Hills Like White Elephant Rhetorical Analysis

In “Hills Like White Elephants,” the readers follow a couple’s conversation as they wait for the train. While following this conversation the reader will see the barriers and deterioration the couple goes through. There are stages in a relationship that are based off of communication, which is called interpersonal relationship. Throughout this story, the readers will get to witness the couple pass through a few of these stages. Communication is key to building a strong relationship and comes to show that it is a vital part in human life.
In “Hills Like White Elephants,” the deterioration of the couple’s communication shows as they wait for the train. Throughout the story, the man would like the women to get an operation, which he describes …show more content…
According to psychologist George Levinger from Management study guide, every relationship goes through the following five stages. The first stage is the acquaintance stage, which is where the individuals know each other. This is where people feel attracted to each other and decide to enter into a relationship. The second stage is the build up stage, where the relationship actually progresses over a period of time. The build up stage in a relationship happens where two individuals are coming close, being passionate and collecting feelings for each other. The third stage is the continuation stage, where the relationship grows into a lasting commitment. The fourth stage is the deterioration stage, which happens with the lack of compatibility. With the lack of compatibility and communication, individuals find it hard to adjust with each other and eventually bring their relationship to an end. The final stage is known as the termination stage. The termination stage is where two individuals decide to bring their relationship to an end due to separation, divorce, or possibly even death. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” the couple falls into the fourth stage. With the couples lack of compatibility and communication it will most likely bring a lot of misinterpretations in their relationship. Understanding is a very important part of every relationship. Individuals failing to understand each other find it …show more content…
There are stages in a relationship that go off of communication, which is called interpersonal relationship. This showed the reader a few of the stages the couple passed through in “Hills Like White Elephants.” In order to have a strong lasting relationship with friends, family, and lovers you will need to have good communication skills due to it being a vital part in