Hills Like White Elephants

The first time I read this story was in my AP Literature class in high school. Honestly, I hardly remember what I first thought about the story, so it was refreshing to reread this infamous Hemingway piece.  I am always intrigued with the settings of Hemingway’s stories. Africa, Spain…each place seeming so exotic and intriguing mimicking the secrecy of each character. Despite each adventurous location, the characters seem stagnant almost, dwelling in emotional ambiguity. While the reader is attempting to melt the iceberg and discover the character’s background, the characters themselves are trying to discover the same thing, figuring out each other. Hemingway captures the emotions and the struggles in relationships, especially in miscommunication. 

Jig is truly a fascinating character. She is innocent but certainly not stupid. The way she snaps back by pleading, “please please please please please please please stop talking,” was quite revolutionary, especially in comparison to the female character in the “Snows of Kilimanjaro.” Hemingway is the essence of modernism by writing about taboo topics such as abortion. Although not clearly said, the discrete messages such as “it’s really an awfully simple operation” and the white elephants themselves mimicking pregnancy therefore hint at the subject. I enjoyed reading this story because of Hemingway’s clever writing techniques by not revealing what the character is thinking. By doing so, one attempts to dive into the character’s mind and tries to comprehend each inner emotional struggle in relation to what the character actually say.