Ernest Hemingway’s style in almost all of his works is to provide little context to a situation, leaving room for mass speculation. One such work, Hills Like White Elephants, perfectly illustrates this style. Many have read into the language that Hemingway leaves and have come to the conclusion that the American and the girl featured in the story are a couple and are going to get an abortion. Some forget to look at how Hemingway uses the language and situation to indicate how the outcome of the couple’s relationship will be affected. The couple’s language in the story is very thin and bland; analyzing the language Hemingway uses will allow readers to accurately predict the couple’s relationship will not continue.

“What should we drink?”, with this, the enigmatic conversation between the American and the girl begins (Hemingway, 527). In what should be a very stressful and emotionally taxing event, Hemingway decides to start the dialogue between these two characters with small talk. Hemingway has the couple speak in very short sentences to illustrate a kind of tension and distance between them; this is insinuating that neither want to discuss the matter at hand nor the outcome. The first major hint at this comes when the girl observes the hills in the distance, stating, “they look like white elephants” (Hemingway, 527). By saying this, the girl attempts to subtly discuss the abortion and, if the American is willing, the effect on the couple’s relationship. Once they begin discussing the future, the American’s language begins to suggest that the couple’s relationship will not be healthy in the future. The way he suggests that the girl go through with it, while also telling her that she can make her own choice shows that he is trying to coerce her without confrontation. The American knows what the girl wants to do, but does not want to live with a child; he is trying to coerce her without having the blame to get what he wants. This emotional manipulation will only work for the American in the short term; while the American will get what he wants, the girl will be ultimately unhappy and soon will blame the American. 

At this point, both the American and the girl are not enjoying themselves or each other’s company and they both know that this is the result of the situation they are in. Their continued short sentences reveal that these two know what they want and know that it will not change. The American mentions that the unplanned pregnancy is “the only thing that bothers [them]… the only thing that makes [them] unhappy,” (Hemingway, 529). He is trying to suggest that the only problem for them is this and that once they get past it, their relationship will return back to the way it was. This is not the case, however. This is a very large event for a couple and is only one of many. If the couple goes through with the abortion and stay together, there will inevitably be another earth shattering event for the two in which they will disagree. Failing to reach compromise in this situation makes it easy to predict that the couple will not be able to in the future. This spells certain doom for their relationship as the ability to compromise is a key component to any relationship, especially a romantic one. 

The tone of the conversation and specifically the girl’s attitude shifts dramatically when the girl begs the American to stop talking about the abortion and to just stop talking in general. The couple’s discussion continues for a while with petty arguing here and there, with the conversation coming to a pause after the girl begs the American to stop talking. The girl is angry with the American and that he is making her go through with the abortion. Her refusal to talk about it makes it clear that the disagreement between the two does not bode well for their relationship. This raises the question, will she ever not be angry with him because of the decision? She may find small amounts of happiness at times, but she will never be truly happy and in love with the American if the two cannot reach a compromise on this situation.

At the close of the story, the most telling piece of evidence helps the reader to predict the couple’s future. The girl states after the argument, “I feel fine… there’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine,” (Hemingway, 531). The girl shuts off the communication between the two of them, making sure the man has no room to ask her feelings on the subject. This makes it easy for the reader to believe that the girl does not love the American anymore and may in fact hate him for what he is making her do. She no longer wants any real communication with the American, she simply wants it to end. If she is unwilling to communicate her feelings about possibly one of the largest events in her life, then she will never be able to truly communicate any of her future feelings about what she considers important. 

After analyzing Hemingway’s language in “Hills Like White Elephants”, the reader can easily predict that the relationship between the American and the girl will not continue. Both the American and the girl are past making compromise and are unwilling to discuss the abortion any further. Their reactions to the abortion show that both are incapable of having a healthy relationship with one another. The abortion itself is enough to affect their relationship negatively and the way they have handled it make it clear for the reader to see that the girl and the American will soon part ways.
