Hills Like White Elephants
The story named Hills like white elephants is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It was published for the first time in the collection of Mon without Women in 1927. The story covers a topic which is very controversial subject of the society. The story opened with the description of beautiful and distant hills across a river in Spain. The both main character of the story, the American and his girlfriend named Jig were sitting outside the train station. They were there only because they had to travel by bus and there is a time left in the arrival of the train. While sitting there they ordered a beer. They sit outside and started drinking the beer. The American man wanted her to undergo an abortion. But Jig was confused and worried about it. Whenever she started the conversation on some other topics like she began a conversation on hills and advertisements, the American man always disagreed with him and changed the topic. Actually he wanted her to undergo an operation that’s why he was convincing her. When the man attempted her conversation on the same topic, they both began to argue with each other. The man was convincing him that it would be a simple thing. She was also not in favor of giving birth to a child. But there were some facts which she could not denied any time. She knew that after an abortion the social ramification will be traumatic. Throughout the story, she remained angry, confused and inebriated (McMahan, Day and Funk , 2007). The man always ignored the indication given by the Jig that she does not want an abortion. The continuous argument brought tensions and conflicts between the couple. But the story end with no decision which shows that the future and final decision will be made on the state of the relationship which will be in the future which shows that the Jig was unable to make a last decision. Not only this she was unable to diminish her fear and tension on the issue of operation.
The story revolves around the two characters who argued on having an abortion. The woman was double minded in solving the issue and conflict with the American man. She sometimes did not want the abortion because she knew that a woman always experienced guilt before and after the operation. The operation will ultimately change the personality of a woman. She was fearful at the thinking that what will happen when her family and closest friends will know about it. She was quite sure of this outcome from her relatives. She was afraid that if the public knew she had an abortion, she would be known as a whore or a baby killer which is a very bad sign. At the same time, she thought that the coming child will be an extraordinary addition to her life of drinking and mindless traveling. She did not want to lose all this. She had waited for enjoying life for a long time and now if the child will come all such dream will be ruined. The convincing behavior of the American proves that he is using her emotional weakness to his advantage.
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