In the short story, “Hills Like White Elephants” the girl and the
American man are talking in a bar at a train station about the operation. The
operation they are talking about is an abortion. I don’t think that the man
wanted her to have the baby. He says, “That’s the only thing that bothers us.
It’s the only thing that’s making us unhappy.” He keeps trying to convince her
to get the abortion even though I think she wants to keep the baby. The story
talks about the two different sides of the train station, one has white hills
that are brown and dry and the other has fields of grain, trees, mountains and
a river. The one with the hills suggest death and the one with the mountains
suggest life. She can either have the baby or get an abortion. The baby’s life
is in her hands. Throughout their conversation they are drinking the whole
time, which is pretty bad because she’s pregnant and also it suggests that they
have a problematic relationship with each other. I think that the ending was a
little confusing. I think that they will go on their separate ways and she will
keep the baby without him knowing about it.
i agree with your point of view on the story completely.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing about the ending too. Also I liked your summary of the story.
ReplyDeleteYou made some very good points in your summary, like about their relationship being problematic because they are drinking. This was one of those stories that I do not think I could have fully understood on my own without a class discussion on it because I did not pick up on a lot of the subtle things, like with the two sides of the train station being symbolic of life and death.
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