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Hills Like White Elephants Identity Analysis

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A Struggle with Identity “Hills Like White Elephants” is a short story in which Ernest Hemingway, the author, uses stylistic ways in presenting the story. The setting takes place in a Spanish railway station. Jig, Hemingway’s main character, and the American man, exchange frustration and confusion because of a simple operation the American man wants Jig to go through (Hemingway, 887). After a series of arguments and reasoning, at the end of the story, Jigs explained that she felt fine, suggesting that she was fine all along. The struggle with identity that the two face is the new identity of becoming a parent, and accepting to be one. In the late 1920’s, when Hemingway wrote this story, there was a mark of disgrace attached to having children outside of the state of being married. The story of “Hills Like White Elephants” was Hemingway’s stylistic way of bringing us back to that era. For the most part, the story was written in third person. Hemingway’s stylistic choices allow the readers to wonder what the story is really trying to portray because of the fact that it leaves the readers wondering. There are not enough details and dialogue to present what Hemingway wants us to understand. For instance, Jig focuses on her emotions, but keeps them to herself, rather than focusing on facts and other objects (Smiley, 3). Therefore, the …show more content…

However, her pregnancy is not something that is stated directly. Instead, Hemingway used a series of symbols that will help the readers get into the understanding that it is in fact, a pregnancy, and the ‘simple operation’ that the man wanted her to get is an abortion. As readers, we also observe that the man and Jig go through an exchange of peace and quarrel (L’Heureux, 2011), however, we also noticed that Jig has a desire to please and impress the man

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