I have read Hemingway’s' "Hill like White Elephants" some time ago and was pleased that this story is being discussed in this class. This is a great story on a very serious topic but it is written in a way that the reader is not told anything in particular. What we do know is that there are two main characters a man and a woman. they are waiting for a train and engage in to a conversation about a procedure that she will have to undergo. We are not told the nature of this procedure. The name of the operation in today’s terms would be called abortion. They sit in this bar and discuss whether she should have this procedure done. It is clearly seen that she does not want to have an abortion even though she never says that. It is also clearly seen that he wants her to have this done even though he never says this as well. She wants to start a new life-family life. He wants to go one with his carefree life. He promises her happiness after its over, however she says that she doesn't know if this will bring them happiness referring to the other couples who have gone through this. He does not give up and keeps telling her that this is a simple procedure and that she has nothing to worry about. Their train is five minutes away. What happens next is left in the dark to reader’s imagination.
I was thinking......could it be that somewhere deep inside of him he is not sure if they should go on with the abortion and that's why he tells her that i don't want you to do it if you don't want to. So that later on he can say that it wasn't only HIS choice.
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Well, we can't say that they are on their way to an "operating room"--the story doesn't provide that kind of specificity about their future; for one thing, that would suggest that the matter has been settled, right?-which we also can't say for sure. What we can say for sure is that they have reached a crisis point in their relationship, and that they are en route to Madrid--the next stop in a life of station stops...
Just out of curiosity did you incorporate the idea that the issue that was being address is an abortion from the reading or from the study sheet? In just the story alone, I had a hard time figuring this out. I felt that in this story the woman (Jig) had more of a say in the decision, granted it may not have been a favorable one on the relationship, she had a say never the less, unlike the other two stories that we have read thus far. From The study guide we get to look a little deeper into the story and see the hidden meaning, Spanish setting, hence catholic, hence maybe pressure as to not having an abortion, however we must bear in mind that the male was a Spaniard or have Spanish original, thus then leave more the relationship between the man and woman.
Just out of curiosity did you incorporate the idea that the issue that was being address is an abortion from the reading or from the study sheet? In just the story alone, I had a hard time figuring this out. I felt that in this story the woman (Jig) had more of a say in the decision, granted it may not have been a favorable one on the relationship, she had a say never the less, unlike the other two stories that we have read thus far. From The study guide we get to look a little deeper into the story and see the hidden meaning, Spanish setting, hence catholic, hence maybe pressure as to not having an abortion, however we must bear in mind that the male was a Spaniard or have Spanish original, thus then leave more the relationship between the man and woman.
well, correction, In "Hills Like White Elephants", it clearly shows that she is a girl and he is a man. By that, she is very young and he is much to old to be with her or to have his baby.
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