In "Hills Like White Elephants," why is the man called "the American"?

In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants, the main character remains nameless and is only referred to as The American. There are a few reasons why Hemingway may have chosen to keep this character nameless.

First off, calling this character The American may be to generalize about Americans in general. He doesn't come off as very caring, considering the serious conversation they are having about "Jig's" pregnancy. Hemingway was an ex-patriot, which means he spoke...

In Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants, the main character remains nameless and is only referred to as The American. There are a few reasons why Hemingway may have chosen to keep this character nameless.

First off, calling this character The American may be to generalize about Americans in general. He doesn't come off as very caring, considering the serious conversation they are having about "Jig's" pregnancy. Hemingway was an ex-patriot, which means he spoke out against many of the ideals of Americans even though he was one. This is a story about an uncaring American, and by keeping him nameless, it speaks out against all Americans.

It also accentuates the fact that he is the foreigner in the story. While we don't know where Jig is from, she seems to be from another country. Sure, they are in Spain and she clearly doesn't speak Spanish, but the fact that he is called The American suggests that she is not from the United States.

This is also a snippet of the life of this well-traveled couple. Hemingway rarely used names in his short stories anyway, because names create a familiarity, and the lack of names makes them seem like they could be anyone.

Calling him The American basically calls out all Americans on their selfishness, manipulative ways and other negative characteristics Hemingway saw in them.