Hills Like White Elephants is the typical Ernest Hemingway short story. The male protagonist is the normal macho character that he uses in many of his stories. He is successful and acts with full authority. The girl, who was called Jig at one point, must always have his stamp of approval for everything she does. The part that intrigued me the most was their communication styles and how these are still present today.
Without reading closely and "reading between the lines" of the dialog between the American and the girl, a reader would never know that the girl is talking about getting an abortion. The girl is constantly implying that she does not want to have the operation even though she is not saying it directly. That is always how girls talk about conflicts with not only men, but also their friends and family. Women never want to say something directly because they fear of the person getting angry or holding a grudge against them. So, naturally they poke around at what they actually want to say and imply it with their tone and facial expressions. Now with technology, miscommunication is constantly occurring. Girls will try to bring up touch subjects over texting or e-mail and they can be taken the wrong way. The girl in the short story is trying to talk about the "elephant" in the room, but her mate does not acknowledge it.
Men, however, are quite blunt with the way the express themselves. They speak their minds without knowing the implications that can happen. This is normally fine when they are talking with other men, but can cause friction if it is with a woman. In their conversation, the American knows fully that the girl wants to keep the baby, but keeps insisting that it is a simple operation and that everything will go back to normal. He never acknowledges her pleas to keep it. This is common in any girl/boy conversation. Men tend to avoid the underlying message and continue with whatever they want, causing the girl to eventually go along with it.
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