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Men, Women, and Relationships

Ernest Hemingway was the author of “Hills Like White Elephants". The short story was

published in 1927for the first time. The text assumes various stylistic devices especially

symbolism. In this case, the author achieved presenting several themes that comprised a

reflection of the various dynamics in human life. A close reading of the short demonstrates the

gender roles defined between women and men. In this case, one of the themes in the short story

is women, men, and the kind of relationships existing between men and women. In this context,

the short story is a discussion and description of a damaged relationship between a man and a

young girl. This kind of relationship depicts a thirst for freedom that compromises the societal

stereotypes, commitment, respect, and even honesty between lovers. In this case, my argument is

that Hemingway urges women to stand for their rights by defying negative, opportunist, and

oppressive societal stereotypes.

According to my understanding of the story, the young girl and the man represent the type of

societal stereotypes in our contemporary societies. In this context, the short story describes the

type of male dominance of women. The man presided overall type of decision and society

requires the young woman to comply with all those decisions. For example, the man does preside

overall decision even including when the woman should maintain pregnancy and when they
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should conduct an abortion (Hemmingway). The short story also shows the greed, self-

centeredness, and opportunist nature of men when interacting with women. The main reason

behind this argument is that the man in the story wants the young woman to undertake an

abortion for selfish reasons (Fletcher). In other words, the man wants the young woman to have

an abortion so that they continue enjoying their-selves. The man's reasoning is selfish because it

does not factor in the health repercussions associated with abortion. More so, the man does not

show care or concern for the unborn child but concentrates on his lustful intentions on the

woman.

The conversation between the man and the young girls is clear that the man dominates them in a

very luring way. The man wants the girl to fall for his trap by applying lip service that hides his

inner intentions with the girl. The reason, in this case, is that once the girl gets an abortion, the

man maintains all the freedom that he enjoys with the girl. The man does not want the

responsibility that will tie him to the woman (Fletcher). However, the young girl demonstrates

thinking that is not common with women in our contemporary society. She avoids falling into the

man's trap by all means. This is despite the young girl having a pregnancy that the man

responsible shows no concern or interest. The girl evades the man's suggestions by looking

beyond the train station and talking of white elephants. "They look like white elephants," she

said. "I've never seen one," the man drank his beer. "No, you wouldn't have." (Hemmingway.)

The symbolism, in this case, could be interpreted as a way of despising man's dominance by

focusing on more relevant things. In other words, the man’s speech and suggestions did not make

sense to the young girl. The responses fro0m the young girl showed that the young girl enjoyed

some sense of freedom from the man’s decision and traps.

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Work Cited

Fletcher, Mary Dell. "Hemingway's Hills like White Elephants." The Explicator 38.4

(1980): 16-18.

Hemingway, Ernest. "Hills like white elephants." The complete short stories of Ernest

Hemingway (1927): 211-14.