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White Elephant Ambiguity

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We read stories like this one that hides clues that we can not understand through its ambiguity. The narrator is the author, Ernest Hemingway. The setting takes place at a train station in Spain. The setting provided a specific time and place and background information. The male character in the story is admirable because he’s avoiding the discussion between him and the female. The man wants the woman to get an abortion. I know because white elephant means something nobody wants. When the man said, It’s really not anything. It is just to let the air in, it means he wants an abortion. The female is not admirable because she wants her right to start a family. She is not sure whether or not to agree to get the abortion. She sounded tired of the man making all the decisions. …show more content…
The story didn’t mention if the man and woman are married or not. They might not be married because of their luggage, and the nights they spent in different hotels. She looked with fascination at the fields and trees across the plain, because the man told her if she got the abortion, they would both hold the whole world in their hands and be happy. Her comment about the hills being like white elephants is profound because the white elephant is referring to the wildlife. I sympathize with the girl more, because she was tired of letting the boy always make the decision. Also, he didn’t care for her or her choices on the idea of an abortion. She has reached her awareness. She has become more mature than the man does with her pregnancy. She understood what kind of man she was living with. The man will keep saying the same thing if this discussion goes

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