How can you empathize with someone when you are blinded by your own egocentric tendency? In “The Hill’s Like Elephants” a fiction piece By Ernest Hemingway was published twice in the same year, originally in August 1927 in a literary magazine and in a short story collection about “Men Without Women”.
Hemingway used literary elements such as symbolism, theme, setting, and tone to narrate a story of two main characters a couple referred to as American and girl. They shared a few rounds of beer as they waited to board a train heading to Madrid emotional tension between the two was obvious and clear there was trouble in their relationship arguing over the view in which the girl thought looked like white elephants. “They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry” (Hemingway, 229).
Conversation between the American and girl now revealed that the character referred to as girl indeed had a name. “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,” (Hemingway, 230). The American is trying to convince Jig to have an abortion and that this was the one thing in their relationship that made them unhappy. “That’s the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” (Hemingway, 230).
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The American tries to explain to her how the process which he clearly knows nothing about is natural. “They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural” (Hemingway, 230). The American never took in consideration Jig’s feelings as she sat speechless listening to him rambling. Jig final mustard up enough courage speak “And you think then we’ll be all right and be happy” (Hemingway, 230). The American is still convinced that everything will fine and life as they once knew it would be the same because he knew people that had done it “I know we will. You don’t have to be afraid. I’ve known lots of people that have done it” (Hemingway, 230). Jig on the other hand did not feel assured that the people who she knew that had experienced this were all happy.
The American unabatedly stood firm on his point of view despite Jig questioning his notion on happiest afterwards. He manipulates the situation by making Jig feel that it was her choice but on the other hand he insist that it’s a simple operation. “If you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to. But I know it’s perfectly simple.” (Hemingway, 230). At this point he distinctly lacked compassion about her feelings never taking into consideration the psychological long-term effects this could cause her or the stress this could put on their already strained relationship.
