49 pages • 1 hour read
Ernest HemingwayHills Like White Elephants
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1927A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Character Analysis
Jig
Jig is referred to as a “girl” throughout the story, even though she is obviously a contemporary of the man. She is pregnant and conflicted about whether to have the operation. To the extent that she (and decisions about her body) are the focus of the story, Jig is the protagonist. She is unsure about terminating her pregnancy and, during the course of the story, considers the possibility of keeping it and what that might mean to both their relationship and their lives. She is more insightful about both the nature of their lifestyle and the future of their relationship than the man is, and she understands the weight of the decision in a way that he cannot seem to grasp.
Although she initially suggests she wants to make her decision based on whether it would appease her partner, she seems fully aware of what they might be missing out on, and she seems much wiser than the man, knowing that things will not return to normal once the pregnancy is terminated, saying only, “We’ll wait and see” (75). Jig moves through several emotional states throughout the story, from cold sarcasm to indecision, to hopefulness, to distress, to deflection. In the context of this decision, she struggles with an even larger crisis: whether her decisions have meaning, and more so, whether life has purpose or meaning.
The American
The man in a relationship with Jig is referred to only as “the man,” or “the American.” If Jig is the protagonist, the American might be the antagonist, as he is actively involved in pressuring her to get an abortion and, in the process, both disregarding and trying to erode her agency. Although he claims, “I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to” (73), he is clearly invested in the idea and adopts several tactics to try to sway Jig’s perception, even ignoring her request that they stop talking about it.
When he claims his stance is based on how he only wants Jig and no one else, the assertion is ironic; he may say he wants Jig, but he certainly doesn’t want her opinion, nor does he want to entertain her ideas; when Jig analyzes the situation and acknowledges the possibility that keeping the pregnancy may benefit her, he tells her she “mustn’t feel that way” (75). In reality, his motivation is his fear that their relationship and lifestyle will change if they have a child. He is confrontational at the beginning of the story, refusing to engage in small talk. Instead, he commandeers the conversation and brings up the topic of abortion without any sign from Jig that she may want to discuss it at that moment. He sees the pregnancy as a nuisance, and he vastly understates the seriousness of both the decision and the actual operation that Jig will have to undergo, showing his self-absorption and disregard for Jig’s health and safety.
The Bartender
Because the woman who serves their drinks speaks only Spanish, she communicates only with the man. Their interactions highlight the fact that Jig’s personhood is pushed further into the background as the man takes charge and control. At the end of the story, Jig interacts with the woman for the first time, smiling “brightly” at her in order to say thank you, seeming to assert her own presence and responses for the first time.
Related Titles
By Ernest Hemingway
