“Hills Like White Elephants” by Earnest Hemingway is a 1927 short story that describes a couple drinking at a train station in Spain, and the story is relayed by an external narrator. The third-person narrator of this story gives the reader the reconstructed events, then recounted and translated into English. It is clear throughout the story that the girl (who is never named) does not speak Spanish, while her boyfriend does. When he orders two beers for the first time, he does so in Spanish, stating “Dos cervezas,” which emphasizes that the gentleman is indeed speaking Spanish, but that the narrator is translating the business for the reader (Hemingway 114). The narrator also tells the story in minimal detail, focusing instead on the dialogue between the two characters. Even in this sense, the dialogue is just a conversation, with little explanation or detail. The narrator will only add a "she said" every few sentences, presumably to keep the reader on the correct person he is speaking with, but otherwise adds no information. This allows the reader to interpret the true meaning of the word, without the influence of the narrator. The narrator provides great insight by watching the actions of the boyfriend and girlfriend, and the boyfriend himself provides even more insight into the story. The man, or boyfriend, in the story embodies the traits of masculinity. He is focused on his desires and does his best to control the situation. Throughout the story, the boyfriend and his girlfriend discuss an operation, most likely an abortion, and the man tries to convince his girlfriend to have one. The gentleman avoids the subject when he does not want to talk about it, such a...... middle of paper ......d hesitation through the girlfriend and the distance, pressure and force of the boyfriend . The woman twice states that she "feels good", although there now appears to be a distance between the two. Another example of why the author intends to discuss communication is the use of the title and the description of the "white elephant", like an elephant in the room. The two dance around the topic that needs to be discussed, but only achieve this by approaching the subject subtly and without talking about it in depth. The author, Ernest Hemingway, appears to use his journalistic experience to demonstrate, through a lack of detail and constant dialogue, that two people can participate in a discussion without saying anything. Works Cited Hemingway, Ernest. Hills like white elephants. 1927. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th ed. New York: Norton, 2011. 113-17. Print.