"Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway

“Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway is about a man and a woman's discussion regarding abortion. In this story the husband wants his wife "Jig” to have an abortion and she isn't too keen on the idea. Even though it's clear that she doesn't really want to abort her unborn child, she agrees to do so if that's what the husband wants. This upset me to read because I fully believe that when it comes to serious decisions, like in this case abortion, a full discussion should take place. Especially considering the time period was the 1920s and a lot was still a grey area when it came to abortions and reproductive health.

One thing that surprised me was that the husband tried to initiate a discussion about it beforehand. In the 1920s women rarely had a say on what went on in their marriages let alone with her body, because she would be considered property under the law. So for the man to try and talk it out with her shows that he was ahead of his time. It is because of this that his wife's decision to settle doesn't sit well with me. She has a partner that is considerate of her feelings and wants to hear her out yet she settled on doing whatever she felt he wanted. She didn’t try and argue or try to explain her beliefs, she settled on the idea of having the abortion regardless of her discomfort. Given the time period, this is understandable, again I reiterate that women weren't seen as individuals so she had probably been conditioned by society to please her husband no matter what. Society and their insistent need to push unrealistic standards and morals onto women constantly annoys me. Her being conditioned to just say yes means that it was drilled into her for her entire life, which means generations of women were taught to be happy in their oppressive relationships. I could never imagine being miserable and being told to be happy about it.