Hills Like White Elephants Feminist Analysis

Misleading Image of the Girl in “Hills Like White Elephants” In Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” the male character serves as an obvious antagonist, shown by his unsympathetic behavior towards his lover who contemplates having an abortion. The girl is faced with two choices – to protect their relationship by having an abortion, or keep her baby, but have the man leave her. Though the operation is physically done to her body, the girl does not have much power in the decision making because the man dominates their relationship. As a result, the girl represents the stereotypical image of women, lacking independence and strong-will. However, after the story is taken into historical context of the time period it was
written, the readers are able to understand her failure to withstand the man’s manipulation. Therefore, though it is unclear whether Hemingway purposely portrays the girl in a negative light, his use of characterization, symbolism, and dialogue illustrates the subjugation of women in the 1920s. Hemingway sets up the story by putting the girl in an inferior status to the man through his descriptions of both characters.
When he introduces them as “the American and the girl,” he shows the unequal balance of power within their relationship (Hemingway 1). Whereas the man is given an identity as an American, the girl completely lacks any source of identification because she is just referred to as the girl in the beginning of the story. Ironically, the readers are only able to find out her name, Jig, through the man’s dialogue, but never through the author’s characterization. In doing so, Hemingway puts the girl in a lower status than the man because the American, not even the author, is the one who gives her an identity. Not long after she is introduced, the girl looks at the bead curtain and asks, “What does it say?” (Hemingway 1). This reveals that she is in a foreign country, unable to understand its language. Consequently, she must rely upon the man to take control of all communication. Her physical dependence on the man parallels her emotional attachment to the man, which leads her to allow the man to manipulate her in their discussion about having an abortion. Her failure to communicate reflects her struggles in her relationship because the man attempts to overpower in every aspect of their
relationship.
Furthermore, the story’s symbolism reflects the couple’s differing attitudes toward abortion. After the girl argues with the man, she stands up and walks to the end of the station, observing that “the shadow of a cloud [had] moved across the field of grain” (Hemingway 2). The shadow of a cloud, which signifies the man’s oppression, covers the field of grain, a symbol of the girl’s fertility and her baby. These symbols represent how the man dominates her in the relationship, and thus has the power to take away her fertility. Near the near of the story, the man “pick[s] up the two heavy bags and [carries] them around the station to the other tracks” (Hemingway 3). His action represents that he is actually using his power to force the girl into what he wants, just like how he transports the girl’s luggage himself. Thus, this shows that he ultimately has control over the girl’s life. Also, Hemingway writes that “[people] were all waiting reasonably for the train,” (Hemingway 3) but does not include the girl as one of those people. Consequently, he implies that the girl being illogical with her slightest desire to keep her baby. By excluding her from the people “waiting reasonably” for the train, Hemingway suggests that society is turning away from her and wants her to have an abortion rather than have her be a single mother due to societal pressure.” Most importantly, the underlying message beneath the dialogue shows the passive and hesitant nature of the girl.
The story is written in a third person limited perspective, and thus the reader is forced to assume everything about the characters only through their dialogue. As the girl further shows passive behavior towards throughout her decision making “because [she doesn’t] care about [herself],” the readers once again lose sympathy for her (Hemingway 2). She reveals that she is deciding to have an abortion just for the man, not for herself or the baby. Though it is clear that the man is manipulative, the girl just gives in, which reflects her lack of independence. Consequently, she hands over the final decision to the man, although the operation is done on her physical body. Yet again, after being aware of the historical background, the girl’s behavior is expected because women were subject to serve men in the 1920s. When the man starts to manipulate her into having an abortion, the girl asks, “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me?” Although she is faced with a very important decision, she bases her choices around her feelings. Despite the possibility that she may lose her child, she devalues the life of the baby because she wants man to love her, which has clearly failed throughout the story. She even resorts to immature behavior when she tells the man that “[she’ll] scream” (Hemingway 3) after she is unable to handle the
pressure. Though her arguments are solely based on her emotions, her mood changes signify the instability of her emotions, which leads the readers to lose credibility in her arguments. The frequent mood changes also show that she fails to handle the pressure of making an important decision. At the end, she says, “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine,” (Hemingway 3) an obvious lie based on the context of the story. She continuously masks her feelings even though it is crucial for her to be adamant about not receiving an abortion. Therefore, she is not able to firmly state that she wants to keep the baby because she hides her true feelings from the man. The historical context, Hemingway’s descriptions, and dialogue establish the stereotypical image of women in the girl. Still some aspects of the girl’s immature and irresponsible behavior are understandable after understanding the historical background of the story.