"Hills Like White Elephants"

"The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white" (Hemingway 552). Hemingway opens his story, "Hills Like White Elephants," by keeper the reader at a distance from the characters and the action. The story takes place in northern Spain, near a river. As I read the story, I almost felt like I was watching what was going on from a very far distance. Hemingway also kept me distant from the characters since he does not give us much information about them. "The American and the girl with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building" (Hemingway 552). This is really the only description that Hemingway gives of the protagonists in the story. Later on in the story, the American calls the girl, Jig, and so we learn her name and that is it. Everything else that is learned about the American and Jig is simply through their dialogue. I enjoyed the way Hemingway wrote this short story because all the character information is not laid out for the reader to see, you almost have to imagine the characters looks, thoughts, and feelings through their conversation. As I continued to read the story it seemed to me as though the American is trying to persuade Jig to do something that she clearly is not comfortable doing. "I know you wouldn't mind it, Jig. It's really not anything. It's just to let the air in" (Hemingway 553). I took this statement by the American as though he is trying to control Jig's actions pretending as he already knows that she "wouldn't mind it." The American tries to convince Jig that if she has an abortion everything will be fine and things will go back to normal, but Jig knows there is consequences to doing it.
Jig tells the American that "Once they take it away, you never get it back" (Hemingway 554). It seems as though Jig will do anything to please the American, and she will most likely give up the baby because of his persuasion. I found this story to be interesting in that all the details our given up throughout the dialogue in this story.