Hills Like White Elephants

The short story, Hills Like White Elephants, truly caught me off guard.  I understood from the beginning that The American, the male protagonist of the story, was confronting his girlfriend, The Girl, about her pregnancy.  However, throughout the story I did not read into the rudeness and selfishness of The American.  We discussed in class that he was being rude to The Girl and not showing sympathy for her feelings.  Looking back, I see how inconsiderate he was being toward the girl, but in the moment I was oblivious.  When I read the line of The American saying, “if you don’t want to you don’t have to.  I wouldn’t have you do it if you didn’t want to” I was under the impression that he was open to either decision, as long as she was happy. 

During our class discussion, I realized the symbolism behind the Hills and noticed the pressure between The American and The Girl.  He was not ready to give up his life to a wife and baby.  Supposedly he loved his wife, but could fathom being tied down.  The symbolism I discovered represents the split in the relationship between The American and The Girl.  The train station, where the story took place, represented the relationship between the man and the girl as being at a crossroads.  The man and the woman were in the middle of nowhere in Spain and had to decide where to go from there; similar to whether they should have an abortion or not. 

By the end of the class discussion, I was no longer in the dark about the class discussion and sympathized for the The Girl.  This was a major decision in her life and The American was not making anything any easier.