# Hills Like White Elephants explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Ernest Hemingway. ## What happens An American man and a young woman, Jig, wait at a train station in Spain, drinking beer and anisette while they engage in a tense, coded conversation about a potential abortion. The man pressures her to have the operation, insisting it is simple and will restore their happiness, while Jig expresses doubt and sorrow, ultimately claiming she feels fine as the train approaches. ## Themes in this chapter ### Masculinity and Sexual Anxiety The American man's insistence on the abortion and his need to control the situation reveal his anxiety about commitment and fatherhood. ### The Search for Authenticity Jig's longing for a genuine life and her resistance to the man's pressure highlight her search for authenticity amidst a superficial relationship. ## Character check-ins ### The girl Referred to as Jig, she is the pregnant woman in a tense negotiation with the American man about an abortion. ### Unknown The American man, unnamed, who pressures Jig to have an operation, insisting it is simple and will restore their relationship. ## Key lines > They look like white elephants. The hills resemble white elephants. _Jig uses this simile to express her unease and the unwanted burden of pregnancy._ > It's really an awfully simple operation, Jig. The man downplays the abortion as a minor procedure. _He attempts to minimize the emotional and physical weight of the decision._ > And we could have all this... And we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible. Jig laments that their choices are destroying the possibility of a full life together. _She sees the abortion as a loss of potential and a step toward emptiness._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/hills-like-white-elephants - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_15_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters