Steven ScaloraProfessor Roberts4/22/14English 102What Could Have Been in “Hills Like White Elephants” Ernest Hemmingway is a well-known author who wrote the short story “Hills Like White Elephants”. This is the story of a torn love affair in which the lovers have conflicting opinions on whether or not to have an abortion. An unanswered question of the story is how the relationship between the American and his foreign lover Jig will be affected depending on whether or not Jig aborts their unborn child. People have conflicting opinions about what really happened in the story. Some people believe she continued to have the procedure after the story ended, while others believe she ended up keeping her child. Phillip Sipiora believed that when Jig said "I'm fine..." he was referring to the fact that he had been drinking, or he meant it as "Good, I'm keeping the baby." There is nothing conclusive about how their argument actually ended. (Sipiora, Phillip.) Sipiora claims that the couple is very drunk at the end of the story, having drunk many types of alcohol in a very short period of time. He says she might say that when she says "I'm fine..." she's referring to being fine being pregnant and having the baby. (Sipiora, Phillip.) This interpretation suggests that Jig does not abort. Nilofer Hashimi had his own opinion on the story. It delves into what could have happened if Jig and the American had kept their baby. He goes on to say how Hemingway had used subtle verbal and non-verbal cues and cues that helped support Hashimi's opinions. He says there are three possible outcomes to the story; Jig aborts and stays with the man, Ji... middle of paper... the American even blurts out that it is a "simple operation" and that it is just a matter of "letting in air". , after this is said, Jig stares at the ground, realizing how real it would truly be and how it would affect her. Scholars believe that she knows everything about the operation, and how in reality it is anything but "natural" as the American had told her before. (Wyche, David) The train was due in five minutes; the American now takes their suitcases and carries them to the opposite side of the train station. A decision had been made between the two, but it was never explicitly said what the decision actually was. There are multiple scenarios as to what was supposed to happen. When Jig smiles it may mean that the American inevitably backs out, or that he had decided to have the surgery, but would leave the American after he was paid. (Wyche, David)