What is the character Jig like in Ernest Hemingway's short story, "Hills Like White Elephants"?

"Jig" is the name given to the girl in Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." The American, her lover, calls her that toward the beginning of the story, but Hemingway refers to her as "the girl." This infantile designation fits with Jig's generally uncertain, insecure, anxious, dependent personality.

Hemingway is notorious for writing passive female characters, and while Jig is more nuanced than many of the author's heroines, she's still dependent on her male lover....

"Jig" is the name given to the girl in Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants." The American, her lover, calls her that toward the beginning of the story, but Hemingway refers to her as "the girl." This infantile designation fits with Jig's generally uncertain, insecure, anxious, dependent personality.

Hemingway is notorious for writing passive female characters, and while Jig is more nuanced than many of the author's heroines, she's still dependent on her male lover. She agonizes over whether or not to have an abortion and worries about the state of her relationship with the American. Through her questions and uncertain responses, it's clear that Jig wants to maintain her relationship with the American, but also (at least partially) wants to keep her baby. Unfortunately, she can't do both, and so Jig is clearly agitated, worried, and insecure. Additionally, it's clear that she doesn't regard her own individuality as important, as she defines herself only in the context of her relationships with both the American and her unborn child.

Be that as it may, Jig has a subtly creative, even quirky side. After all, she's the one who imagines the hills "'look like white elephants'" on the story's first page, an imaginative observation that the American quickly scorns. It's clear that Jig possesses a creative depth, and Hemingway also suggests that her relationship with the American (who obsesses over his assertion that he's seen elephants rather than focusing on his partner's creative intelligence) is unfortunately stamping Jig's creativity out of existence. Thus, there's a subtly feminist tone to the story, as it illustrates Jig's character as trapped in an oppressive relationship. All in all, Hemingway manages to pack a lot of intrigue and depth of character into such a short story, especially  when it comes to the creative and deep, but insecure and anxious, Jig.