Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway - Essay Example

“Hills like White Elephants Communication. Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Hills like White Elephants,” is a very concise and intense narrative. An American man, whose name is not even known, and a girl, Jig, are at a railway station waiting for a train. There is no detailed narrative voice or plot. The author conveys the entire meaning of the story through the dialogue between the two protagonists. Even this dialogue is minimal, leaving many things unsaid, and the reader is left to draw his own conclusions.

Communication is the central theme of the story. Hemingway uses communication to portray the man’s selfishness, reveal the characters’ animosity towards each other, and suggest the complete breakdown of the relationship. The conversation demonstrates the man’s selfishness. He repeatedly professes his love for the girl and his concern for her well-being. At the same time, he makes it clear that he categorically wants her to have an abortion. He insists that it is a negligible procedure: “Its really not anything.

Its just to let the air in” (Hemingway, ). He assures her that he will remain with her and that there is nothing to fear. He subtly hints that their happiness and the future of their relationship depend on her having the abortion, arguing that “Its the only thing thats made us unhappy” (Hemingway, ). At the same time, he also repeats, “But I dont want you to do it if you dont really want to” (Hemingway, ). This shows his unwillingness to accept responsibility for the decision. The man selfishly wants the girl to have the abortion, but also wants her to absolve him of any responsibility in the matter and pretend that she is doing it on her own accord.

The dialogue reveals the animosity which the characters feel for each other. The man and the girl are ready to quarrel. When Jig comments that the man would not have seen a white elephant, the man retorts, “just because you say I wouldnt have doesnt prove anything” (Hemingway, ). He is ready to flare up at the least provocation and takes offense at the implication that he may not be well-travelled. On her part, Jig is offended by the man’s refusal to appreciate her comparison. She sees this as a sign of his dislike and his unhappiness towards her pregnancy.

Their sharp sarcastic retorts over the taste of the drinks also show their hostility. The man lashes out at the girl: “Oh, cut it out” (Hemingway, ). Jig and the man use abrupt, lacerating dialogue. It is clear that they are antagonistic and their relationship is not healthy. The protagonists’ communication shows that their relationship is on the verge of a breakdown. The girl ponders on the choices before her: to agree to an abortion and please the man, or to reject it and go her own way.

As they are unable to reach an agreement, Jig is pushed to extreme frustration and says, “Cant we maybe stop talking?” (Hemingway, ). She is tired of going round in circles and covering the same ground without being able to find a mutually satisfying solution. The dialogue indicates that Jig has had enough of the man’s pretensions and declaration of love. She finally loses control and says, “Would you please please please please please please please Stop talking” (Hemingway, ). This indicates a complete breakdown in communication and strongly suggests that the relationship is at an end.

Communication is the underlying theme of “Hills like White Elephants.” The conversation between the protagonists is sharp and is characterized by an undercurrent of hostility. They are ready to lash out at each other. The man’s repeated declarations of love and pretension of giving the girl a choice reveal his selfishness. As the conversation proceeds, it is clear that their relationship is headed towards an irrevocable breakdown, which is symbolized by the end of their interaction. Hemingway effectively conveys the meaning of the story through the nature of the dialogue which runs through the entire narrative.

Works Cited.Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills like White Elephants.” Title of Collection. Ed. Editors Name(s). City of Publication: Publisher, Year. Page range of entry. Print.The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade andno trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of thestation there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboobeads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies.

The American and the girl withhim sat at a table in the shade, outside the building. It was very hot and the express fromBarcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went toMadrid.‘What should we drink?’ the girl asked. She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.‘It’s pretty hot,’ the man said.‘Let’s drink beer.’‘Dos cervezas,’ the man said into the curtain.‘Big ones?’ a woman asked from the doorway.‘Yes. Two big ones.

’The woman brought two glasses of beer and two felt pads. She put the felt pads and the beerglass on the table and looked at the man and the girl. The girl was looking off at the line of hills.They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.‘They look like white elephants,’ she said.‘I’ve never seen one,’ the man drank his beer.‘No, you wouldn’t have.’‘I might have,’ the man said. ‘Just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything.’The girl looked at the bead curtain.

‘They’ve painted something on it,’ she said. ‘What does itsay?’‘Anis del Toro. It’s a drink.’‘Could we try it?’The man called ‘Listen’ through the curtain. The woman came out from the bar.‘Four reales.’ ‘We want two Anis del Toro.’‘With water?’‘Do you want it with water?’‘I don’t know,’ the girl said. ‘Is it good with water?’‘It’s all right.’‘You want them with water?’ asked the woman.‘Yes, with water.’‘It tastes like liquorice,’ the girl said and put the glass down.

‘That’s the way with everything.’‘Yes,’ said the girl. ‘Everything tastes of liquorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited solong for, like absinthe.’‘Oh, cut it out.’‘You started it,’ the girl said. ‘I was being amused. I was having a fine time.’‘Well, let’s try and have a fine time.’‘All right. I was trying. I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasn’t that bright?’‘That was bright.’‘I wanted to try this new drink. That’s all we do, isn’t it – look at things and try new drinks?

’‘I guess so.’The girl looked across at the hills.‘They’re lovely hills,’ she said. ‘They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant thecolouring of their skin through the trees.’‘Should we have another drink?’‘All right.’The warm wind blew the bead curtain against the table.‘The beer’s nice and cool,’ the man said.‘It’s lovely,’ the girl said.‘It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,’ the man said. ‘It’s not really an operation at all.

’The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.‘I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in.’The girl did not say anything.‘I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it’s allperfectly natural.’‘Then what will we do afterwards?’‘We’ll be fine afterwards. Just like we were before.’‘What makes you think so?’‘That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.

’The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads.‘And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy.’‘I know we will. Yon don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it.’‘So have I,’ said the girl. ‘And afterwards they were all so happy.’‘Well,’ the man said, ‘if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if youdidn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple.’‘And you really want to?

’‘I think it’s the best thing to do. But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to.’‘And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?’‘I love you now. You know I love you.’‘I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you’lllike it?’‘I’ll love it. I love it now but I just can’t think about it. You know how I get when I worry.’‘If I do it you won’t ever worry?

’‘I won’t worry about that because it’s perfectly simple.’‘Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me.’‘What do you mean?’‘I don’t care about me.’‘Well, I care about you.’‘Oh, yes. But I don’t care about me. And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine.’‘I don’t want you to do it if you feel that way.’The girl stood up and walked to the end of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields ofgrain and trees along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains.

Theshadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees.‘And we could have all this,’ she said. ‘And we could have everything and every day we make itmore impossible.’‘What did you say?’‘I said we could have everything.’‘We can have everything.’‘No, we can’t.’‘We can have the whole world.’‘No, we can’t.’‘We can go everywhere.’‘No, we can’t. It isn’t ours any more.’‘It’s ours.’‘No, it isn’t. And once they take it away, you never get it back.

’‘But they haven’t taken it away.’‘We’ll wait and see.’‘Come on back in the shade,’ he said. ‘You mustn’t feel that way.’‘I don’t feel any way,’ the girl said. ‘I just know things.’‘I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want to do -’‘Nor that isn’t good for me,’ she said. ‘I know. Could we have another beer?’‘All right. But you’ve got to realize – ‘‘I realize,’ the girl said. ‘Can’t we maybe stop talking?’They sat down at the table and the girl looked across at the hills on the dry side of the valley andthe man looked at her and at the table.

‘You’ve got to realize,’ he said, ‘ that I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to. I’m perfectlywilling to go through with it if it means anything to you.’‘Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along.’‘Of course it does. But I don’t want anybody but you. I don’t want anyone else. And I know it’sperfectly simple.’‘Yes, you know it’s perfectly simple.’‘It’s all right for you to say that, but I do know it.’‘Would you do something for me now?

’‘I’d do anything for you.’‘Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?’He did not say anything but looked at the bags against the wall of the station. There were labelson them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.‘But I don’t want you to,’ he said, ‘I don’t care anything about it.’‘I’ll scream,’ the girl siad.The woman came out through the curtains with two glasses of beer and put them down on thedamp felt pads. ‘The train comes in five minutes,’ she said.

‘What did she say?’ asked the girl.‘That the train is coming in five minutes.’The girl smiled brightly at the woman, to thank her.‘I’d better take the bags over to the other side of the station,’ the man said. She smiled at him.‘All right. Then come back and we’ll finish the beer.’He picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks. Helooked up the tracks but could not see the train. Coming back, he walked through the bar-room,where people waiting for the train were drinking.

He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at thepeople. They were all waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain. Shewas sitting at the table and smiled at him.‘Do you feel better?’ he asked.‘I feel fine,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.’