Picture one's self sitting at a table outside a small train station. One is overhearing the conversation of a young couple at the next table. Although on the surface the conversation seems pleasant enough, one senses some sort of conflict. One is intrigued at the conversation. One wonders what's happening with the couple. Like a latter day Sherlock Homes or Dr. Watson, one feels the need to investigate. Ernest Hemingway's story of a young couple's conversation outside a train station in "Hills Like White Elephants" skillfully provides the reader with a similar sense of mystery and intrigue. One can picture one's self sitting at a table in that same train station, overhearing their conversation and wondering what's going on with the couple. One wants to solve the riddle. Although one may feel more like Dr. Watson than Sherlock Homes when it comes to analyzing a short story, one need not be an astute solver of mysteries to see how Hemingway uses description and dialog to show the importance of good communication. A little critical analysis will render his intent elementary. .
Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" is set in a train station located on a rail line between Barcelona and Madrid. The young couple has a forty-minute wait to catch the train and are in the middle of a conversation. Hemingway first sets the scene: .
"The hills across the valley of the Elbro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was- .
From Hemingway's description, the reader learns there are two primary characters in the story, an American man and a young woman who are waiting to catch the train to Madrid. While waiting the couple engage in a conversation which Hemingway's narrator allows one to overhear. The young woman, while looking off at the hills, makes the comment that "they look like white elephants." The man doesn't take the comment too seriously, and replies "I've never seen one.