Let’s Not Talk About It: Comparisons of Russell Banks’ “Black Man and White Woman In Dark Green Rowboat” and Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”

Abortion is not an everyday conversation topic. It is probably one of the most uncomfortable and controversial topics one can discuss. In the stories “Black Man and White Woman In Dark Green Rowboat” by Russell Banks and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, the theme of the stories is abortion. Even though the topic is hard to talk about, these two stories present the topic in a way that allows the readers to understand the complexity of the topic through a comparison of the technique and resolution and a difference in the presenting of the characters.

The one significant difference between the stories is that in “Black Man and White Woman In Dark Green Rowboat,” the author does not reveal the names of the characters. Banks describes the characters through imagery; he writes, “Her long, honey blond hair swung from side to side across her tanned shoulder”(63). Throughout the story, the author uses descriptive imagery to give a better look into the characters and what they are feeling. On the contrary, Hemingway tells one of the characters’ names, which was the girl, Jig. In the beginning of the story, he also refers to the couple as “ the American and the girl.“ Throughout the story, Ernest Hemingway reveals that Jig is depends on the American because he can speak Spanish, but she cannot. Beyond these facts, the dialogue and action describes the characters.

While the difference in character naming exists, both stories convey a larger theme behind the title. “Black Man and White Woman In Dark Green Rowboat” signifies a problem. As opposed to the title being “Man” and “Woman,” Banks entitles it to indicate Black and White suggesting that a problem of race could arise. In addition to the implication of color, Banks also specifies the color of the rowboat as dark green. The color green is usually related to nature, trees, growth, and natural things, but placing the word dark before the word green creates paradoxical meaning. Russell Banks’ title also reveals that his story will use more of a descriptive imagery to tell the story.

Ernest Hemingway’s title, “Hills Like White Elephants is the first instance where he hides meaning with underlying words. The simile in the title compares hills to white elephants. Hills often can be seen as barriers or obstacles one must go up. Because the story is about pregnancy and abortion, the hills can represent the shape of a pregnant woman. White elephants signify a burdensome possession or something that is more trouble than it is worth. White elephants are also viewed as something sacred. This title suggests two views of: a pregnancy is a burden and a pregnancy is something that is sacred. Hemingway’s title reflects his story because it reveals that the story will be told by dialogue and underlying messages within the words.

The iceberg method is a way both authors decide to tell the story. This method allows the authors to use the underlying messages through the sub-texts to tell the story. Neither of the authors explicitly reveals what the theme of the story is. We as an audience have to read in-between the lines. For example, in “Black Man and White Woman In Dark Green Rowboat” the girl says:
“ I’m already putting on weight,” she said.
“ It doesn’t work that way. You’re just eating too much.”
“I told mother” The man stopped rowing and looked at her. “I told mother,” she repeated. Her eyes were closed and her face was directed toward the sun and she continued to stoke her cheekbone and lower jaw. (64)

Just in this short passage alone, the reader can guess what the conversation is about. The guy saying, “It doesn’t work that way,” makes us question what exactly “it” is. Then, as the girl repeats herself, her body language gives more to the story. Her eyes being closed and her face directed somewhere else says a lot without using words. Her eyes being closed shows that she does not want to make eye contact with the man because the conversation between them is too hard to have. Her face being towards the sun shows that she would rather be elsewhere. That passage alone lets us conclude that the girl is pregnant, and that this conversation is very hard for her to engage in.

Similar to Banks, Ernest Hemingway does the same:
“You’ve got to realize,” he said, “ that I don’t want you to do it if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly willing to go through with it if it means anything to you’”
“Doesn’t it mean anything to you? We could get along”
“Of course it does. But I don’t want anybody but you. I don’t want anyone else. And I know it’s perfectly simple.” (419)

Even if we as an audience do not know that the story is about pregnancy and abortion, we could still guess that there is a problem between the characters. The man pretends to be supportive by saying, “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to,” but then two lines later he says, “But, I don’t want anybody but you.” This is contradictory. It reveals that the man already has his mind made up and is really trying to persuade the girl to do what he wants her to do.

Besides the stories being similar in the use of the iceberg method, the settings of the stories are also both in a place of transit. “Black Man and White Woman In Dark Green Rowboat” is set in a rowboat on a lake, and “Hills Like White Elephants” is set in a train station in Barcelona. The setting of both stories has an underlying message. Because these stories are about the decision of abortion, the sudden stop in a place of transit could mean that the lives of the characters are on hold. They are stuck between where they were and where they are going to go.

Neither of the stories has a real ending; so deciding how the story will end will be left up to the readers. I believe the authors did this because these stories give us a glimpse in the lives of the characters. We do not know the full background; we just know the few pages that the authors gives us. Within these few pages, the authors suggest how the ending could possibly be, but still allow the readers to end the story.

Abortion is a very hard topic to talk about, let alone write about. As the readers can see, Banks and Hemingway’s stories have more comparisons than contrasts. The iceberg method allows these writers to tell these stories using underlying messages that the readers have to find. It allows the audience to read in between the lines and get more out of the story than what was overtly presented.

Works Cited

Banks, Russell. “Black Man and White Woman In Dark Green Rowboat.” The Story and Its Writer. Ed. Ann Charters. Compact 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. 62-67. Print.

Hemingway, Ernest. “Hills Like A White Elephant.” The Story and Its Writer. Ed. Ann Charters. Compact 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. 416-419. Print.