Ernest Hemingway is inarguably one of the masters of American modern literature. His stories and novels are poignant, thorough, and relevant examples of what modern literary works should aspire to be. A case in point is his “Hills Like White Elephants,” a short story in which he profiles a young couple drinking liquor and contemplating an abortion while waiting for a train at a European station. Like many of Hemingway’s short stories and novels, “Hills Like White Elephants”is a prime example of modern literature, expressing many of the characteristics a work of modern literature needs to be qualified as such in today’s literary circles.
One of these characteristics is the questioning of the traditional value associated with the worth of a human life, referring here to the institution of abortion. Abortion is a heated and contentious issue to be debated today, let alone in Hemingway’s time, and the questions as to the morality and ramifications of such a decision are sure to be discussed and argued about for years to come. Hemingway relates this discussion through his characters quite well:
‘It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,’ the man said. ‘It’s not really an operation at all.’
The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.
‘I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in.’
The girl did not say anything.
‘I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural.’
‘Then what will we do afterward?’
‘We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before.’
‘What makes you think so?’
‘That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy.’
The girl looked at the bead curtain, put her hand out and took hold of two of the strings of beads.
‘And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy.’
‘I know we will. You don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it.’
‘So have I,’ said the girl. ‘And afterward they were all so happy.’
These characters are presented with a moral dilemma with no easy solution. The reference to the girl’s pregnancy as being “the only thing that’s made us unhappy” is truly a questioning of the traditional values that a child is a gift and a blessing, something to celebrate and to be thankful for. Later in the conversation the man further cements his position. The girl asks him, referring to having the abortion, “And you really want to?” To which the man replies, “I think it’s the best thing to do.”
A second characteristic that solidifies this story in its qualification into the category of modern literature is that it continually experiments in how the story is told. Much of the story, in fact, is told entirely through the dialogue of the characters, such as in the following quote, making it difficult at times to distinguish whose character is actually speaking at a given time:
‘If I do it you won’t ever worry?’
‘I won’t worry about that because it’s perfectly simple.’
‘Then I’ll do it, because I don’t care about me.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I don’t care about me.’
‘Well, I care about you.’
‘Oh, yes. But I don’t care about me. And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine.’
‘I don’t want you to do it if you feel that way.’
The above dialogue, with its lack of identification when presenting the respective characters’ speech, would make it difficult for one who has not followed the story closely up to that point to distinguish between the lines that are spoken by the man and the lines that are spoken by the girl. Yet by using this approach of raw dialogue with his standard narrative approach, Hemingway creates more realistic characters that are both more lifelike and accessible to his audience. He makes them more substantial. Hemingway also adds flavor by tossing in a few phrases in Spanish, such as when the man orders drinks at the beginning of the story. Hemingway could easily have chosen to have his character say something in English, such as, “Hey, could we get two beers here?” Yet he uses, “Dos cervesas” instead, and through the Spanish he both authenticates the story and adds a certain sense of exoticism, adventure and excitement.
Another characteristic of modern literature Hemingway employs in this story is its lack of a “happily-ever-after” ending. This story is not resolved. On the contrary, by the end our characters remain seemingly unable to even consider resolution. At one point in their conversation, the girl simply refuses to talk about things any more. The end of their conversation begins with a question. She asks the man, “‘Would you do something for me now? Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?'” When the man continues, she states simply, “‘I’ll scream.'”
Hemingway presents these characters as acting in ways they might actually behave in real life, and as such the characters aren’t quite the type of people one would model their children after. A case in point is toward the end of the story, when the man takes the bags to the other of the station. Rather than quickly drop the bags off and return to the girl at what one would assume to be an emotional time for her, where she’d need some comfort, some company, the man walks back “through the barroom, where people waiting for the train were drinking. He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain. She was sitting at the table and smiled at him.” One would think that if the man in this situation truly cared for the girl he would have spent the last five minutes before the train arrived with her rather than sneak off to the bar, yet sneak off is exactly what he did. The story ends before the train arrives, and our characters are no more or less better off than when we first met them.
Ernest Hemingway presents us with “Hills Like White Elephants” as an exceptional example of what a work of modern literature should look like. Through the use of tools and characteristics common in modern literature at its most relevant, Hemingway offers us a pristine representation of this type of writing at its best.
Source:
Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like White Elephants.” 1927.
(Full text can be found on many sites online.)
Reference:
- For one of many sites online with the full text of this Hemingway story, visit plato.acadiau.ca/courses/engl/lawson/acadia03/texts/HillsLikeWE.html
