See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336135861 Jig and the American in Hemingway's "Hills like White Elephants" Research · November 2014 CITATIONS READS 0 16,391 1 author: Nouf Alashjaai Universiti Putra Malaysia 3 PUBLICATIONS 0 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE All content following this page was uploaded by Nouf Alashjaai on 30 September 2019. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. The English Literature Journal Vol. 1, No. 6 (2014): 200-205 Article Open Access ISSN: 2348-3288 The Interpersonal Relationship between Jig and the American in Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants” Nouf Fahad Alashjaai* Master of Arts in English student at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Department of Languages and Translation at Northern Borders University in Arar, Saudi Arabia. *Corresponding author: Nouf Fahad Alashjaai; e-mail: noufalashjaai@mail.weber.edu Received: 29 October 2014 ABSTRACT Accepted: 16 November 2014 Online: 19 November 2014 This paper will examine interpersonal relationship between Jig and the American in Hemingway’s“Hills Like White Elephants.” This short story is a conversation between an American man and Jig, neither of which truly communicates with one another. Both Jig and the American talk but neither understand the other's point of view. Although it is never stated, they are trying to agree on whether or not she should have an abortion. The unborn baby requires Jig and the American to make decisions that will affect their lives and determine their relationship. In this study, I explore how the American says anything in order to convince Jig to have the operation. The lack of communication becomes clear when Jig is hesitant to agree to her companion’s determined urging that an abortion would be an easy solution to their problem. The dramatic dialogue plays an important role in this short story. I employ New Criticism in order to analyze the dialogue in “Hills Like White Elephants.” The analysis of the dialogue helps us understand the story more thoroughly and imagine what some reasons for end of their relationship may be. Within the story's title, lies strong conflict between the two protagonists' cultures. The imagery of the story is left to the reader to interpret. Keywords: Interpersonal relationship, “Hills Like White Elephants”. INTRODUCTION Ernest Hemingway is well known for leaving out a story’s ending, and this story is no exception (Link 66). His story is filled with symbolism. Hemingway did a profound job of leading his readers into their own emotional opinions and responses by establishing themes that everyone can relate to and by leaving the ending of the story open to interpretation. “Hills Like White Elephants” is about a young couple who is sitting at a train station in Spain apprehensively discussing an abortion for the girl, Jig. The American and Jig are like tracks at the train station; they can never meet. The three significant elements of the story are the title, the setting and the dialogue. These elements enhance the conflict between the two main characters who are trying to make an important decision and the discussion that could bring them together only tears them apart because Jig wants to be a mother and a wife while the American does not want to change. http://english.aizeonpublishers.net/content/2014/6/eng200-205.pdf From the beginning of the story, the reader notices from the dialogue that the American is unnamed while the girl is named, Jig, but the American calls her “the girl” throughout the story. Hemingway’s short story shows the significance of naming or not naming characters, as is the case with the American. In this context, he generalizes the American in order to refer to American fathers during his own time (Flora 1). According to Meg Gillette, the writer of “Making Modern Parents in Ernest Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants’ and Viñ a Delmar’s Bad Girl,” Hemingway’s characters seek an alternative literary performance in which the characters lack a literary language to talk about the baby and the abortion on the stage that would transform New Women into New Mothers and their modernist Bad-Boys into AllAmerican Dads during the time that Hemingway lived. Jig portrays a woman’s desire to be a mother and take care of her babies, whereas the American portrays the 200 Nouf Fahad Alashjaai / The Eng Lit J. 2014, 1(6): 200-205 Bad-Boys because he wants to ignore his responsibilities since he wants her to have the abortion (Gillette 52). By having the abortion, the American would not need to change his lifestyle. The American Bad-Boys did not want to take on the responsibilities of being All-American Dads. Throughout “Hills Like White Elephants,” the narrator chooses to omit the words abortion and baby, which leads the couple to miscommunicate and to emotionally drift apart. Hemingway’s story discusses whether or not the baby should be born. The baby is the product of their relationship and having it will change their lifestyle (Bethea 90). The first allusion of the pregnancy and the abortion appears in the American’s dialogue: “I know you would not mind it, Jig.” “You don’t have to be afraid” “I know a lot of people that have done it.” (Hemingway 297) The American does not seem to care about Jig’s opinion. He only attempts to convince her to have the abortion. Even though the word abortion is never mentioned in these lines, the reader is then able to cross the T’s and dot the I’s. The reader notices that there is a gap between the couple, which leads them into conflict and eventually separates them. In addition to the omission of the word abortion, “white elephants” in the title is significant because these words portray different images for different cultures (Portch 85). For example, it portrays a bad image in Middle-Eastern culture, whereas in European and Indian cultures, it has a positive meaning. In MiddleEastern culture, the image of elephants reflects a big and clumsy creature, which is an unfavorable image and further reinforces Jig’s inferiority. In Indian culture, white elephants symbolize the status of kings because, during the 19th century, Indian kings used white elephants to commute and explore their realm (Feudge 153). In American culture, a white-elephant gift means a second-hand gift. However, in “Hills Like White Elephants,” the white elephants symbolize the unborn baby, which the American considers a white elephant gift that will alter his lifestyle. He does not want to receive this gift because, if he accepts it, he has to take care of it. A white elephant has also been defined as an item that is worthless to one but priceless to another. In the case of Hemingway’s couple, the baby represents something of no apparent value to the man yet priceless to the girl (Bauer 130).According to Bronwen Thomas, the writer of Fictional Dialogue: Speech and Conversation in the Modern and Postmodern Novel, the readers have different levels of understanding the dialogue, and each reader interprets the metaphors and figures of speech based on his or her cultural background (Thomas 57). The American might have a Middle-Eastern opinion that Jig is a clumsy creature in her pregnancy, and in American culture, the pregnancy and the baby are like the white-elephant gifts that the American does not want to receive or keep (Bauer 130). The white elephant term is significant because it http://english.aizeonpublishers.net/content/2014/6/eng200-205.pdf is the tension in the story’s plot, which widens the gap between the couple. One reading of the story is that hills can be a symbol of fertility, and Jig’s unborn baby can be regarded as a white elephant, and the whiteness of the elephant might suggest the purity of that baby. Within the title and the story, the metaphor is not a source of pleasure. It is more than just a line of dialogue; the title is the main conflict as well as a metonymy for the story. The title is full of symbolism, which sheds light on the conflict regarding the unborn baby. The reader questions the significance of her smile when she says, “Hills Like Elephants.” To answer this question, the reader has to view the story’s situation as a dramatic irony. The title itself contains a significant meaning that is enough to aid the reader’s understanding of the narrative. Behind the phrase “Hills Like White Elephants,” a couple of layers of significance emerge. The hills might represent Jig’s dream of a family relationship. The American’s cold response to Jig’s smile shows that his relationship with Jig will not change into a solid relationship of family. The American has little empathy for Jig’s smile when she says white elephants. The frequent statement, “Hills Like White Elephants,” signifies Jig’s weak situation and their lack of communication. Since the American wants her to have the abortion, her smile shows her weak situation. She cannot argue with him, and instead of saying that she wants the baby, she projects her dreams onto the hills by mentioning that they are like white elephants. The word Hill in the title also refers to a pregnant woman lying on her back and her womb becomes high like a hill. In her conversation with the American, Jig says, “They are lovely hills,” which implies that she is projecting her desires and emotions from the baby when she refers to the hills as lovely (Hashmi 73). While Jig talks to the American she observed the landscape surrounding them and imposes her desires into it: The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry. “They look like white elephants,” she said. “I’ve never seen one,” the man drank his beer. “No, you wouldn’t have.” “I might have,” the man said. “just because you say I wouldn’t have doesn’t prove anything.” (Hemingway 296) Their words indicate that there is no emotional development. Their words suggest that the baby is their first. The metaphor here refers to their different points of view; Jig loves the hills and the unborn baby, and the American sees the baby as something that will destroy his lifestyle. Whatever their relationship, their love affair will not continue (Wyche 58-59). The American told her, “I’ve never seen one,” referring to the unborn baby. His response shows that he is not interested to be a father. The couple has different desires and plans to live their own lifestyles. As they continue to talking, they find no resolution to their situation, so their 201 individual desires emotionally. and Nouf Fahad Alashjaai / The Eng Lit J. 2014, 1(6): 200-205 plans separate them Throughout the story, the American uses words to manipulate Jig, which demonstrates how he objectifies and depersonalizes her. Jig is worried that if she has the abortion he will still leave her. Both of them manipulate each other when they talk about the abortion. She asked him in different ways if he would stay with her and if he will still love her after the abortion. Instead of answering her questions, he continues to encourage her to have it and he will be the same: “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?” “I love you now. You know I love you.” “I know. But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things are like white elephants, and you’ll like it?” (Hemingway 298) In reply, Jig uses different ways of manipulation by asking him multiple questions like: “If I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?” This statement gives the reader a sense that although the American is nice and caring, Jig realized that the American is able to sacrifice her and the baby in order to keep his lifestyle and not change. Even her dialogue reinforces her inferiority because she sounds like a child. She thinks the only way to be happy is to please the American. Jig portrays the weak role of women. One of the reasons why she feels the need to make the American happy lies in her fear of losing him, and this fear is apparent in the question she asked the American. Jig is willing to sacrifice her own feelings for his, if it makes him happy. She struggles to make a decision. She also begins to lower her self- esteem in order to please him. “If I do it you won’t ever worry...then I’ll do it because I don’t care about me” (298). This quote clearly shows how she sacrifices her self-respect just to keep the American pleased. The reader sees her through their dramatic dialogue when she puts his feelings over hers when making decisions. The American is constantly pressing Jig to acknowledge that the operation is simple and is only “to let the air in” (297), but then he contradicts himself and says, “If you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to” (297). Nevertheless, he concludes, “But I know it’s perfectly simple” (298).When the American realizes that Jig does not share his view, he manipulates her by seeming like he is truly there for her. He tries to reassure and comfort her by repeating: “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to” (298). Throughout their discussion, the American tries to simplify the abortion, and this apathy tears them apart. Jig eventually realizes that he is sacrificing her and the baby in order to keep his lifestyle. In a close reading, the reader can see that there is much hidden under both characters’ personas. Trying to convince Jig to have an abortion, the American attempts to show himself as a reasonable and rational person. http://english.aizeonpublishers.net/content/2014/6/eng200-205.pdf However, later in the text, it becomes clear that he is a hypocritical and selfish person and two specific examples demonstrate this: “You’ve got to realize,” he said, “that 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.” “Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along.” “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.” “Yes, you know it’s perfectly simple.” “It’s all right for you to say that, but I do know it” (298). In addition, when Jig speaks about anything, he immediately changes the subject and starts replying irrelevantly to what she says: The girl looked across at the hills. “They’re lovely hills,” she said. “They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees.” “Should we have another drink?” “All right.” (297) Through his words, it is apparent he does not care about the side effects of the abortion. He only focused on the abortion itself, but not on the risk that Jig might faces soon after the abortion or along her life. The American then tells Jig: “We can have everything” (298). Jig tells him: “No, it isn’t. And once they take it away, you never get it back” (298). The fact that she would be giving up a child is one thing, but the difficult decision for her at this point is the risk that she would put herself in. if she chose to have the abortion and sacrifice herself and the baby, she would not forgive the American later on. According to Howard Hashmi, the girl decides to have the abortion, but she will not tolerate the American afterwards because he exploited her in her weakness and pushed her to have the abortion (Hashmi 72). When the American and Jig enter the bar, Jig takes off her hat, which symbolizes that she bares her feelings. Jig tries to relax in order to discuss their relationship and their unborn baby’s future. Her nonverbal gestures reflect her feelings since they speak in metaphors. As the couple starts discussing their problems, they begin drinking licorice-flavored alcohol because they are unable to face each other directly. Additionally, drinking alcohol is another way for them to run away from their problems. Because they want to avoid the direct communication that might help them to make a decision, they prefer to talk under the influence of alcohol. Through their discussion while they drinking alcohol, Jig’s insecurity about the American’s feelings for her becomes apparent to the reader. The things he suggests make her insecure: “Look at things and try new drink”(Hemingway 297). His dialogue suggests that he is trying to ignore Jig and wants to drink liquor and flee his problems. Jig is unlikely to argue anymore “Try new things” suggests try new lifestyles and relationships. She gives up and wants to separate. 202 Nouf Fahad Alashjaai / The Eng Lit J. 2014, 1(6): 200-205 As the dramatic dialogue continues, the reader understands the lack of communication between the two. They talk to each other, but their personalities are as complicated as their relationship. The American tries to smooth the tension by saying, ‘‘Well, let’s try to have a fine time.’’ The girl replies, ‘‘All right, I was trying. I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasn’t that bright?’’ They just want to take a break from the argumentative dialogue because they are not able to reach a conclusion that satisfies the two (Benthea 90). Soon after this statement, Jig is apparently powerlessness because she repeats “please.” She says, “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” (Hemingway 299) Alone with the American, her words symbolize and emphasize her weakness. She is unable to think under his pressure whether or not to have the abortion. His pressure agitates her because her pleas also show the climax reaches its peak at this point in their conversation (Benthea 91). The couple is unable to clearly make a decision. It is only Jig who has to sacrifice the baby in order to please the American, which makes their relationship unbalanced, and this terminates their relationship (Link 68). The existing relationship between Jig and the American will eventually deteriorate. Although several outcomes are possible after the story, there are three scenarios most likely to happen: Jig will have the abortion and stay with the American; Jig will have the abortion and leave the American; or Jig will not have the abortion, but the American leaves her. Many scholars argue that the story ends with the girl deciding to have the abortion but not resuming her life with the American. After the abortion, she might not be able to tolerate him. David Wyche states that critics continue to disagree over the fate of Jig’s unborn baby (Wyche 57). One of the critics, Timothy O’Brien, sees the outcome of the couple’s journey as “bleak and infertile.” (Hashmi 54) Their destination of Madrid is also ironic because of the name’s similarity to madre, the Spanish word for mother (Hashmi 64). Wyche suggests that when the American says, “Look at things and try new drinks,” he is referring to their old life and that their feelings for one another will not be the same anymore. After Jig has the abortion, the American might seek a life, and he might have a new girlfriend since Jig would not be able to tolerate him (Wyche 58). Even though the critics continue discussing the ambiguous possible endings, they all agree that the unborn baby is the disagreement between the man and the girl because the American believes the baby is a burden on them; however Jig metaphorically wants the baby and she sees the baby just like licorice-flavored alcohol. Literary, as they order more drinks, Jig observes that her new beverage tastes like licorice: is not only a kind of alcohol, but it also stands for the things Jig has waited so long for: “It tastes like licorice,” the girl said and put the glass down. ”That’s the way with everything.” http://english.aizeonpublishers.net/content/2014/6/eng200-205.pdf ”Yes,” said the girl. “Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe.” ”Oh, cut it out.” ”You started it,” the girl said. “I was being amused. I was having a fine time.” (Hemingway 297) According to Jig, once they get what they have waited so long for, that thing may lose its appeal. Even though Jig does not specifically reference the baby, she is still implying that the baby is the subject of her speech. The American, perhaps annoyed by her analogy, replies that everything tastes of licorice. Jig agrees that his statement is true, and continues to say, “Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe” (Hemingway 297). Here, Jig attempts to communicate that everything she longs for, or finds a solution for, leaves her feeling bitter in the end (Stien 240). At the ending of the story, the American asks, “Do you feel better?” Jig responds,” There is nothing wrong with me. I feel fine” (Hemingway 299). Naturally, the readers will be in a state of suspense. The open end offers the readers a space in which to participate. Hemingway is well-known for using unclear endings, which was a new technique at his time. This statement shows that a decision has been reached, but leaving it unnamed, whether or not she will have the baby or have the abortion, the word “fine” show the reader the ambiguous end that reflect how the couple are emotionally apart. “Fine” is ambiguous, they are neither able to communicate literary nor emotionally. Along with miscommunication that suggest Jig and the American will end their relationship with breaking up. Jig at the beginning of her relationship with the American cared only about the economic statue; however, they struggled because each of them adopted different ideas of lifestyle. Jig will also lose the economic status that she gained with the American. Hemingway’s handling of characterization differentiates the male and female characters and demonstrates how his characters are all victims of economic circumstance. This victimizing of the characters is a significant point in “Hills Like White Elephants.” Jig was a victim of the American and her economic circumstance. If the American loved her, he would take responsibility of the baby. If the girl chooses to have the baby, she will lose all the freedom to travel, drink and socialize (Adams 88-89). Jig struggled to make the decision that will change her future. She must choose between the old and the new lifestyles. It is hard for her to free herself from old habits that consist of taking no responsibility as a mother should. At the same time, she wants a man who has money and is from the upper-middle class or higher in order to provide her with the entertainment that she wants. Even though Jig was the American’s good-time, their licorice drink shows that he is no longer attracted to her, nor she attracted to him. Their relationship is faded and he started to be bored since Jig is pregnant. She definitely realizes she needs to change. She walks 203 Nouf Fahad Alashjaai / The Eng Lit J. 2014, 1(6): 200-205 to the end of the station and looks upon the fertile side of the valley and comments, “and we could have all this.” She even says the alcohol tastes like licorice, that everything tastes the same, and she’s getting tired of her same old life. Even though she wants to change, something is holding her back from doing so, perhaps her old ways. Jig was the American’s good-time girl, but the American finds her boring because she is pregnant: “Then what will we do afterward?” “We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before.” “What makes you think so?” “That’s the only thing [the pregnancy] that bothers us. It’s “The only thing that’s made us unhappy.” (Hemingway 297) Things between Jig and the American will never be “fine” again. Jig wants the role of wife and the role of the mother as well, but her exceptions have changed. She would have the abortion and live with the painful memory of an abortion that the American forced upon her (Hashmi 77). She wants the American and the baby, but the American only wants his lifestyle. This miscommunication tears the couple apart. Even though the story does not begin with a description of the scenery, it brings the readers into the scene by describing their relationship. This description allows the reader to imagine what has happened between the man and the girl before the story’s beginning. The writer uses the train station as a setting to portray the human condition in this story. The train station, a common ground or meeting place, represents the relationship between the American and Jig since he does not give the topic any of his attention and he talks about a private matter in an unsuitable place. The tracks leading in and out of the station describe the emotional pathways each of them will take. The American is almost exactly opposite of Jig, free spirited and unwilling to change. She has to choose between her love for the American and her love for her unborn child. The American tries to convince Jig that there is no harm in what she is considering. He tries to calm Jig by telling her, “We’ll be fine afterwards, just like we were before” (Hemingway 297). Jig is not convinced nor is she as confident or as willing as the American to rush off into such a serious decision. Even though Jig is silent, her silence when the American was talking to her speaks volumes. She began to realize that whether or not she terminates her pregnancy, they can never be like they were before (Wyche 60). In addition, the river, mountains, hills, trees, banks, valley, elephants, cloud, traveling, bags, station, track, train, pubs, curtain, all contradict each other. Nature represents the inner state of Jig. She is ready to become a mother, but traveling suggests that the American is not ready yet. He needs some freedom and does not want to become a father. These people are absolutely different from each other. The white color in this story also has a significant role. It might symbolize life, and cleanliness, meanwhile the brownness and dryness of the country symbolize suffering, hopelessness, grief and death. Probably these http://english.aizeonpublishers.net/content/2014/6/eng200-205.pdf colors within the orientation symbolize Jig’s suffering Jig and show how her dreams and wishes of having the baby are dead. She is absolutely unable to reach a decision that makes her happy. The only thing that she had is the faded dream of having a family with the American, but because his decision is stable, it makes the relationship fragile and tears them apart. CONCLUSION Overall, “Hills Like White Elephant” is one of Hemingway’s most complicated short stories. The continuous opposition between Jig and the American is what eventually tears them apart. They have different needs and desires. This couple is at a critical point in their lives when they must decide whether or not to have an abortion. If the reader goes deeper and deeper, he or she can discover new parts and pieces that show how the couple miscommunicated. Hemingway manages to reflect the real conversation through small details and inferences while leaving the main part and interpretation to the reader. While the dialogue between the couple sounds simple and sometimes meaningless, in fact there are different meaning and implications in deeper part because of its rich use of metaphors. The end of the story is open and left up to the reader to decide what that girl is going to do. Regardless of whether she leaves the American or remains forever unhappy with him, Jig’s decision is made. She takes a final stance and acknowledges in an ironic tone, “I feel fine… there’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine” (Hemingway 299), which is an ambiguous end and each reader interpret it as he or she understands the dialogue. REFERENCES 1. Adams, J. Donald. “Ernest Hemingway.” The English Journal 28.2 (1939): 87-94. Web. 2 March. 2014. 2. 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Wyche, David. “Letting the Air Into a Relationship: Metaphorical Abortion in 'Hill White Elephants.'“ The Hemingway Review 22. 1(2002): 56-71. Project MUSE. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. © 2014; AIZEON Publishers; All Rights Reserved This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ***** http://english.aizeonpublishers.net/content/2014/6/eng200-205.pdf View publication stats 205