Critics

Ernest Hemingway with his sisters

According to Thomas Maher Gilligan, he suggests that she shifting of the baggage from one side of the station by the American man indicates that the couple reconsiders, decides to go to Barcelona instead, and also decides to allow the pregnancy to continue. For him, the shadow of cloud emphasizes jig’s awareness of how little communication exists between herself and her companion (Wyche 1). However,Kenneth Johnson interprets the cloud shadow that jig sees moving over the fertile grain field as foreshadowing the death of her unborn child. The outcome of the protagonist’s love affair; however, is less controversial. Critics, who foresee abortion, and those who do not, tend to agree that jig and the American will no longer remain a couple. Furthermore, Johnson regards the American attitudes as “ominous” an indication of “some future dissolution of their relationship. Jig is both well aware that the intrusion of a child will send the man packing and certain that their relationship will be radically altered, perhaps destroyed, if she goes through with the abortion.
Johnston, Kenneth G. “‘Hills Like White Elephants’: Lean, Vintage Hemingway.” Studies in American Fiction 10.2 (Autumn 1982): 233-238. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 10 Nov. 2012.
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