Hills Like White Elephants

As with many members of the Lost Generation, Jig and the American are going through an existential crisis, questioning both the meaning of life and whether there is in fact any meaning at all—meaning, that is, beyond self-indulgence and cosmopolitan leisure.

The American seems to have accepted there is no such meaning, or at least, he has adopted this philosophy as a way to live. He is fully immersed in their transient, purposeless existence, and his only interest is maintaining the ease and safety of not seeking anything deeper. Though the narrative does little to confirm this disposition directly, the character exposes his shallowness when he says the pregnancy is “the only thing that bothers us. It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” (72). In other words, he resolves his existential crisis by denying that there is a crisis; his unreflective, oversimplistic attitude bespeaks a belief there is nothing more to happiness than ease and pleasure. His words also imply the relationship itself requires no work and that only external obstacles merit attention.

Jig, the protagonist, is not so sure. She sees the possibility of meaning in her life and their relationship when she looks across to the grain fields, which are rich with purpose and possibility.