Life until Death in Hemingway’s Stories

“In Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”, the characters – a girl and a man – are at a bar, drinking to evade the reality of the girl’s pregnancy. The man tries to persuade her to abort the baby, refusing to accept her condition. She attempts to alleviate the situation, suggesting they can endure it and live with the child, but his response doesn’t align with hers. “Hills Like White Elephants” raises the question: “What is the best decision in this situation?” The man is inclined towards an ominous solution.

He perceives that aborting the baby constitutes their best decision, a notion the girl is hesitant to accept. This theme is linked to another Hemingway’s story – “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”. Predominantly, the theme of death is conveyed through Harry and Helen, a couple stranded on a safari, anticipating their end. Both “Hills Like White Elephants” and “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” personify death through the pain and tribulations the characters experience in these narratives.

“Hills Like White Elephants” personifies death via imagery. The pregnant girl’s partner tries to convince her, bordering on coercion, to terminate the pregnancy. She initially seems open to keeping the baby, reassuring him that they can manage and find happiness, but he consistently disagrees. Meanwhile, she pleads, “Would you please please please please please please please stop talking?”. In response, he ascertains, “But I don’t want anybody but you.” To the girl – Jig – his words appear affectionate; however, his underlying intent is to express his disinterest in having a baby in a way she would interpret as ‘agreeable’. Throughout their conversation, they persistently order alcohol, known for its detrimental effects during pregnancy, a fact likely unknown in their time period. Thus, they continue consuming drinks while awaiting two trains. Positivity is associated with one direction, negativity with the other, mirroring the diverse terrain on either side of the train station – one part is sunny but dry, the other is shady and damp. Moreover, one side is mountainous with a river, and the other comprises of soft hills. The impending doom associated with her pregnancy is indicative of the personification of death. Although she assures him the situation is manageable and that they can have the baby, he vehemently opposes the idea. He insists she should have an abortion, assuring her that it’s a simple and acceptable solution. This conjecture insinuates that he might have encountered a similar predicament before.

In the short story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” the husband and wife, Harry and Helen, become stranded, and Harry believes they are going to die. This thought only serves to diminish his hope. In a sense, this loss of hope is killing him mentally, which will shortly lead to his physical decline. This dwindling hope leads him to say, “I love you, really. You know I love you. I’ve never loved anyone else the way I love you.” The problem is, he doesn’t mean it. Harry’s leg is infected with gangrene, which causes him to apologize repeatedly for the smell and contributes to his impending sense of doom. They argue about the situation. She is more hopeful than he is, maintaining faith that a plane would fly over or a truck would pass by. During their argument, he thinks, “So now it is all over, he thought. So now he would never have a chance to finish it. So this was the way it ended, in a bickering over a drink.”

While both stories personify death, they do so in different ways. “Hills Like White Elephants” portrays this through a woman’s acceptance towards the end. Conversely, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” illustrates death through a woman’s denial and her husband’s eventual demise. Death is inevitable and must be acknowledged for what it is. It can be painful or peaceful, but people need to accept that it will happen at some point. Denying it is futile. Recognizing that death is coming and being able to admit that it will happen one day is beneficial. It’s even better because you are able to continue living your life. Even though you know death is impending, whether it’s sooner or later, you need to acknowledge it and then continue living life, not worrying about it until the time comes.”

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