Hills Like White Elephants Rhetorical Analysis

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“Hills Like White Elephants” is a dialog between a man a woman. They are talking, but they are not listening to each other. The topic of their conversation is about making the choice of having an abortion or marriage. Both of these choices are extreme measurements that the man is not willing to take. Both the American man and the girl drink alcohol throughout their conversation to avoid each other and the problems with their relationship. They start drinking large beers the moment they arrive at the station as if hoping to fill their free time with anything but discussion. Then, as soon as they begin talking about the hills that look like white elephants, the girl asks to order more drinks to put off the inevitable conversation about the…show more content…
In the conversation, they pretend they are trying to stay together, but neither listen or understand the other’s point of view. She seems to have given up everything for him, but he does not care. The American is too selfish to comprehend that she wants to marry and have the baby; she wants to have a family. When the man promises to be with the girl during the "simple" operation as he puts it. The readers again realize his insincerity because what is "simple" to him may very well be emotionally and physically damaging to…show more content…
The man replies that things will be fine afterward, just like they were before and that it will fix their problems. He goes on saying he has known many people who have had the operation and found happiness afterward. The girl unemotionally agrees with him. Her cold remark is rather sarcastic when she says she also has known people who had the operation and afterward they were so happy. The girls know that women who have had an abortion are not content; they have lost something they will never have. The American then says that he will not force her to have the operation, but believes it is the best choice to take. She tells him that she will have the operation as long as he will still love her, and they will be able to live happily together
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  • Hills Like White Elephants Rhetorical Analysis

    1100 Words  | 5 Pages

    In Hills Like White Elephants, Ernest Hemingway writes about a male and female couple having an in depth conversation on rather to have an abortion or not. Specifically, the American in the story does not really care what way his girlfriend decides. Although he keeps on trying to persuade her into getting the abortion, he does not have a clue what she wants. As the author himself self puts it, “if you don’t want to you don’t have to. But I know it’s perfectly simple. (Hemingway)” In sum, then, the

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