




     Generally speaking, literature tends to portray aspects of society through the use of characters and their actions. The actions taken by the characters are often influenced by the time period the characters are in, and what was going on in the world around the author who is writing the story. In the early twentieth century, Ernest Hemingway wrote the story “Hills Like White Elephants”, and the story gives an accurate depiction of what it was like to live in the time period. Two concepts that Hemingway stresses very obviously within the story is alcoholism and its prevalence in the twenties with women, as well as the practice of abortion and it taboo nature at that time. Such themes were portrayed through the repeated drinking throughout the story by the American man and his female companion, and the implied references to abortion throughout the text made by both characters. By looking at female alcoholism and abortion in the early twentieth century, readers can see how Hemingway sought to address the more critical and serious issues of the early twentieth century. 

     Hemingway creates a very accurate picture of female alcoholism in this period that is often referred to as the “roaring twenties” by historians. The story itself does not take place in America, but does feature an American man who presumably had lived in America during the twenties along with his female companion. During that time, the eighteenth amendment was passed, which made the sell and consumption of alcohol illegal in the United States. Although consumption of alcohol initially went down after the amendment was passed, consumption later increased and, as a result, led to more women drinking. Women were fighting for freedom in more ways than one in the twenties. They were fighting for the right to vote, fighting to choose to do what they pleased with their body, and fighting to express themselves as they were. This meant doing things as they felt like it, smoking, wearing shorter clothes, and drinking as well. Leah states in her article, “Not only were men drinking as much as ever, but women joined them, too...” (“How prohibition Changed Women’s Relationship to Alcohol”).  In “Hills Like White Elephants”, readers can see this in action as both the man and woman consume multiple alcoholic drinks within a span of about forty minutes. On the opening page on 527, we see the couple order “ Dos Cervezas”, on 528 they order “ ..two Ansi del Toro”, and order more beer after finishing the Ansi del Toros. In these scenes you can see the woman “keeping up” with the male. Leah again explains how this was a deviation from what was once considered the normal attitude by stating: 

“Before Prohibition, especially throughout the 1800s, women’s relationship to alcohol was an adversarial one, as they tried to stop their stressed-out husbands from drinking so much. Saloons were primarily for men. According to Ken Burns, “The only women inside were likely prostitutes – think Miss Kitty on ‘Gunsmoke.’” (“How prohibition Changed Women’s Relationship to Alcohol”). 

Before the twenties, drinking was a frowned upon practice by women and considered very un-lady like. Drinking went from being something that was almost solely associated with men and their sinful desires, to becoming something that women started to participate in. This is reflected by the drinking of the female in Hemingway’s story. Leah concludes, “Female alcoholism became a huge problem, because more women had access to drink in a way they had never had before.” Hemingway succeeds in showing the shift of alcoholism to women in the early twentieth century, illustrating a very serious concern for people of the time period.

     Abortion has been a subject of much controversy throughout its history, especially in the United States where it has been taboo for centuries. In the twenties, abortion was a crime in America and could not be done in legal or safe means. Katha Politt in her article “Abortion in American history” states that in the twenties, 15,000 women a year died from abortions, an alarming number out of the estimated two million abortions a year that were performed in the late twenties. In addition to being risky and illegal, abortion was also socially unacceptable in this time period, as it was condemned by the church, which made them very difficult to obtain. The procedure of abortion was also made a spectacle in the twenties in America, discouraging women from seeking help if they were left ill or hurt from a procedure. Women who had complications from abortions in the United States who sought medical attention were, as Pollitt states:

“...the Journal of the American Medical Association endorsed the by then common policy of denying a woman suffering from abortion complications medical care until she "confessed" -- a practice that, Reagan shows, kept women from seeking timely treatment, sometimes with fatal results.” (Pollitt “Abortion in American History”). 

This is assumingly why the couple in the story goes to Spain to get this operation done, so the female companion can feel free from scrutiny by the public and people in her home town as well as be somewhere where she can comfortably seek medical attention should a complication arise after the procedure has taken place. In the story, allusions to abortion and the social unacceptability of the procedures can be seen on pages 529-530 in the dialogue between the quarreling couple. One line that particularly stands out is the man trying to comfort his partner. He states “I know we will. You don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it.” (Hemingway 529).  This illustrates the seriousness of abortion in this time period, as the male is shown trying to convince his companion that she is making the right decision even though the numbers are against her. As mentioned before, abortion was a very risky process and the reader could not blame the female if she chose not to go through with the procedure. It can also show that the woman was unsure about getting the procedure due to the outside pressure from society as a whole against the procedure, that she was scared someone might find out and ridicule her for doing something that was frowned upon. Ultimately, the only way the American male could get his female companion to get the procedure was to plead as best as he could to get her to defy social norms. Hemingway’s placement of this scene accurately depicts the attitudes of the procedures in the twenties, as it shows the serious nature of the act the couple are committing shining a light on the not so roaring times of the “roaring twenties”.  

     Hemingway sought to address critical issues of his time period through the actions of his character in the text. Female alcoholism was a major issue during the writing of this story, as it was a change from what society at that time had considered to be proper and “lady-like”. The serious nature and risk of abortion in the twenties can be also be seen throughout “Hills like White Elephants”, as in the early twentieth century is was considered socially unacceptable. The text illustrates deviation from social norms of the twenties, and shows that the roaring twenties was not a time of great cheer and merriment for everyone. Ultimately, deviations from the social norms of this time period illustrated bad times for some, while it was a time of great change and social revolution for others. 





     