Langreck 1

Nicole Langreck
Doctor Stone
Critical Writing
2 December 2014
The Elephant in the Room: Womens Rights
Someone may think that causally sipping a drink and taking in the scenery while waiting
for a train doesnt appear to hold life-alternating decision in the balance. In a situation like the
one in Earnest Hemmingways Hills Like White Elephants, this very event does hold the future
in the balance, and more so, the very life of someone. Hemingway manages to find a simple
situation and turn it into a titanic decision. Hemingway demonstrates his views on individuality
of women by utilizing dialogue between characters, settings, and metaphors.
The two main characters attempt to converse as the wait for a train. Both of the
characters, The American and Jig, discuss their positions on Jigs pregnancy. After the long
discussion, The American believes he received what he wanted. After a back and forth
conversation of him trying to convince her that the best solution to the unwanted pregnancy, he
questions, So you feel better?, meaning does she feel better about the idea of going to get the
abortion (Hemingway, 232). This signifies that he thinks hes won the battle because otherwise
he would still be questioning if she wanted to do it instead of did she feel comfortable with the
idea of having the procedure done to herself. Jig is crafty in her response to The American,
though. She responds with I feel fine Theres nothing wrong with me. I feel fine
(Hemingway, 232). This lines of text may seem like assurance that she is fine with having the
procedure done, but in actuality, she secretly means that she feels fine in her pregnancy and

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intends to remain in that condition for her normal term without coming directly out and telling
The American that she is going against his wishes to birth the child that he so desperately wants
her to remove from her body (Hardy & Hardy, 1990). This implicit line of dialogue is a nod to
the idea that women need to take more control over their individuality instead of having a man
control their lives for them.
However, Rankin in his 2005 article instead argues that Jig buries her feelings and
convinces herself that she is unsure of them and that is the reason that her side of the debate
between The American and Jig is so vague (Rankin, 2005). Rankin also believes that Jig buries
her way of seeing as she will bury her child (Rankin, 2005). He states that she is so consumed
with the idea of having the abortion and the pain or harm that it could potentially cause her that
she isnt able to form coherent ideas related to her opinions of the child growing inside of her
(Rankin, 2005). She ignores the conversation when The American first brings it up, instead
choosing to invest her interest in her drink rather than the topic at hand (Hemingway, 229).
Rankin believes this is because she is so consumed in her own self that she cant debate about the
child (Rankin, 2005). Granted, Rankin does provide and interesting perspective on Jigs
immediate reaction to the topic that is presented to her, but one can also see that Jig may be
attempting to protect her unborn child from The Americans plan by hoping to not engage in
conversation with him about the child. When she realizes that there is no way to avoid the issue,
she begins to try as sway the conversation in a different way, asking Then what will we do
afterward? instead of asking about the procedure of obliterating the child itself (Hemingway,
230). By moving the conversation slowly away from the baby, Jig is trying to keep the child safe
and at the same time not anger The American.

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Though both Jig and The American would like to believe that their relationship is for the
long-term and solid, Hemmingway paints a different scene with the setting that he centers the
story in. The couple is in an area void of any covering, such as shade or vegetation (Hemingway,
228). While the woman and the man sit in their hot, depressive, exposed place, in the distance
are objects that are symbolic of a sensuous, fertile, pure, natural life (Reid, 1971). While the
woman, Jig, is with the man, going where he dictates to venture, she is stuck in a position of
staying with the norms that he sets forth. She is the person who gazes out at the hills and
attempts to make sense of the world. Her companion is perfectly content sipping his drink and
trying to convince Jig to give up the child that is growing inside of her (Hemingway, 229). The
American is settled in his dull, lifeless bubble that is the waiting area for the train station. Jig, on
the other hand, is interested in other areas of life, as she demonstrates by staring out at the
horizon and the hills (Hemingway, 229). While Jig sits with The American, she is trapped by the
unshaded area around her. However, when she rises and wanders across the station, far away
from her companion, she sees the vivid colorations of the areas surrounding her, such as fields
of grain, lively trees, and flowing water emerging from a mountain line (Hemingway, 230).
When she manages to separate herself from her companions influence, she manages to see
wonderful things that she may have not been able to if shed kept sitting alongside of him and
pondering the decision to keep the life she carried or not. Just by rising up and walking to the
other end of the platform, Jig was able to gain a better understanding of the world around her just
by taking hold of a small piece of independence and individuality. If she could separate herself
more from The American, she could experience more of that style and type of thing, be able to
see the beauty in life. However, if she stays with The American, life will be staying in the direct
rays of the sun on the train station platform.

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Yirinec, however, argues in her 2011 article that the nature surrounding the couple on the
train platform is representative of The American instead of Jig (Yirinec, 2011). While this is a
formidable suggestion, it is also very improbable due to the fact that Jig is the character that
draws the readers attention to the natural aspect of the couples surroundings whereas The
American tries to center attention around the unborn child. The American avoids the
conversation of nature at all costs, ignoring Jigs comment about how lovely the hills were and
instead asking Jig if she would like another drink without even acknowledging the scenery
(Hemingway, 229). Granted, there may be some validity in Yirinecs statement that The
American is essentially passive [to] nature, and thus, a passive person in Jigs life. If he cant
even manage the time to acknowledge some hills that his supposed loved one is pointing out, he
may be excessively uncaring when it came to applying acknowledgement to Jig herself (Yirinec,
2011). However, the idea that nature was infused into the story just to make a point about The
American himself is quite unlikely. Jig is the character that calls attention to the scenery, and The
American instead tries to fight for attention about the point he is making in regards to the unborn
child that Jig is caring. The nature aspect of the story, thus, holds more significance to the
character of Jig than the passive appearance of her companion.
The argument for Jigs independence also comes extensively from the metaphors that
Hemingway incorporated into the story. The constant diversions from the matter at hand, such as
the constant conversation about the drinks is a type of an entrapment for Jig. Weeks in his 1980
article argued that the implication as to the casualness and triviality of their lives, in which
drinks are of such importance, leads to a view that the couples lives up to that point skated
around the larger issues, and when one presents itself, such as the rather large problem of the
abortion of the unborn child, neither individual can truly make sense of what to do (Weeks,

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1980). It is presented that The American is the instigator of this due to him leading the
conversation of beverages. The man seems to know exactly what to order and how to do it. Jig,
on the other hand, is unsure of the drinks being offered to her. When the barmaid asks Jig if she
would like water with her drink, Jig replies Is it good with water? (Hemingway, 229). Where
The American knows exactly what liquor to purchase and what to purchase with it, or not to,
Jigs knowledge is very vague in that area. She is also proven to be far from a connoisseur when
it comes to drinks. This is proven by her childish quote of It tastes like licorice (Hemingway,
229). The American replies with a much more educated answer in the field of alcohol. This
proves that while Jig may be a slight bit trivial in her daily life, The American is even more so
tied down by this casualness and seems unable to break the habit. Jig proves to have a fighting
chance by not being consumed into the world of sipping drinks and knowing what every
beverage offered tastes like and how it should be drank. Weeks argues in the same article that
the blackness of licorice and the whiteness of the hills suggests the contrast between sorrow and
joy as has the already mentioned contrast between the white hills and the brown, dry
countryside (Weeks, 1980). This would suggest that the drink that tastes like a dark food, is
more restrictive than the opportunity that the white hills present to Jig (Weeks, 1980). Darkness
is usually seen as depressive and bleak. The figurative imprisonment that the liquor holds on
those who are consumed by it is representative of the type of life that could be Jigs if she chose
to remain with The American, whereas the promise of bright adventure are held in the
contemplation of the white hills (Weeks, 1980). The darkness could also be representative of the
weight and distrust of the abortion. While Jig stays with The American, the probability is that she
will be ordered to have the abortion and be consumed by the same type of alcohol-reliant life that
The American currently is leading. The white hills, representative of distance, give Jig a chance

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to carry the baby to term and find joy in the small, yet exciting aspects of being alive instead of
being consumed by a type of paralysis that The American has already begun to become a victim
of (Weeks, 1980).
Lanier, however, argues in her 1989 article that Hemingway didnt mean anything by
Jigs cluelessness to liquor but instead believed that Hemingways main focus was on Jig
mentioning the alcoholic drink of absinthe (Lanier, 1989). Lanier believes that Jig wouldnt have
pointed out the absinthe if it didnt have extreme significance to the story, in this case, the
relationship between Jig and The American. Lanier argues that Jig notices on some level a
connection between absinthe and everything about their relationship (Lanier, 1989). While
this is an intriguing idea, it is also highly unlikely since Jig continues to entertain The Americans
notions. Also, prior to the discussion of the drinks, there wasnt any debate about the abortion. If
Jig was going to open her eyes about the whole relationship, it would have proved more
productive to bring up the flavors of the drinks later in the story instead of discussing them prior
to the main conversation they end up having (Hemingway, 229). Lanier also argues that the
absinthe is a symbol of emotions reverberat[ing] beneath the surface of the story, bringing to
mind a multiplicity of images and emotions that serve to reinforce the other major elements of
the narrative (Lanier, 1989). This assumption is probably more in keeping with the tone and
order of events in the story, however, up to the point where Jig and The American discuss drinks,
there wasnt much discussion about the images in play, such as the scenery. Prior to Jig and The
American sipping their drinks, Hemingway really just started setting up for his argument on
female individuality and hasnt focused on contrasting themes up to that moment. The true
comparisons come after the couple begin to discuss the idea of the abortion so that the reader can
form ideas on contrasting objects and scenes. While Laniers argument holds validity, it may be

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too broad to form a complete idea of what the alcohol in the story represents on a smaller level,
such as that of Jigs fight to be her own person.
In the story, Jig seems to hold all the options. The American seems willing to discuss
options of what to do with the unborn child while obviously pressuring Jig to make the decision
that he wants her to, which is to abort the baby. Through analysis of dialogue, settings, and
metaphors it is made evident that Hemingway is trying to force the reader to see the freedom that
Jig needs to earn to live a successful life. The problem of the story may seem to be that of the
unborn child, but in fact, the story represents the freedom Jig needs to earn.

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Works Cited
Hardy, Donald E., and Heather K. Hardy. "Love, Death and War: Metaphorical Interaction in
Hemingways Hills Like White Elephants." Language and Literature 15 (1990): 1-56.
Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 168. Detroit: Gale, 2012.
Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Donald E. Hardy and Heather K. Hardy, who have collaborated on many projects and had
works published in both journals and books, discuss the dialogue that takes place in
Hemingways Hills Like White Elephants in their 1990 article. Hardy and Hardy
choose to focus on what repercussions the dialogue that goes on between both of the
main characters has on the other. They follow metaphors in Hemingways writing that
lead to discussions that the characters have. Hardy and Hardy are appealing to an
audience that has analyzed the work numerous times and is already familiar with many of
the metaphors that are taking place in the work. Hardy and Hardy dont seem to side with
either of the characters. Instead, they side with the idea of life. Though their analysis of
the short story leads them to be convinced that life wasnt what was chosen, they still
appear to want to have the main characters select the option of life rather than abortion.
Hardy and Hardy took a unique stand on their discussion, going along with the obvious
suggestion that the couple is discussing an abortion, they argue that every word the
characters say, no matter how trivial is vital to Hemingways argument about abortion.

Hemingway, Ernest. Hills Like White Elephants. 4th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013.
228-232. Print.
Lanier, Doris. "The Bittersweet Taste of Absinthe in Hemingways Hills Like White
Elephants." Studies in Short Fiction 26.3 (1989): 279-288. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism.

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Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 168. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resources from Gale.
Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Lanier, who has been published in books and journals for her articles and evaluations,
wrote her 1989 article about the drinks that Hemingway focused on in Hills Like White
Elephants. Lanier argues that the drinks symbolize the relationship between the man and
the woman. Using the idea that the drink can destroy lives if alcoholism shall arise,
Lanier suggests that the mere existence of alcohol in the story brings this idea into the
relationship of the man and the woman. Lanier is directing this article to people who have
done analysis of the story. This is proved by her focusing solely on the drinks involved in
the story and choosing not to discuss other types of irony or symbolism. Lanier chooses
not to debate the story as a whole but instead certain aspects of it. Though trying to sound
impartial, Lanier leans towards the side of the female character, Jig, in the story. Lanier
feels that Jig is under excessive pressure from her counterpart to have an abortion, and
she chooses to focus more on the drink of the man than that of the woman. While not a
discussion of the whole story, Lanier presents eye-opening insight into what the drinks
that play a prominent role in the story are all about. She discusses the deeper meaning
behind what sipping the alcohol at the train station means.

Maynard, Reid. "Leitmotif and Irony in Hemingway's 'Hills Like White Elephants'." The
University Review 37.4 (Summer 1971): 273-275. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center.
Detroit: Gale, 2014. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Maynard, who has been published in The University Review, wrote his 1971 article about
Hemingways Hills like White Elephants about the irony involved in the story,
specifically the hills that are referred to. Maynard also focuses on the irony between the
actions the female makes compared to the male and the females response to the males
movements. Maynard, in addition, points out a lot of the irony of the scenery and what it
may mean about the relationship between both main characters. Maynard writes this
article with a more simplistic audience in mind. He doesnt go too deep into detail about
each bit of irony. Instead, his explains the basic meaning and moves on to his next point.
In the story, Maynard is believing that Hemingway meant for the male character to be
seen as the bad guy and the irony that surrounds the couple is meant to point that out.
Maynards recent article pointed out many of the pieces of irony in the story, and though

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he didnt go into much depth, he mentioned many ironic events or items that a reader may
have skipped over.

Rankin, Paul. "Hemingway's 'Hills Like White Elephants.'." Explicator 63.4 (Summer 2005):
234-237. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 117. Detroit: Gale,
2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.

Rankin, who has done many critiques of literary works that are viewed as classics, in his
2009 article attempts to show that though the male character is shown as the dominant
one, it is actually the female character, Jig, who proves to be the more intelligent and
victorious one in the end. Rankin also discusses the views of gender and how they played
out in the story. Though males are commonly seen as the dominant one in the
relationships in that time, Jig comes across as the one who provides the final say in the
matter. Rankin aimed his article towards an audience who has done some background
research on the story, choosing to forego some of the more obvious explanations for some
ideas and start analyzing more intricate concepts that some readers may have missed if
only reading the story once or twice. In his article, Rankin opts to take the side of the
female, arguing that the male character forms weak arguments and limp come-backs for
the concepts that Jig throws to him. Rankin analyzes the text and the relationships that
both build and deteriorate based on the exchange of words between the two main
characters, which helps to better show the irony that is provided in the story.

Weeks, Lewis E., Jr. "Hemingway Hills: Symbolism in 'Hills like White Elephants'." Studies in
Short Fiction 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit:
Gale, 2014. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Weeks, who has published numerous journal articles and has done literary criticisms on
Hemingways writing in the past, discussed the overlying issues and points that the story
was trying to convey in his 1980 article. Though the article was published over thirty
years ago, it is still relevant since it is discussing the issues that plagued the time period
in which the story is written. Weeks evaluates how Hemingway set up the confrontation

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between his two main characters. He also discusses what the hills from the story mean,
arguing that since they are the title of the story that they embody the aspects of the issues
during the time period. Weeks is targeting an audience that had recently finished the short
story. He doesnt dive into certain aspects from the story. Weeks doesnt follow the plot in
his article. He jumps around to where he thinks is necessary, such as bringing up the title
half way through the article. He tries to be informative but not in a way that requires
numerous rereads of the story. Weeks mostly ignores the issues that fuel the couple to
debate, and thus, doesnt truly take the side of the female or the male. Instead, Weeks
argues in favor of the unborn baby that is being discussed for abortion. This gives a
unique perspective since most articles choose to focus on the issues that Jig has to face in
deciding what to do. Most articles dont treat the unborn as a prominent character
whereas Weeks does.

Yirinec, Jennifer. "The Conception of Irreversibility: Hannah Arendt and Hemingway's 'Hills
Like White Elephants'." The Mailer Review 5.1 (2011): 407+. Literature Resources from
Gale. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Yirinec, who has published numerous journal articles, debates the idea of action in her
2011 article. In a story that is framed around waiting for a train, there is very little
motion. However, when there is movement, Yirinec argues that it is a valuable part and
acts like a marker of something important. She especially focuses her attention on the
part where the main characters get drinks. Yirinec has a wide audience she is attempting
to appeal too. She moves through the story the same way Hemingway laid it out and
doesnt focus on one particular event. She spends time on every aspect of movement in
the story. She attempts to retell the story at the same time she is analyzing it, following
similar structure to what Hemingway used. Yirinec also clearly takes the side of Jig,
arguing that while the male attempted to act superior, Jig was able to ask questions or
state ideas that the gentleman couldnt form good answers to. Yirinec does a good job of
calling to attention how Hemingway used the main characters movements to highlight a
point. She also give some information about how the movements of the characters played
into what they were drinking, which ties in with what Lanier was discussing in her
article.