The soundest theory of the subject of negotiation is that it is about abortion. We are only given the girl’s name in the story, her name is Jig. The “American” wants Jig to have an abortion as throughout the dialogue is attempts to convince Jig to go through with the operation, “It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig”. The assumption that must be made is that the American wants the operation as he is afraid of responsibility that will come with the child.
It is clear that Jig does not want the abortion. This statement cannot be fully substantiated by Jig, "what will we do afterward,” but can be seen from the amount of pressure that the American applies to her, “it’s the best thing to do” and “it’s perfectly simple”. Through this perspective the American’s selfishness is clear. The American basically neither understands nor cares what Jig wants.
To clarify the subject being about an abortion, the title illustrates the following, a pregnant woman looks like she has the stomach of an elephant. "White Elephant" is a euphemism for something nobody wants, in this case the baby. The couple’s symbolic communication is similarly exposed by the way they never mention each others real names; they never call the operation an abortion, they simply call it an operation. They never call the fetus a baby, the American never calls the woman anything but Jig, and Jig never calls the man anything at all.
The sketch of Jigs character is gained through the American’s dialogue. This happens as Jig is terribly vague. Her communication is hazy and her pronouns have no background. The only presumption that can be made is that Jig feels a general sense of depression and despair. Jig's final remark - "I feel fine" - is ambiguous. She can either be saying she feels fine about her own situation, and her lover is the one in trouble or she is saying she feels fine, but it is obvious that this is not the case. Reasoning for her saying that she is fine might be that she wants to avoid confrontation. This characteristic can be shown in the text when Jig attempts to avoid confrontation by changing her comment “They look like white elephants,” to “They don’t really look like white elephants.”
The culmination of the American’s pressurising comes when Jig bursts out and asks him to “please please please please please please please stop talking.” At the end of the story the outcome cannot be seen as both partners have put up communication boundaries with regard to the subject of abortion. The walls do not suddenly appear in the end but have been in the story throughout the couple’s interaction. Communication in this story is not for expression of feelings but is used rather as defensive mechanism for both characters. The couple struggle to speak about the subject as it is clear they both stumble over metaphors when referring to the operation. To understand the characters and the subject at hand the reader must take into consideration the implicit and figurative meanings of the text.