Choices may be hard whether it is what you are going to eat for breakfast or what route you will take to get to school. However, some of our choices aren't as simple as the ones I have presented. In the first short story “Hills like White Elephants”, there are two people arguing about something that is never named. However, later on the imagery informs us that they are talking about a baby. Their conflict is whether or not to get an abortion, it presents us with a setting of a two sided train station, with the station in the middle and two tracks going opposite ways on either side. This is the author's way of showing the choice that has to be made, the decision of which train to take has an even stronger symbolism of what that train will lead to. On one side of the train station there is a sense of misery, the author describes this as “side there was no shade and no trees…They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry.” (Hemingway, 194). There is a strong feeling of barrenness and emptiness, a feeling of infertility might arise or even maybe the feeling of death. This gives not only the character, but the reader a sense of the terrible outcome and life that would …show more content…
In the beginning, it introduces us to a man who's car has broken down somewhere in the mountains and is trying to get to his friends farther up the hill. The author gives the character two options. The first being, “your warm capsule…” (Stark, 2) the use of the word capsule presents us with comfort, warmth and somewhere to be shielded from the cold weather outside. The warmth and shelter that is represented is a symbol of life and survival. The second option is presented to us as, “minus 27 degrees…The radio weather report warned of a deep mass of arctic air settling over the region.” (Stark, 2) this is a fact that the author is clearly given to the main character. The author’s usage of words such as “deep mass” Is a great indication of the severity and a most probable injury or even death that would arise if the is the choice that the character decides to make. It is all up to him choosing between warmth (even though it won’t last all night) or taking the chance on venturing out into the cold to try and find your way to your friends. Warmth or the cold, life or death. The decision made could change everything for the whole story. If the character decides to stay he will not only be warm now, but he might have a chance of being saved from the cold and horrible conditions outside. The author is giving him