Ernest Hemingway’s short story Hills like white Elephants was written in 1927. A man and a young woman talk, enjoy a drink and gaze out across the Ebro Valley as they wait in a Spanish train station. However, each figure in Hills Like White Elephants has hidden messages, ideas, and motivations. During their conversation, the man tries to persuade the girl of something, a “simple operation,” to resolve a bothersome problem that makes them both worry. Although the operation is never described, it is evident from the context cues that the man is attempting to persuade the girl to get an abortion. The story can be labeled as the representation of the age-old tradition and practice of the exploitation of women since the author included various illustrations of disrespectful attitude towards women within the plot.
The short story by Hemingway is frequently referred to be feminist fiction. However, the story itself is written in opposition to abortion. The author supports the conventional image of a woman and opposes abortion. Hemingway depicted post-abortion life as lifeless, pointless, and devoid of any hues. Hence, the advocacy regarding the conventional view of a woman can be considered as an example of the story’s inclusion of women- and feminist-related topics.
Furthermore, a woman stands up from her chair in one of the episodes and looks at the hills. Along the Ebro’s banks, there were corn fields and trees. Mountains were far distant, beyond the river. A cloud’s shadow passed across the grain field, and she could clearly see the river through the trees (Hemingway 1). Here, the author describes the view full of life and beauty, fertility and abundance. It further indicates that the author believes that a woman would be happier if she did not have an abortion. In fact, the heroine, looking at the picturesque side of the station, says that they “could have everything and every day they make it more impossible” (Hemingway 3). Her praise of the white hills, describing them as “lovely,” reveals her desire to have children.
Finally, Hemingway emphasizes the risks of the procedure in the scene where the heroine cuts off the make protagonist’s speech with the words: “Nor that isn’t good for me.” The author wrote all these to persuade the reader that abortion is destructive for a woman and results in only emptiness. Thus, the author advocates against abortion and promotes the old gender stereotype of a woman.
In terms of the plot, the woman is again taken advantage of. The heroine’s lover, the male protagonist, opposes having children and does all in his capacity to persuade the woman to have an abortion. The man’s desire for the woman to undergo the operation is evident throughout the entire story since he calls her “awfully simple, not really an operation at all” (Hemingway 2). Although it could appear that way from the man’s words, an abortion is not a straightforward procedure at all. The man devalues the procedure by summarizing the entire abortion procedure into one action – “It’s just to let the air in” (Hemingway 2). The main character says all this to soothe the woman and convince her that getting an abortion is a simple process with no real significance.
However, from the heroine’s claims that she is not interested in herself it is feasible to infer that abortion can have both mental and physical repercussions (Hemingway 3). Nevertheless, the man continues to support abortion, demonstrating his self-centeredness. However, the man manipulates the woman into choosing an abortion because he does not want to appear egoistic. He asserts: “If you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to,” and then says: “I think it’s the best thing to do” (Hemingway 2). He does not urge an abortion in the opening lines, but he also does not insist on keeping the child (Anisyah 21). Although he claims that the woman makes the decision to have an abortion, by suggesting that it is the best course of action, he encourages the woman to undergo it.
Furthermore, the man should have understood from their conversations that the girl would no longer be able to “have a fine time” in the future, with the memory of the abortion casting a shadow over their relationship. As a result, the man’s assurance that “We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before” is difficult to believe (Avitzour 52). In this manner, a man deludes a woman into believing she chose to have an abortion while actually coercing her into making that decision. In overall, the artwork integrates the typical image of a woman and contains narrative points that reflect the traditional form of connection between men and women, supporting the topic sentence. Concerning personal opinion, to my mind, the story Hills like white Elephants not only presents how women were mistreated a century ago, but also can be interpreted as anti-feministic. I suppose no specific intention regarding the need to illustrate the abuse towards women was present since Hemingway was not initially focused on totally feministic or anti-feministic ideas.
To sum up, in the work Hills like white Elephants, the author did maintain the conventional gender assumptions regarding women and advocate against abortion. The American male character in the story mistreats the female lead in numerous ways. He urges her to have an abortion, a potentially risky surgery. In fact, justifying the thesis statement, the work incorporates the traditional image of a woman and includes plot moments that illustrate conventional type of relationship between men and women. The story thus serves as a representation of the practice of exploitation of women.
Works Cited
Anisyah, Dewi. An Analysis of an American Man and Jig’s Personality In Ernest Hemingway’s Short Story “Hills Like White Elephants.” Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma, 2018.
Avitzour, Daniel. Why Does Jig Smile? Readings Of “Hills Like White Elephants.” Connotations, vol. 27, 2018.
Hemingway, Ernest. Hills Like White Elephants.