The_1920s_Woman_in_“Hills_Like_White_Elephants”

Cara Monaco Social Rough Draft English 102 March 11, 2009 The 1920s Woman in “Hills Like White Elephants” It was the era of the Flapper. Equality and independence were the hot topics for women in the 1920s. In 1920, women received the right to vote and begain to enter the workforce more than ever. Women started wearing pants, cutting their hair, showing off their figures and challenging the traditional male dominated world. “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemmingway, is a story about a young woman, Jig, faced with the choice of an abortion or upsetting her lover in the 1920s. Jig has a decision to make and while discussing the situation with her American beau, a reader can see the manipulation and control that was commonplace between a 1920s couple, dispite the strides women had made. The American uses his language to assert his dominance over the passive Jig, throughout the story. By creating a dominant male character and a submissive, conflicted female character Hemmingway is simply reflecting on the times and the opinion of women in that time period. Hemmingway’s story is about a young, unmarried couple in a train station. While awaiting their train, they are drinking and talking about their options. The couple is faced with an unplanned pregnancy, a very taboo subject in the 1920s. the man, refered to in the story as The American, spends most of the story trying to talk his lover, Jig, into an abortion. The American feels that everything will be easier and life will be better if they terminate the pregnancy. David Wyche stated in his essay, “Letting the Air Into A Relationship: Metaphorical Abrotion in ‘Hills Like White Elephants’,” the American is pushing the abortion because “The aborted fetus will continue to come between them as they try to ‘look at things and try new drinks’ ” and will interfere with his life in his “unencumbered sexual playhouse” (Wyche 58 & 60). While Jig meets his view with slight opposition, in the end she seems to give in, demonstrating his power over her. From the start, the American is the typical alphamale. Stanley Renner’s essay from The Hemmingway Review, says, “Clearly the American is the leader in their relationship: he knows Spanish, the language of the country in which they are traveling, he is knowledgeable about drinks, and he is in charge of their luggage and thus, presumably, of the destination of their travels” (Renner 28). Ordering Jig’s drinks for her stifles her own decision making, which foreshadows that the American will try to stifle the decision about the pregnancy. “We are shown the stereotypical passive female, not even knowing her own mind, accustomed to following a masterful male for her direction in life” (Stanley 27). This characterization is a negitive reflection of the way women were viewed. The control that the American holds in the beginning of the story negates all the progress women have made in the 1920s. Instead, the leaves Jig to be painted as a weak, subservient female throughout the rest of the story (Wyche 58). The language used in “Hills Like White Elephants,” is an easy detection of the male dominated society reflected in Hemmingway’s story. While Jig tries to combat the American’s use of language wit her own mix of sarcasm, it seems the American prevails. By saying things such as “Well, lets have a fine time,” (Charters 541) and “Come back in the shade…you musn’t feel that way,” (542) the American is trying to control Jig. He tells her how to feel, what to drink, and ultimately what their plans should be. He evens is an expert on abortion. Using his language to describe the procedure as something that is simple. “It’s not really anything. It’s just to let the air in” (541). While the American has never gotten an abortion he is able to talk about it so plainly . He assures Jig that everything will be be okay, and forces his emotions on to her. “That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” (541), the American states. He had moved on from just ordering for her and instead choose to tell her how to feel and promising how much better and more simple everything will be. As Renner stated, “…The American is so cavalier about a procedure he knows nothing about, one that would be an ordeal not for him but for the girl, fraught not only with physical trauma and danger but also with significant mental, moral, and perhaps religious conflict…” (Renner 33). The way the American uses language is his way of dominating Jig. Hemmingway has this man trample over the weaker, nieve, woman with his words and in turn demonstrates the oppression of women at that time (Wyche 60). In a time when women were fighting for social equality and the opportunities to become tough and independent, Hemmingway wrote an essay that only echoed the opposition that the Flapper mentality met. In “Hills Like Elephants,” the American is able to dominate Jig depicting her as a weak, submissive woman. Through his language and bossy behavior the American acts as many men in the 1920s and portrait of Jig, the compliant, delicate female simply mirrors the public opinion of the times.