Hills like white elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a short story that was originally published in the literary magazine Transition in 1927. This short story describes a scene between an unnamed American man and a girl (Jig) sitting at a bar outside of a train station in Spain. As the pair waits for their train the two have an indirect conversation about an operation they should or should not confront. After reading into the couple’s dialogue and their uneasy attitude toward this operation you realize the operation they speak of is an abortion. Ernest Hemingway leaves the readers to interpret the couple’s decision. Giving what is unsaid does the girl in the story keep the baby? Does she stay in her relationship with the man?
Although Ernest Hemingway does not explicitly state the couple’s finally decision there are implications that might help the reader conduct their own ending. In the beginning of the story the girl seems to be very dependent on her significant other. She is yearning for his approval and looking for him to tell her what to do. You can sense in the beginning that she is insecure once being ignored after her elephant statement. “I know. But I if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you’ll like it?” As the story continues her insecurity turns to passive aggression. The aggression she holds is what tells me that she keeps the baby. She hoped he would understand that she didn’t want an abortion, but neither one wanted to force each other into it even though she felt pressured. They could have been because she was referred to as a girl the whole story. One can assume she was younger than him. By the underlying tenseness and the dynamic between them I don’t believe they will stay together either. By the end she seemed like she wanted nothing to do with him. “I feel fine,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” It was obvious that she wasn’t fine. My sophomore year (2010), my childhood best friends and I were inseparable. I rather not use their real names so I’ll call them – Sadie, Laurie, Cam, Pam. This story might sound cliché but this story is true and very dear to my heart. The five of us would do anything and everything together. I must admit we weren’t the most well behaved kids, we defiantly had a reputation. Pam would throw parties at her parent’s house every time they went away, which seemed to be very often. We would steal our parent’s alcohol and even experimented with weed. We were very reckless kids yet most of us had a good head on our shoulders, we knew when enough was enough. But not all of us knew when to stop. Sadie and Laurie started to act out more and more as the months went on. They started getting attention from older boys and hanging around people who introduced them to harder drugs. At first I didn’t see it as a problem, they were still my close friends and I would love them no matter what but it only got worst from there. It wasn’t the same hanging out, I felt uncomfortable and I didn’t want to be pressured into the things they were doing - smoking cigs, hanging around disrespectful boys who wanted nothing more than to get into our pants. But the girls craved the attention, they would do anything for it. People would talk, they would say horrible things about Sadie and Laurie. There was always a rumor floating around about them and at this point I didn’t even know what real. It was sad to watch from the sideline as they both crumbled from the outside in. This was the point that I had to tell myself I need to separate myself from people I knew most my life and it was difficult decision walking away from them but I knew it was best for my well-being. Later on that year Sadie’s mom took her out school because her drug problem and then a couple months later Laurie’s mom her out of school for a similar reason. That year was a learning year for all of us. I do admit I miss the friendship I had with Sadie and Laurie still till this day.
3 Comments
David Miller
10/2/2017 07:41:40 pm
That really sucks to lose someone close to you because of their decisions. Sometimes it is the right choice to leave them to avoid corruption of yourself.
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Ashley Coley
10/2/2017 08:36:14 pm
Your story was a good read! I myself had people who I thought were friends stop talking to me because I didn't want go through this same situation with them. I'm glad you didn't fall victim to peer pressure
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dominique candidi
10/3/2017 05:55:54 am
It really sucks when people turn into someone you know there not. Unfortunately, you just have to keep going with or without them!
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