Hills Like White Elephants

In the story, "Hills Like White Elephants", I found it interesting to compare his writing to his own life. To analyze this story and for it to make complete sense, it's easier to look at Ernest Hemingway's background first. Expressive Theory simply means the relation with the literature to the writer. The setting of "Hills Like White Elepants" occours in Spain. Hemingway was once a journalist in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The title of this story and also the comment that Jig makes about the Hills looking like white elephants makes me wonder if Hemingway once thought that too. In the story, the character Jig is known as "the girl" who's with "the American". Hemingway was married four times and allegedly had multiple romantic relationships in his lifetime. There's also reports that Ernest Hemingway did not think of women as being as wise as men. This makes me think that he is not just calling Jig "the girl" because she is very young, but because she's simply viewed as "the girl". Hemingway's title for the man as "the American" also brings question of a stereotype. Hemingway has been all over the country and would know the certain characteristics of different places and people. In the story, he also says that when the man walks through the barroom he sits down with them and takes a drink. There is no mention of him saying a simple, "Hello" to the company around him, but there isn't any of dirty looks either. The conversation in the story is about the American and Jig talking about her getting an abortion. The link to the topic and Ernest Hemingway is a little complicated. Hemingway had three children, all boys, and there's no information of about an abortion. The story is filled with symbolism, including the white elephant, a costly and unwanted burden. Consistent with the oblique style of the conversation, Hemingway never explicitly states whether or not the couple will go forward with the unspecified operation. This is familiar with Hemingway's work because he is known for the " Iceburg Theory".