Hills Like White Elephants
Jig and the American are waiting at the train stop. Maybe Jig is from somewhere else because Hemingway used “the American” instead of his name. It sounds like the couple is having some troubles. They were talking about drinks and then Jig brings up absinthe and blames it on her boyfriend? that he started it. Later on the man says the operation is “awfully simple.” She is probably traveling to a place where they can get an abortion for a cheap price. Maybe Hemingway said “the American” to point out that it was a cultural thing that normally Americans had abortions? Every time Jig says she could have everything, the man shoots it down saying they cant. She keeps repeating it; her mind is just elsewhere. She kept repeating “the white elephant” and that could’ve meant her baby because usually white is associated with being pure. The “everything” she kept repeating could have meant her baby or maybe her wish to have something to call her own. She probably doesn’t have anything because she looked “at her bags against the wall of the station. There were labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent nights.” Jig would do anything for him so he could be happy. She said she didn’t care about herself and if it would make him happy she would do it. He told her the baby was the cause of all their troubles, but I think there’s deeper problems than just that.
I was doing the assignment and this song came up and it makes me happy. Maybe it’s the lyrics. (;
Interesting song, I can definitely see how you can feel happy because of it. I’m a bit confused at your analysis of the story though. How were you able to conclude that they were talking about an abortion?
Yeah same here. I thought it was interesting that you thought the operation was referring to an abortion and I didn’t get the sentence that said “jig brought up absinthe and blames her boyfriend?” Isn’t absinthe another drink or something?
I totally agree with you that she didn’t care about herself and if it would make him happy she would do it. I think she is too naive and weak to stand up for her own decision so she has to listen to the man for she need to depend on him.
I didn’t know absinthe was an alcoholic drink. I didn’t know how to word my thoughts about the absinthe and boyfriend thing. I guess the word absinthe wasn’t that important when I was reading it; the part that stood out to me was how out of no where she blamed her boyfriend for something. They weren’t even arguing and she brought up the issue the American was probably trying to avoid thinking about. At first I thought absinthe was abstinence (terrible mistake). So my first interpretation of the story was that it was about sex, but after rereading it over seven times.. I concluded it was abortion. Whenever I read stories with babies and children, they associate it with being pure and white. She kept saying that someone was going to take it away from her and it cant be given back. I watched too many dramas so when I read it, the women in the dramas and the story acted similarly. Plus it was the closest thing related to sex.
When I was writing my interpretation I wasn’t even sure what I was trying to say, but when I was piecing the story together in my head it made sense.