants the girl to do what he wants. From boy side he wants this abortion because he wants to keep
When Jig notices that the hills “look like white elephants,” she mentions it to the American, therefore starting the conversation with him. Also, Jig notices that the beaded curtain has something written on it, and brings up a conversation about what it said. By bringing up the topics of conversation, Jig is showing that she is assertive and aggressive. It’s also obvious that Jig has the power in the relationship because she doesn’t give in to the pressure from the American to believe that the abortion is simple. Later in the story, the American attempts to give Jig reason to not be afraid by saying, “I’ve known lots of people that have done it” (4).
Hills Like White Elephants In “Hills like White Elephants”, the setting of the story is symbolic to the main character’s dilemma. The author, Ernest Hemingway gives just enough information by using symbols in the story so the reader can draw a deeper meaning to what is being detailed. As the main theme of the story, he relies on symbolism to convey the idea of an abortion. The description of the two different landscapes of the railroad tracks represents Jig’s difficult decision of whether she should keep her baby or continue a ruthless lifestyle with the American. Ernest Hemingway uses the title “Hills like White Elephants” to symbolize Jig’s pregnancy.
Then the conversation turned to be about the woman, and the baby. The man wanted her to have an abortion, but she did not want to, she keeps talking about the hills, and the man about the abortion. In the end the woman says to the man that she will have the abortion if he want her too, she wants to end the discussion. There are two main characters in the short story, The American, who is the man, and the woman, Jig. The man is young I think, it is not mentioned in the story, but I guess, because if he was old, he would not want to have the abortion so much, now he seems that he wants to have fun and be with Jig alone, he do not want to be a parent with all the things that come with a baby, like responsible.
Couples often have a different perception of an idea, and one person usually has the greater control on the decision. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” a young couple, known by the American and his girlfriend Jig, must decide what to do about a certain operation. Though it is never stated in the story, many factors imply that the issue is an abortion. The tense setting and diction reveal two very different sides of the story; the man’s negative control and persuasion, and the girl’s innocence and uncertainty. The setting in the story reveals a dark and a light side.
I think that Jig saw her pregnancy and the challenges that it would bring as wonderful. She say’s “they’re lovely hills.” When Jig says, “they look like white elephants” she is remarking on how rare and beautiful a child is, just as a white elephant would be a rare and beautiful site in nature. The American says “I’ve never seen one” and Jig pointedly remarks that he wouldn’t have. This tells me that she feels the beauty of unborn life as only a mother to be can and that she realizes that he has no way of knowing how she feels. The unrelenting heat represents the steaminess of the sexual relationship between Jig and the American.
Both stories involved a couple that was dealing with a pregnancy and extremely subtly discussing the possibility of an abortion. The word “abortion” is not actually articulated in either story and it is left to the readers to discover the cause of tension in each relationship. In each story, there is one partner in favor of the abortion promising the other partner that everything will go back to normal once the abortion has occurred. In both stories, it is ultimately up to the women to decide whether or not to have the abortion. However, in the “Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat” there was family and racial pressure to have the abortion, and in the “Hills Like White Elephants” there was only pressure from the man.
Hills Like White Elephants In Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants”, the story illustrates a young woman named Jig and an American man challenged with the decision of abortion. Throughout the sequence of the story it is apparent that the man is persuading Jig to undergo the procedure. The apprehensive discussion the two are having suggests that they are avoiding the underlying issue at hand. In addition, the setting of the story establishes the stigma involved with the procedure, as Jig left her town and traveled to Spain. Hemingway’s use of symbolism in the dialogue and setting helps reveal the difficult matter through suggestion without the actual term abortion being mentioned.
Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants is a short story revolving around a conversation between an American man, and a woman named Jig. It is apparent that there is tension between the two, as the conversation in the start is short and impersonal. They comment briefly on the hills they are facing, and then the conversation turns towards what is causing the tension between the two. Jig is pregnant, and the America man tries to convince the woman to have an abortion, but only if she wants to. She wonders if this will solve their problems and get the relationship back on track, where he argues that it is on track; but he is just worried about the pregnancy.