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Hills Like White Elephants Jig Character Analysis

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In Hemingway’s “Hills like White Elephants”, the American and Jig are like parallel lines, they can never meet. As they struggle to find common ground, the very discussion that can bring them together only tears them apart. The relationship between Jig and the American is complex from the very beginning since their personalities, methods of communicating, and desires are different. The American represents infertility, selfishness and death but how can he not be when he’s a single man, traveling, trying new drinks, spending nights in hotels with no worry about money and now he has impregnated a women, of course he will lose his zest for her (Hannum). The American’s immediate fear is him having to marry Jig to “make an honest woman of her”, if she has the baby (Hannum). So the American starts talking about his love for Jig and claiming that the abortion is “perfectly simple,” just “to let the air in.” But Jig …show more content…

She looks at the hills, the bead curtain, or the ground, but not at him. He looks at her, but not sympathetically, only waiting for the chance to press his argument to go forth with the abortion (Hannum). This proves Jig’s unsureness of the decision she’s about to make it, because no matter what time zone it is any man should figure out women who have something on their mind barely talk, look everyone else or, worst of all, could barely look at you. Faced with the approach of the Madrid train, after the fresh presentation of the American’s selfishness, Jig has realized that he does not love her, wants her only as a sex partner, and shows no promise of maturing (Hannum). Jig’s smile at the end of the store does not represent her simple agreement to the American’s but in fact signals her readiness to move beyond her relationship with him (Hannum). The smile shows Jig being able to make a more clear decision with what she wants to do with her life and a well learned lesson when it comes to “men”

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