Hills Like White Elephants By Charles Brooks Analysis

In many ways, this story is told by a woman very much like Jig. In the end, both of these women have abortions, but it is clear that their hearts are heavy about the decision. Although Hills Like White Elephants tells about Jig prior to the abortion, one can pretty well speculate that Brooks’ The Mother aptly describes the sentiments that Jig is likely to feel in the future about her choice.
The Mother is essentially a sad remembrance, and one can imagine the speaker of this story to be sitting and reflecting about all the things she missed because she aborted her children. She mentions things like not being able to give them sweets, not being able to “Return for a snack of them, with gobbling mother-eye”, and not watching the child suck its thumb among others (Brooks). It’s as if the woman is mentally going through
The woman ends her reflection by telling her unborn children how much she loved them. This is indeed perhaps the most poignant part of the poem, because one sees just how remorseful the woman is, and how sad it is to live a life regretting such important decisions. She realizes after the fact what she stole from her children – lives that never had the chance to be lived. Her children never had the opportunity for life.
Abortion is clearly a significant and emotional concern according to both Brooks and Hemingway. Both of these authors approach this subject from a very emotional point of view, as opposed to one based upon morality. In fact, these works provide no evidence of moral judgment, but are instead based upon the response of the soul to such important, life-altering decisions. The women in these stories simply regret their abortions, based not upon morality but upon the bond that a woman shares with her child, whether or not that child has been born or not. Interestingly, both authors choose to show the results of abortion, thereby sustaining a convincing argument against