"Hills Like White Elephants" by Earnest Hemingway provides the reader with the information to make one of many potential interpretations of the true meaning. In the story, an American man and his partner, Jig, are having a discussion outside at a bar as they wait for their train to continue to Madrid, Spain. The two are discussing whether or not Jig should abort the baby that she is carrying. As they wait, the couple has drinks from the bar. Throughout the story, Hemingway does not give much information regarding the final decision of the couple, which allows many different interpretations of whether or not the couple keeps the baby. I argue that the inside of the bar represents the couple having the baby, outside of the bar represents them having the abortion, and the beaded curtain acts as their uncertainty regarding the issue. In the end, the couple stays outside which represents the couple deciding to have the abortion, a decision that was influenced by the man’s actions.

As the couple arrives at the bar, they notice the beaded curtain, however, choose to sit outside instead of inside. The ideal place to have a baby would be somewhere inside the cold air, away from the heat and bugs. This decision to stay outside is the first indication of the man attempting to influence in favor of the abortion. ““It’s pretty hot,” the man said. “Let’s drink beer.”” (527). Instead of suggesting to go inside to get out of the heat, the man suggests to drink beer in order to cool off while they sit outside. The couple could have gone inside to the cool air, however the man decides to deal with the heat. “a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads,

hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out the flies.” (527). By choosing to stay outside, they are stuck with flies flying around them. The flies are symbolic of death because when someone dies, and their body is left untouched, they start to attract bugs and flies. Being in the heat is not the ideal environment for a newborn, the baby would have a better chance of remaining healthy in the cool air indoors. A curtain is something that is neither closed nor open, so the couple had the choice of walking through the curtain to escape the outside environment but the man influenced the decision to stay remain outside. If the couple was intending on keeping the baby, they would have sat in the more inhabitable conditions rather than outside in the heat being surrounded by flies. In the bar there is a bartender, outside there are no other people besides the couple. The bartender shows that inside the bar is capable of sustaining life comfortably, whereas the outside is uncomfortable and the only ones outside are the pair accompanied by the flies. If the couple chooses to stay outside and abort the baby, they will be all alone, whereas if they decide to go inside and keep the baby, they will be accompanied by the bartender in an environment that will sustain life.

Since the curtain is neither closed nor open, it makes communication with the other side simple; however, the man is the only one who effectively communicates with the person working in the bar by speaking Spanish. The American man is the only one to communicate through the curtain because the only language Jig speaks is English, which makes the curtain much more of a barrier for her. By asking “What did she say?” (530) after hearing the bartender speak and “What does it say?” (528) after trying to read the curtain, Jig makes it clear just how strong this barrier is for her. Because the man is the only one that can communicate inside, this shows that he has more power in deciding whether or not the couple will have the abortion. If the man and woman each had a fair say, they would both be able to communicate inside to the more inhabitable

environment. The curtain is a way for Jig to somewhat see into the environment where she would be able to have the baby. Even though she may want to talk to the bartender inside, she knows that she is stuck outside. Because the man is the only one that can effectively communicate with the waitress, he is the one that holds all the power to the decision of whether or not to abort the baby. Since Jig cannot communicate inside, she has to rely on the man to talk for her. Because she relies on the man for communication, Jig has no choice but to depend on the man to decide whether or not they should keep the baby.

Despite the evidence supporting that the curtain acts as a barrier between life and death, a counter argument to this claim would be that the curtain is always open, making the choice of life very easy for the couple. Although this is a valid argument, my rebuttal is that if the curtain represented life because it is always open, there would not be such an obvious division between inside and outside. The curtain serves as a barrier to keep the inside nice and cool while it keeps the flies and heat outside. There is a distinct line drawn that divides comfort and discomfort, which would not be the case if the curtain just represented life. The curtain instead represents both life and death because of the division that it makes. The division is made clear by stating the curtain is used “to keep out flies” (527) and saying “It was very hot” (527) outside compared to the more inhabitable environment inside where there are people drinking. The curtain acts as something that keeps death out of life by blocking off the harmful elements of the outdoors. The curtain serves as the couple's uncertainty because of the way it is never completely open or closed. If the curtain were not there and there was simply an opening as the door, it would invite the couple to be more interested in going inside. If a closed door instead represented the curtain, the couple would feel as if they did not have a chance to go inside and would be forced to stay

outside. By being neither open nor closed, the curtain gives the couple the option of choosing either life or death by allowing them access to both inside and outside.

"Hills Like White Elephants" offers readers many ways to interpret the couple's final decision about the abortion. I conclude that because the couple remains outside and Jig is not able to communicate with the inside by herself, that she got an abortion. The couple was influenced heavily by the American man's decisions and communication with inside. “Coming back, he walked 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.” (530). The man takes a trip inside the bar at the end of the story to see what his life would be like if they kept the baby. He walks back outside after experiencing the inside for himself. The man could have easily called Jig inside, however chooses to walk outside which means he was not comfortable on the inside of the curtain. If he made an effort to help Jig communicate, or if he asked if she wanted to sit inside, then they would have had a fair say in whether or not they would go through with the abortion. The beaded curtain acts as a way to keep them outside and in conditions that would not be suitable for a newborn. Even though it would be easy for the could to walk through the curtain, they remain seated outside and opt to abort the baby.