The Decision of Jig in Hills Like White Elephants, a Short Story by Ernest Hemingway
After re—reading Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills like White Elephants” over and over, it seems to me that the final decision Jig makes is to go through with the abortion. I believe she did it for her own sake though, not to please her American boyfriend who was so determined that going through with the abortion would solve all their problems. I believe Jig realizes that her future with the American boy is not bright, and not what she truly wants I believe she decides to have the abortion and leave the American boy for good. First off I noticed that Jig and the American boy are both very unhappy in the first scene that Hemingway portrays in the short story. There’s a lot of tension going on, and to help this they start to drink. Jig ask for a big beer, this tells me that she‘s feeling very stressed out and wants some alcohol to ease the pain.
They both know they have to come up with a decision on whether or not to have an abortion, and they think the alcohol will help them be able to talk about it. This is when Jig starts to question her whole relationship, she tells the American boy “isn’t this all we do, is try new drinks and look at things?” This is a big sign to me that Jig is getting tired of doing the same things with the American boy, that maybe their relationship is falling apart, and whether to go through with the abortion or not it won’t save their relationship The American boy is so determined that the going through with the procedure will make everything better, that it starts to frustrate Jig. He says that he doesn‘t want her to do it if she really doesn‘t want to, but it’s clear that what he really wants is for her to go through with the operation.
That’s when jig throws out that the hills beyond the train station "look like white elephants" referring to the baby as the white elephant. The American boy kind of ignores this and goes back to talking about how the operation is very simple and it will save their relationship. They haven’t solved anything, and Jig seems to just get more upset every time the American boy talks. This is when Jig realizes everything is falling apart, that the American boy will never love her unconditionally and that she‘s getting tired of traveling going from one place to another with the boy. Jig goes from looking like she is fully dependent on the American boy to someone who is well aware of what the future holds for this relationship, and moves to relying only on herself. Even though Hemingway doesn’t express what Jig decides on for the operation, he hints that the result will be fully up to Jig, what the American boy wants doesn’t matter anymore.
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Jig knows this is the end and when she hops on that train she will be on her own, on her own to do whatever she pleases to do. The whole short story takes place at a train station symbolizing that the two’s relationship is at a cross roadi Jig can take one train going one way to symbolize that she will go through with the abortion and leave with the American boy where it is seen that all their problems will disappear. Or she can take the other train going in a different direction, this direction is where Hemingway leaves it to the reader to decide on what jigs final decision is, where there could be a lot of different scenarios. Does this train mean she will keep the baby and leave the American? That’s what it seems to be at first, but I believe this train symbolizes that jig will have the abortion but also leave the American boy behind, knowing she can’t go on living like this with the American.
I believe Jig goes through with the abortion because she realizes the American boy who she thought she was in love with, is not showing that he really cares for her and her wellbeing, He shows jig that all he really wants is for jig to have an abortion, he doesn‘t care how jig is feeling at the moment, all he wants is to not be a father and jig realizes this and starts to feel very disappointed Jig also realizes the fact that she will be alone with the baby, I believe she wants a family, a father figure for the child, and the American boy is not the one for thejob, she wants to totally forget about her relationship with the American and to do so she’d have to go through with the operation. I believe she thinks she‘s too young and can’t raise a child alone by herself. This short story ends with a heartbreak for both the American and Jig, either end up finding true happiness, whether they keep the baby or not.
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The Decision of Jig in Hills Like White Elephants, a Short Story by Ernest Hemingway. (2023, Mar 15). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/the-decision-of-jig-in-hills-like-white-elephants-a-short-story-by-ernest-hemingway/
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