The Hills Have Eyes

Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants proves to be an excellent welcoming into the world of short stories. Hemingway’s iconic style of repetition and a minimalistic approach, often referred to as the iceberg principle, allows for an open interpretation of his works. In this story, right off the bat, we are immersed in this complex situation between an American man and a woman, Jig, who is assumedly his girlfriend or wife. The couple seems to be standing at a crossroad in their lives involving “awfully simple operation”. In the beginning and throughout the conversation, there is a prominent sense of tension between the two people, as they discuss what the best decision is for the girl.

In class, we assumed the operation was an abortion. (When initially reading the story, I had not thought of abortion. But, every since it was mentioned in class, I can’t seem to think of a better explanation. So, I’ve decided to run with the abortion idea). Now, with this minimalistic approach, we aren’t given the real reason behind their argument, so we are left to interpret and infer. Guessing without the ability to check. In any case, assuming that the operation is an abortion, we can definitely see the unhealthy aspects of this relationship. The man seems to be playing a very manipulative role as he passive-aggressively pushes the girl to get the operation. Using words such as “it’s perfectly simple”, “then we’ll be all right and be happy”, “It’s the best things to do”, and the worst one, “but I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to”. By saying these words, the man is explaining how easy and beneficial the operation, but ultimately placing the deciding factor on her. He sugarcoats all his manipulative responses by reminding her that it is her choice in the end, even though he wants her to have the operation. By doing this, if she were to refuse the operation, and keep the baby, the fault would be on her because it was her choice. He seemingly gave her the beneficial reasons to have the operation and she refused. She would seemingly be at fault in a situation where she was not the sole perpetrator.

But the abortion isn’t the only problem here. In fact, the abortion serves as the iceberg that Hemingway gives us, a glimpse into this faulty relationship. It can be inferred that, as much as the man would like to disagree, this relationship is quickly going down the drain. The girl subtly mentions it to the man that she would do the operation for him, but that would ultimately mean she doesn’t care about herself. As many women tend to, she feels attached to this baby that is growing inside of her, and this man cannot understand that. He isn’t ready to handle a baby and so he sees this operation as a chance to just erase the child from their lives so they can go on their merry ways and act like nothing ever happened. He is totally ignorant towards the physical and emotional effects of carrying a child and then aborting it has on a woman. He treats the girl like she is sick and needs treatment.

But, through this conversation, the girl makes a realization of her own. She is not the one who is sick, it is him. When asked, “Do you feel better?’ she replies “I feel fine, there’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine”. As it was pointed out in class, it is possible that the girl is hinted that her partner is the sick one, not her. There is nothing wrong with her being conflicted on whether or not to abort her own child, but it is wrong of him to try to pull her decision in his favor. In this manner of interpretation, my thoughts are that she has decided to not have the abortion, for she is fine and doesn’t need an operation. It’s interesting how, throughout the story, Hemingway seems to depict these characters as almost polar opposites. It’s a wonder how they got together in the first place. (But, maybe they both have changed over the years). It seems as though the girl is open and adventurous, whereas the man is stagnant and seemingly practical. Even with her observation of the hills looking like white elephants, the woman seems to be fascinated with the scenery around her, whereas the man dismissed such absurd thoughts, trying to have her focus on the topic that seems to be tearing their relationship apart. It seems as though the hills are what give the girl clarity and she is able to see them mirror the two sides of her predicament. In my mind, the brown, dry side of the hill represents how she will feel after the operation. It is said by the man that they let air in, but being a painful process that causes her to lose a fetus, she will ultimately feel dry inside. Then there is the other side of the hill with the flowing river, beautiful mountains, and perfect shade from the beating sun. This side represents the fruitful adventures she could have if she were to keep the child. In this interpretation, the man avoids the woman’s eyes and sugarcoats his answers so as to trick her into pleasing him, whereas the hills show the woman the truth. But, with Hemingway’s minimalist writing style, the whole story is just open to interpretation and assumption.