We can never free ourselves from the bondages of time, but the decisions we make along the way, can change our lives and the lives of others, forever. In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants”, an American man and a young woman must face the challenge of having to make a life altering decision, in a limited amount of time. Hemingway uses a very short timeline to tell his story, he makes time relevant in the story’s setting, and also in his written dialogue. This short story demonstrates that although time can sometimes be forgotten, it can surely be of the essence.
This story revolves around two main characters, Jig who is a young woman, and an American, who is a nameless man. Together they wander around Europe in an aimless manner, going from place to place, trying new drinks, and looking at new things. They seem to have a careless demeanor, both seem to subconsciously lose the track of time. Just imagine when you take a vacation, you are visiting a new place and looking at new things, just soaking up a new environment. Everything that surrounds you, seems quite intoxicating.
This new and raw experience, with its sense of freshness, somehow becomes a very exciting and revitalizing time. For a brief moment, we let go of all of our problems and worries, putting them away in no particular order. Just like Jig and the American, we also find ourselves in a brief moment of aimlessness, letting go of some of our regular and often tiresome responsibilities. Somehow in the mix of all this, time becomes lost and in a sense, is forgotten. Decker –2 Time is placed somewhere in our fashion of sub consciousness.
Time continues to stay there idle, until there is a change or some kind of transition. In our case, it is the end of our vacation and getting back to our regular lives that happens to awaken us, but for Jig and the American, their change or transition awaits in a hidden womb, and time then becomes for them, a potent reality. Jig and the American in our story, have experienced this timeless trance, for quite some time. They have been going from place to place, collecting a trophy of tags to store upon their luggage. Hemingway in this story paints a picture of the past ime this couple has shared together, as he refers to the condition of their luggage, when he states “There were labels on them from all the hotels where they had spent their nights”. (Hemingway 278).
This couple, prior to arriving somewhere between Madrid and Barcelona, have spent many nights together, without any real need to acknowledge time. This aimless adventure does come to a grinding halt. Time once with its nameless face, has now decided to make an appearance, becoming not only conscious, but also arming itself with an unavoidable matter. Hemingway incorporates the element of time in this short story’s setting.
First, he places these two together, at a train station in the Ebro valley, with a new and profound rebirth of time. He introduces the element of time, by choosing to set this story at a train station. It was around the 1800’s, when travel by train became more frequent. (History. com). With a sudden influx of travelers, scheduling issues arose in regards to time, and time had to become more standardized. (History. com) Decker – 3 Historically trains essentially helped us, to standardize time. (History. com) Trains run at a scheduled time, they will take you on a new journey or to a new destination.
Trains also represent the time that a journey will come to an end. They take you home or back to a place you previously have been. In this case Jig and the American will either end their journey in time as a couple, or begin a new time together, as parents. Jig and the American arrive at this train station fully aware of time, but time plays a more superb role in each of their lives, because of their life altering situation. Next in the story’s setting, Hemingway seats each of these characters at a table of solitude, allowing both of them to forego the haziness of their travels, while they wait for the impending train’s arrival.
They are alone and away from the crowd in the next room, solitude now provides the time, for each of them to reach a resolution or at least try to make a last attempt. Hemingway also uses a figure to represent time, he did this when he decided to create a female character in this short story that is pregnant. Pregnancy generally lasts a total of 266 to 270 days, between ovulation and childbirth. (Britannica. com) Time plays a crucial role in the development of the fetus. The innocent fetus in Jig’s belly is running on borrowed time, and Jig has to make the decision that will dictate its life or death.
An abortion should be performed before the twentieth week of gestation, at this point it is believed a human fetus is not viable. (Britannica. com). Jig has little time to make a decision. Hemingway chooses to exemplify the essence of time and the life of the fetus, not only by placing pressure on the impending decision at hand, but by the impending arrival of the train. The train seems to become symbolic of time, tying Jig’s pregnancy, to its fast impending arrival. Decker – 4 Hemingway portrays time as being essential, through his words and dialogue in this short story.
He not only challenges this couple with life changing decisions, but he also makes these decisions more substantial and pressing, by referencing time in the very first paragraph of his short story. He states “It was very hot and the express from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. ” (Hemingway 276). Time now becomes a clear reality, revealing itself like a clock, which now begins to click its way on down. Hemingway continues to imply the issue of time, by using what seems to be a hurried and fast paced dialogue throughout his short story.
Again time, seems to be of a relevant matter in this story, Hemingway places many important decisions upon Jig and the American, giving them such a short window of time to come up with a resolution under time’s unkind pressure. Continuing to look at the dialogue Hemingway uses in this story, time again becomes a factor. An example of this is when Jig and the American are discussing the impending procedure. The American seems to describe it as a simple procedure where they just “let the air in” (Hemingway 277). He also seems to imply that it is something simple and easy, which does not take up much time.
This becomes evident when he says “I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. ”(Hemingway 277). It’s almost as if he treats this procedure, like something that can be performed at a fast food chain. Time is represented again through Hemingway’s dialogue, right after Jig and the American finish discussing the procedure using layman’s terms. Jig seems to question what she and the American will do with their time afterwards. This is referenced when she asks the American “Then what will we do afterward. ” (Hemingway 277). Decker – 5 Jig wonders what their relationship will be like after the procedure.
Will their relationship be better than what it is at this present time? The American makes a reference to time when he replies with “We’ll be fine afterward. Just like we were before. ” (Hemingway 277). The American is telling her that their relationship will become like it once was, in a previous time. Hemingway also uses a few other lines of dialogue in his story, which seem to reference the subject of time, in regards to their feelings of love. Jig says “And if I do it you’ll be happy and things will be like they were and you’ll love me? ” (Hemingway 277).
At this time, Jig is questioning the American’s love for her, while she reflects back on their past time together, a past time that was free from this life changing dilemma. The American responds with “I Love you now. You know I love you. ”(Hemingway 277). Although the American seems to be manipulative with his choice of words, he is stating that at this present time he loves her, he is essentially telling her what he thinks she needs to hear, at this current time. Towards the end of the story, Hemingway portrays a time of clarity, a sense of awakening, within the character of Jig.
This occurs when Jig gets up and walks to the end of the station, and looks out the window. Hemingway writes “The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river through the trees. ”(Hemingway 278) Jigs eyes are finally open, she realizes that it is at this time, that the relationship she has with the American has changed. What was once important to her in the past, is not important to her at this time.
Jig exemplifies this change when she states, “And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible”. Hemingway 278) Decker – 6 It is at this time that Jig realizes that what they had in the past, can no longer exist in their future. As the time now begins to pass, she is beginning to realize it is now harder to stay in the current relationship. Hemingway closes his story using some final elements of time. Only a few moments are left in time, for Jig and the American, this is expressed when the woman comes back to the couple’s table and serves them their final drinks. There are only five minutes left on the clock, until the impending train arrives.
The American decides to take their luggage to the other set of tracks, where they will board the train to Madrid. Before he returns to the table where he and Jig were sitting, he decides to have a quick drink at the bar. He takes notice to the other people around him. Hemingway writes “They were all waiting reasonably for the train”. (Hemingway 279). The other people around the American were waiting patiently for the train to arrive. They were boarding the train to a new destination or returning home, having no sense of urgency in time.
Time for them was passing naturally. For the American, time became unnatural, in the sense that it was not only passing quickly, but it also brought with it a cloud of uncertainty. For Jig and the American, time has now become “unreasonable”, due to the inconvenience and timing of the pregnancy. Time has also become “unreasonable” for the unborn child, because its fate still has to be decided upon. This story is told using Hemingway’s time, he gave this couple the struggle of making a life important decision, and he used a forty minute time frame.
In life, we have a tendency to live our lives as time seems to casually pass by us. Decker – 7 Maybe Hemingway was trying to use the element of time, to point out the casualness in some fashion, by utilizing such a critical subject. As humans, we have a tendency to make everyday decisions without even thinking about time, it’s only when our decisions truly make an impact in our lives that time seems to be of the essence. It is not only about making the right decision in life, but it is acquiring the understanding that each decision we make, eventually comes to define us within our own time.
