The Girl With The Red Bandana: Short Story Sunday: Letting the Air into the Relationship

Ernest Hemingway is one of the greatest American writers that ever lived, an acclaimed misogynist, but still an amazing writer. I love classic American literature and poetry, I love reading famous texts starting from Jack Kerouac to Henry Miller.

I've decided to do something different, with my blog and decided to incorporate my love of books/reading, I hope you guys enjoy!

A few years back I had taken an ENC 1101-1102 class, in which we read a hefty amount of literature and I enjoyed every single one of them. The class was by far much intriguing than any English class I had been in. I loved going to school just for that class as I read all my reading materials and was ready to have a heady discussion in class. The literature was unlike anything I had read before as in any other case I wouldn't have bothered.

In the class we read a short story by Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants." Having to be about a pair of lovers at a crisis point in their relationship. If you don't want spoilers I suggest you skip all the way to the end where I have a link to the story. But there are some of my photographs inspired by the story in between a few paragraphs, so I hope you check them out.

The story takes place in a Train Station in the valley of Spain. There's a man known as the American with his girlfriend, they sit at a table outside the station, waiting for a train to Madrid. One of the more important parts are when the girl remarks that the nearby hills look like white elephants. But the comment sparks a little argument between them, in which the woman tries to avoid by changing the conversation by pointing out some decor. They order drinks and begin to bicker about the taste of the alcohol, in which the American chastises her and says that they should try to enjoy themselves. The girl then retracts her earlier comment by saying the hills don’t actually look like white elephants to her.

Yet comes the hidden climax in the passage as the American mentions that he wants the girl, known as “Jig,” to have an operation, although they never actually specifies what kind of operation. He's agitated and tries to downplay the operation’s seriousness. He argues that the operation would be simple, for example, but then says the procedure really isn’t even an operation at all.The girl is pensive and hesitant, but then she asks what will happen after she’s had the operation.

The man answers that things will be fine afterward, just like they were before, and that it will fix their problems. He says he has known a lot of people who have had the operation and found happiness afterward. Here it's obvious that the love they'd previously shared before this day had died long ago, it's evident through their constant bickering, his short temper, and his attempt to salvage whatever happiness they have left when says many had "found happiness afterwards." The girl glumly agrees with him. But he claims that he won’t force her to have the operation yet he feels it's the best decision. She tells him that she will have the operation as long as he’ll still love her and they’ll be able to live happily together afterward. All she wants is their previous happiness before this situation came up, yet she's confused, and pressured not thinking through this decision.

He tells her how much he cares for the girl, but she claims not to care about what happens to herself. Distressed with how the situation has turned, the American weakly says that she shouldn’t have the operation if that’s really the way she feels. The girl wonders aloud whether they really could be happy if she has the operation. They argue for a while until the girl gets tired and makes the American promise to stop talking.

After finishing their drinks, the American carries their bags to the platform and then walks back to the bar, noticing all the other people who are also waiting for the train. He asks the girl whether she feels better, she gives him a smile and she responds by insinuating she never felt bad in the first place. And that’s the end of the story.

The short story is quite good as it deals with a taboo subject and is hidden with innumerable themes, motifs, and symbolism. It had been one of my favorite passages we read in class, I wrote a thesis paper, made a trailer, and I also had a mini shoot inspired by the story.