"Hills Like White Elephants"
Hemingway's short
story 'Hills Like White Elephants' touches on an issue as ageless as
time: communication problems in a relationship. He tells his story through
conversations between the two main characters, the American and the girl. The
conflict is created through dialogue as these characters face what most readers
believe to be the obstacle of unexpected pregnancy. The plight is further
complicated by the inability to convey their differing opinions to each other.
Symbolism and the title's meaning are other effective means of communicating
conflict.
First, consider
the man's point of view. Single and in his prime, he makes the most of his
lifestyle by travelling and seeing new sights. The story is set on one such
excursion, at a train station in Spain. Of the complications that might arise
from starting a family, one is certain to him: travelling, sight-seeing, and
his current lifestyle would be things of the past. These are some of his
motivating thoughts as he pleads his case for terminating the pregnancy. He
chooses his words advantageously, almost deceitfully, when trying to convince
the girl that an abortion is easy surgery: 'It's not really an operation
at all'. Those familiar with the abortion procedure can affirm that it is
an operation, and is rarely a simple one. This remark reveals how desperate he
is to make the decision for the girl. The man further complicates the
discussion by contradicting himself. For each time he reassures the girl he
wants what she wants, he spends at least one line identifying exactly what he
wants. This is clearly seen in the following conversation: 'You've got to
realizethat I don't want you to do it if you don't want to. I'm perfectly
willing to go through with it if it means anything to you.' So far it
sounds as if his only wish is for her to do what she wants. But when she asks
if it means anything to him, he immediately responds, 'Of course it does.
But I don't want anybody but you. I don't want anyone else. And I know it's
perfectly simple'.
The man, however,
is not the sole contributor to the communication breakdown. Right away the girl
begins to show her weakness and inability to express herself. When the man initially
directs the conversation to the operation (abortion), her reaction is
described: 'The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on
[and]did not say anything'. Failure to state her conviction is
illustrated in this example, and is further indicated by frail hints of her
desire to keep the baby: 'Once they take it away, you never get it
back'. An obvious hint, yet she never clearly voices her hunger to have
the baby. She continues to desire his will over hers in lines such as this one:
'Then I'll do it [have an abortion[. Because I don't care about me'.
After a few of
these vain attempts to convince the man to consider having the baby, she
implores him to 'Please. please please please please please please stop
talking'(272). The author uses her avoidance of confrontation and denial
of self-expression to assure the reader that the girl's weak and dependent
nature prevents her from verbally expressing her point of view. Even the use of
character terms --the man and the girl -- reinforces this effect.
For the sake of
the story, Hemingway's display of communication breakdown between the man and
the girl is a beneficial one. The couple could have resolved this conflict
quickly if the man had stated, 'I do not want my lifestyle altered by a
baby and consider an abortion the only realistic alternative' and the
woman had responded, 'I disagree. I want to have this baby and that is
what I am going to do.' But if that happened, the story would have begun
and ended in a couple of boring paragraphs. The lack of real conflict would
have detracted from the obscurity of the story's theme and the conflict of both
characters' points of view. One of the attractions of this story is the element
of the unknown; it is the privilege of the reader to fill in the blanks, to tie
up loose ends at his or her own discretion. It is advantageous to the reader
that the man and the girl do not communicate clearly. Additionally, Hemingway
incorporates a clever title to add appeal to this story.. A white elephant can
also been defined as an item that is worthless to one but priceless to another,
bringing to mind the saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure. In the
case of Hemingway's couple, the baby represents something of no apparent value
to the man, yet priceless to the girl.
