¶ … Hills Like White Elephants" -- Ernest Hemingway
Will the couple agree to an abortion?
Jig, the girlfriend, knows she is going to have to give in to the man and have the abortion, and there are hints and there is foreshadowing (albeit very subtle) that provide the clues. This paper reviews the subtleties and on pages 2 and 3 points to specific passages that suggest she will in fact give in to him and abort the baby.
Subtle Hints in the Narrative
The reader knows from a careful study of the short story that these two have traveled together and are very familiar with each other's positions on the issue at hand. It is obvious from the start that there is tension between the two, and the fact that a train is on its way adds to the heightened tension. Hemingway is well-known for his brilliant use of allegory, metaphor and imagery. Could the fact that the couple is seated between the train tracks suggest that the decision could go either way -- and that the author did not want to be definitive about the outcome because keeping critics and scholars guessing over the years will keep the story alive and even create an endless literary mystery?
In the first paragraph of the story there is a hint that the decision to abort or not to abort the child could go either way and that both avenues are wide open to the pair. "…There was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun." The sun was beating down on the train station area like a spotlight -- hence the only place to hide from the reality of making a decision was in the shade created by the building.
Since setting is relevant to the deeper meaning of a story, including this one, it can also be suggested that her goals are pure....
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