In “Hills Like White Elephants” written by Ernest Hemmingway, the two main characters’ converse trying to come to a consensus on whether the woman should have a particular operation. One could argue that the relationship in “Hills Like White Elephants,” is far from healthy. The man in the story seems to have a strong affect on the woman, almost a controlling nature. I propose that Hemmingway introduces the two main characters as “The American and the girl with him” to show his audience that the man is in control over their relationship and his partner (527).

By terming the man as an American, it shows power and strength. His partner is not given any title other than “the girl with him” and “Jig.” This leads the reader to believe that the man has ownership over his significant other and I argue that her name, Jig, is a symbol of a type of fishing lure, in which the fisherman (the American man) controls. She is not strong or independent enough to be called a woman, so Hemmingway defines her as a girl. Not only does he belittle her womanhood, but he also places her with the man, as if her only importance is being his partner. Some would argue there is no significance behind the way in which Hemingway introduces the characters, but there are countless other ways he could have introduced them. For example, he could have said the man and the woman, giving the two characters’ equal representation. 

The first piece of dialogue is the girl asking, “What should we drink?” She did not have to ask the American which beverage they should order. The girl could have easily found a drink she enjoyed and ordered for herself. Instead, she asks the American what his opinion is on the matter. This is the first example in which the girl looks to the man in order to make a decision. She is not confident enough to make her own decision on something as small as ordering a drink, so she has to ask the man for his opinion. The American makes the decision for them and she has no comments or concerns based on which beverage he chooses (527).

While the two are sitting at the bar, the girl sees something painted on the wall and asks the American what it is says. He answers the question and she says, “Could we try it?” Once again, the woman looks to the man for his opinion (528). If she was independent enough, she would have decided on her own she would like to try the drink and ordered it for herself. For her to feel capable of ordering the drink, she needs his stamp of approval. 

The girl makes the comment “They look like white elephants” referring to the hills. (527) The American does not seem to agree with her statement. As time passes, the girl says, “… I said the mountains looked like white elephants. Wasn’t that bright?” (528) The girl feels very self-conscious due to the fact the man did not agree with her the originally. His words of approval will lead her to believe that her statement was bright. Without his agreement, she will see the comment as stupid and dull. This proves once again the control the man has over her. Not only does he control her decision making, but he also controls how she sees herself as a person. 

The American and girl begin to converse about the girl having an abortion. The girl seems uncertain about the idea while the man is constantly pushing her to have the operation. The two continue to argue about the decision. Eventually she says, “But if I do it, then it will be nice again if I say things like white elephants, and you’ll like it?” The girl has been contemplating whether or not she should have the abortion. When she begins to realize it would please her significant other to have the operation, she begins to see the advantages. The girl is so concerned with the American’s approval that she would abort her unborn child just to make him happy. Once again, his opinion controls her decisions. (529)

The two characters continue to argue over the decision of having the abortion. As they go back and forth the two say:

“If I do it you won’t every worry?”

“I won’t worry about that because it’s perfectly simple.”

“Then I’ll do it. Because I don’t care about me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t care about me.”

“Well, I care about you.”

“Oh, yes. But I don’t care about me. And I’ll do it and then everything will be fine.” 

In this one conversation, the girl says three times “I don’t care about me.” This very clearly states that she cares about the American’s opinions, thoughts, and overall well-being more than her own. The control he has over her causes her to forget about herself and what she wants just to please him (529).

As the conversation comes to an end, the American asks the girl “Do you feel better?” Up unto this point, there is no way to know if the girl decides to have the abortion or not. The girl responds saying “I feel fine,” … “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” I argue that she has decided to do what the American wants despite her own personal feelings. She says “I feel fine” twice almost to reassure herself that the decision she is making is the best option. The control he possesses in the relationship is what, overall, makes her decision to abort her unborn child. Others could argue that she says “I feel fine,” … “There’s nothing wrong with me. I feel fine.” to show that it is okay to have the baby and nothing is wrong with her for making the decision based off of her feelings alone. While this argument is valid, I would still argue that the girl saying “I feel fine” twice shows her uneasiness, in which she would feel if she knew she was going along with an operation that she did not fully agree with. 

If Hemmingway had not introduced the two characters as “The American and the girl with him” the argument would not be as strong and it would not be as simple to infer that the man controls the relationship. Without that piece of text, the tone would have been completely different and readers could have seen the story and in a completely new perspective. 