"Hills like White Elelphants" Jig's desires

A couple waits nearby a train station where they talk among themselves, they have a hard time communicating and listening to one another, Jig is being manipulated by the American to get an operation she is not comfortable with and seems to care more about him then her own health, the American seems to know what is best for them without understanding Jig’s desire and needs.

In Hemingway’s realistic story, “Hills like white elephants” an idea about the plot is given from the author. He states that the couple waits at a train station for the next express train to come by and take off to their next destination, Madrid. While they wait, they go to a nearby bar to have a few drinks and talk among themselves. In this setting the author shows how the woman seems to be focused at the lines of the hills. He describes the hills to appear white in the sun, and the view to be brown and dry. This proves how Jig imagines the hills to appears as white elephants. “They look like white elephants” (Jig line 20). Hemingway makes the reader believe that white elephants symbolize something big and noticeable. In this case, white elephants are used as the big meaning behind the pregnancy.

In the early 1920’s a woman’s desire was never to be fulfilled. Similarly to Jig, their opinions or concerns were not recognized. Throughout the story, it is evident that Jig seems to be a bit helpless, confused and indecisive about what she really wants in life. By that, the author refers to an unplanned pregnancy. Since the story was based in a different era, medicine was not as advanced as it today. An abortion seemed to be something so simple to where it was not even considered an operation. “It’s really an awfully simple operation.... it’s not really an operati...

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.... The American was pushy and stubborn and Jig would not stand up for what she really wants in life. Towards the end of the story the author leaves the reader wondering if she did follow through the operation. And if she did, did their relationship went back to normal?

Above all, Hemingway wants to make the reader understand how one person’s selfishness and needs can manage to manipulate another one by pretending to care. He also proves how women at times can be easily influenced by the people they love. They are tricked into believing they are everything to them. He shows a couple’s different point of views and their inability to understand and listen one another. For the most part, Hemingway send the message that everything is possible. A woman does not need a man’s approval for anything. Women are successful, strong and can overcome the biggest things in life.