“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway tells a short story with a young man and woman having a simple conversation at a train station but covering a conversation that is deeper than led on to be. The American man meets a girl on his travels around Barcelona and Madrid and seemingly gets her pregnant. While drinking and waiting for the train, the pair discuss whether to have an abortion or not. The American puts pressure on the girl, referred to as “Jig,” to have the abortion and insists it is just a simple and painless process. The man shows authority by making most decisions for the girl such as what to drink or what to say and feel, but the ultimate decision of having the abortion is up to her. The end of the story and the shared conversation make it difficult for readers to be sure whether Jig will go through with the abortion. While the man persuades Jig to have the abortion, he pretends the decision is up to Jig. Although the pressure and authority of the American is clear in this story, the woman does not follow through with the abortion. Evidence points to Jig wanting to keep the baby when she pushes away the topic of abortion, when she admires the white elephant traits of the hills, and when she overuses the word ‘fine.’ 

The girl shows little desire for the abortion multiple times when she is non-responsive to the American’s eagerness towards the idea. She shows no desire in wanting an abortion other than the fact of making him happy. The argument that Jig goes through with the abortion is proved wrong by her constant denial of conversation regarding the abortion. The conversation flows back and forth because they both consider the opinions of one another; however, Jig wants it to be over: “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?” (Hemingway 530). The girl is sick of his consistent nagging for her to have the “simple” abortion. By asking him to stop talking, a twist in the flow of conversation happens as the man has to come up with something else to say. The couple has nothing in common, but the American blames the awkwardness on the baby: “’We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before,” (Hemingway 529). The man tells her that by having the abortion they could get along and live happily. Jig feels the pressure of the man and shows her annoyance when telling him to stop talking. 

A white elephant, often useless or troublesome, is a gift that is seen as a curse rather than a blessing. The hills are described as white elephants and metaphorically used to describe the baby. At first, the girl says the hills look similar to white elephants because they are brown and dry and do not resemble the pretty scenery that typically surrounds her. As the short story continues, Jig changes her mind to insist the hills are pretty: “’They’re lovely hills,’ she said. ‘They don’t really look like white elephants. I just meant the coloring of their skin through the trees,” (Hemingway 528). The girl considers the abortion earlier in the story and references to her baby as the brown, dry, white-elephant-like hills, but alters her opinion to lovely hills. The shift in mindset shows Jig prefers to have the baby; the baby will not resemble a troublesome or useless gift. Though the color of the hills is not the prettiest, Jig pushes away the thought of referring to her baby as a white elephant. 

Throughout “Hills Like White Elephants,” Ernest Hemingway favors the word ‘fine.’ The couple is having a ‘fine’ time, they will be ‘fine’ afterwards, and they are ‘fine’ right now. Hemingway uses fine because it is a balance between good and bad. The couple is at an awkward state in their relationship and they are not doing well, but they are not doing poorly. Their relationship is just fine. Jig uses the word ‘fine’ to end the short story showing that she does not choose to get an abortion: “’I feel fine,’ she said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine’” (Hemingway 531). The girl uses the word ‘fine’ to state she is fine the way she is and does not need to get an abortion because there is nothing wrong with her. Jig uses this as her final statement to show her end decision of keeping the baby. Some readers may view her use of ‘fine’ because she is fine with having the abortion, but by stating there is nothing wrong with her it is assumed that she finds no reason to have the abortion. As a balance between good and bad, Hemingway uses fine at the end of the short story in a powerful way suggesting ‘fine’ can be replaced with content. Jig is content; therefore, she feels no desire for having the abortion. 

To conclude, the end of “Hills like White Elephants” is open to question on whether the girl goes through with the man’s wish of an abortion. Arguments for Jig having the abortion include the constant pressuring of the man pushing the girl to do it because of wanting happiness or a continued life with this man. However, Jig shows annoyance with the man and asks him to not bring up the conversation anymore as she wants the idea of abortion to go away. She also claims the hills that look similar to white elephants are lovely and uses them as a metaphor to say her baby will be lovely and will not resemble a white elephant at all. Furthermore, she uses ‘fine’ to end the story on the note that she is satisfied with her current situation and knows there is nothing to fix her because there is nothing that needs fixing. Though there is consistent back and forth conversation that goes on during the story, Jig does not follow through with the abortion. 