The other side of the story.

Life is a Journey not a Destination
An essay on “Hills Like White Elephants”
by Amy Blakemore

The story, “Hills Like White Elephants,” portrays a young couple whose love affair was about to change. A train that would give the couple yet another journey into life’s unexpected turns. The couple traveled frequently, yet this train ride would be different from all others. While waiting for the express from Barcelona, Jig gazed upon long white hills, imagining that they reminded her of white elephants. A beauty that only she could see. The hills resembled her in the delivery room with a white sheet covering her pregnant stomach. However, the trees would cast a dark shadow over the decision she was about to make.
As many people do, the couple drank to avoid facing their problems. Amber Stephens reinforced my views by stating that the couple wanted to drown their problem with alcohol. Christine Altman states that, “the girl suggests that they drink beer”, however, in Hemmingway’s story, she did not suggest beer, but asked, “What should we drink?” I believe that Jig was hoping for a more personal answer. An answer that might suggest that he wanted her to keep the baby. Instead, he replied “beer.” The American wanted Jig to have the abortion, and didn’t want to think about the consequences or what he was about to destroy.
Living carefree, traveling and trying new drinks seemed to be all they did. The couple ordered two Anis del Toros. “Everything tastes like licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for like absinthe,” replied Jig. Bittersweet because Jig waited so long to settle down with her lover, and now that the opportunity arose, he was not ready. Sherlyn Abdoo shares the same views by stating: “Absinthe leaves a bitter aftertaste, which hides the initial sweetness, so absinthe could be suggestive of their sexual encounters, sweet at first, now marred by pregnancy and the threat of abortion.” If the American did in fact love Jig, as he stated, “I love you now, you know I love you” then they would not have to make the decision about the abortion. Lanier states that, “the American's curtness and manipulation of Jig during the story do not seem to be the actions of someone in love.” Jig wanted more from the relationship than the American was willing to give.
The American seemed to be controlling and manipulative. He told her “he loved her and he didn’t want her to do anything that she didn’t want to do, but then he stated that if she had the operation then “they could be happy like they used to be.” This gives the impression that they could only be happy if she had the operation. Unfortunately, her pregnancy would prevent them from ever being able to go back to the way things were regardless of her decision. All Jig cared about was pleasing the American. “I don’t care about me,” Jig said. It was though her feelings were not as important as his.” The American just wanted things to stay the same, to drink, have fun and travel but Jig just wanted him to love her. She longed for a happier and more fulfilling life. “We could have everything, and everyday we make it more impossible, Jig said. It’s as though she already knew that they were growing apart.
The train was on its way to another journey through life’s ever changing path. Nothing in life stays the same. It always changes in some way. For the American, he did not want change. He didn’t want to worry about the responsibility of being a father. Matt Billingsley states, “the true nature of the American and the basis of their relationship—to live life seeking pleasure and avoiding any sort of responsibility.” (Paragraph 5) The love and happiness that she once felt was changing. It came at a high cost, the baby. Although Jig loved the American, she began seeing another side to who he is. Even though they talked, they did not really communicate. David R. Gilmour also suggested this theory by stating, “Jig deduces that their happiness as a couple [two strands] is no longer possible.” She was realizing that this part of life’s journey was not an easy one.
Although the word "abortion" was never spoken, it was clear that the “simple operation” was an abortion. The American wanted her to have the operation and get back to normal, whereas Jig was having second thoughts about the abortion. Knowing that the American did not really want the baby, she would have to choose between the two. Holding out two strands of beads from the bamboo curtain, she realized that there was not room for a third person. She would have to decide which two it would be. The girl gazed upon the white hills, as if they would give her the answer that she was looking for. Although the American expressed that he would stand by her either way, he was secretly hoping to persuade her to go through with the abortion. He knew that he had the upper hand in influencing her decisions because she constantly tried to please him. The American told her “I think it’s the best thing to do.”
He wanted his journey to be worry-free and fun. This journey was okay with Jig at one time, but there is more at stake now. A baby. She now looks to the future and what could be. Jig was dependant on the American. Her self-esteem was low, and she felt meaningless without him. But whether she knew it or not, she was changing. Their love was turning bittersweet because their journeys were taking on different paths. When the American took the bags over to the other side, Jig knew that she could never get back what she was about to give up. The American was determined to live in a world where time stood still. But the train was on its way. The assumption that he took the bags to the “fertile side” could not have been, because he knew that the train coming in five minutes would be the journey to Madrid. The fertile side would have been to take another train. Mary Dell Fletcher introduces the possibility that “the other side" of the station is the main line to Madrid and abortion. Although Jig smiled, and said, “I feel fine,” inside she was in pain. She was about to lose an innocent child that she would never know, and the love of her life. I think that they got on the train, headed for Madrid, and had the abortion. She was young and scared, and probably stayed with him for a while. Although she was still dependant, she was quickly growing apart from her lover. Eventually their relationship would start to fall apart, and they would go their separate ways. She could never be the same person that she once was. Her hopes and dreams were changed with the single journey of one train. David Grant “Most other acknowledges that Jig sees that life is gone forever because her view of her lover has changed.”