Earnest Hemmingway is a writer whose works capture the unique way that he presents certain pertinent issues. In the story titled “Hills like White Elephants,” for example, the author has a chauvinistic representation of the masculine gender. Set in a bar where a couple meets for a drink, the man tends to stick to the matter at hand while the girl repeatedly strays to take in the distant landscapes. Unfortunately, however, the man is not willing to discuss her observations and would rather talk her into having more drink. He is detached to the girl’s appreciation for landscapes even when she presses on to entice him to make a close observation. The masculine gender has also been characterized as dominant and persistent. The man will always suggest that they should have another drink and further press on some undisclosed deeds that the girl should try. Although the girl hints that she is not sure on what she should do, the man keeps on pressing and suggesting more drink. Eventually, the two appear to be in a conversation that makes no much meaning and only serves as a pastime for them as they wait for the train.
The couple is discussing their drinking process. From the moment the American and the girl are introduced their dialogue centrally revolves around drinking. It is the girl who begins the conversation by asking what they would drink. The idea makes it look like the two only met for a drink and have nothing much to discuss except their present endeavor. At some point, as their first drinks are brought, the girl comments hills within the bar’s eyeshot comparing them to white elephants. But the man appears disinterested in beholding the scenery and does not warm up to the discussion. Hoping to find an interesting topic, the girl makes a comment on the painted curtain to which the man affirms it is advertising a beer. Indeed the discussion of alcohols draws the couple as they decide to try the new drink. The girl will often attempt to repeat her comment about the hills, but the man answers by suggesting they have another beer. Eventually, the girl concurs that drinking might be the only undertaking that would bring them to a shared interest. That is why getting drunk appears to be the only process the couple debate about.
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“Hills like White Elephants” is set in a bar at a railway station. This presents the recurrent motif of confusion and transition respectively. The idea of a drinking place for a rendezvous foreshadows the critical reader to make note that there is the element of drunkenness. It is for that reason that it is understandable that the dialogue that characters engage in will be laced with certain hiccups. This presents the characters as though they are in some confusion. There is redundancy whereby a certain sentence is repeated over and over affirming that the characters involved are not decided on what they intend to do. The railway station, on the other hand, a few minutes before the arrival of the train symbolizes a journey. It marks an inevitable transition of individuals who are in an escalating stupor. Considering that the characters are time conscious, it is clear that their continuous drinking is an indication that they are time-barred and would rather sedate themselves with drinks so that they may come to terms with the prevailing situation. Unfortunately, time winds up before the couple has had a meaningful conversation because the girl’s mind was on the hills as the man tried to reason with her.
