Ernest Hemmingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" displays how .
Hemingway shows the views of a man and a girl .
before and after a major decision. During the story, Hemingway displays .
the life of a girl and man to be perfect . The girl and man appear to be .
happy and enjoying their moderate lifestyle, but when faced with a crisis, .
the character of the man and girl change.
At the beginning of the story, the girl and man are sitting in a station .
trying out new drinks, waiting on the train. The girl looks out the doorway .
and happens to see a line of hills that appear to be white, because of the sun. .
The girl says, "they look like white elephants"(170). The man could not .
picture it, and thought it was funny. The girl stood up and walked to the end .
of the station. Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees .
along the banks of the Ebro. Far away, beyond the river, were mountains. .
The shadow of a cloud moved across the field of grain and she saw the river .
through the trees. The woman says, "we could have all of this, and we could .
have everything and every day we make it more possible"(172). This .
portrays the major crisis that the couple faces throughout the story.
When the woman says that they can have everything, she is talking .
about a child and a beautiful life. The decision of having an operation .
brings out the true character in both the man and the girl. The man's attitude .
toward the child is that their life is perfect, so why change it? The man .
cannot picture settling down. The man believes they still have many places .
to travel. The man goes from being happy, to unhappy and disagreeing. On .
the contrary, the girl can see herself in the future settling down with a child, .
and family, but the girl can also see that the man is unhappy. The woman .
basically leaves the decision up to the man, because all she wants is for him .
to be happy again, and for them to return to their perfect life.
