“Train Stations and Barrooms” Being faced with difficult decisions is a major obstacle in the lives of adults. After conversing, many of these decisions are resolved in a favorable outcome that works for both adults. In “Hills like White Elephants,” the two adults, an American man and the girl, discuss a major issue in their lives. This controversy pertains to a potential operation the woman may choose to undergo. The train station and the barroom emphasizes what is being discussed between the two adults.
Train stations are places where people are constantly interchanging and are never present for long periods of time. The barroom table behind the bead curtain underline that there are boundaries which prohibit the couple from making their decision. Therefore, the setting, both the train station and the barroom, impersonal places in which to talk about personal issues, reflects the lack of genuine intimacy among the man and the girl. Train stations are places known to be junctions in which people quickly appear and disappear in route to their intended destinations.
In “Hills like White Elephants,” the couple have to catch a train to reach to the next stop in their journey. Before catching the train, they have a decision to make about an operation which impacts their lives. In urging the girl to make her final decision, the man says, “But I don’t want you to do it if you don’t really want to. ” By the man bringing this up sooner rather than later, it signifies how he is in favor of the operation. The man is persuading her into getting the operation done, but it impacts the girl the most because she has the final say in choosing to abort the child.
The train station is significant in that it forces a person to quickly decide which way to go and whether to continue on course or to choose the alternative. In the case of the girl and the man, they have to pick which way they want to go; to either have the operation done or not to. The train station is an important setting in that is signifies how the couple will make a quick stop there and continue on their way to the next destination. Normally, trains arrive and depart in short amounts of time as indicated in the text when it says, “It stopped at this junction for two minutes and went on the Madrid.
With only having a couple minutes to spare, the couple don’t have the ability to wait around and ponder their options. Also the train station is significant because it shows how the couple is at a crossroad and they do not know which way to go with their decision. Decisions are an obstacle in the lives of adults; the couple will not be at the train station for an extended amount of time and soon they will have to make their decision on what to do about the operation. In this case, their decision has a time restraint just like how the trains have a defined amount of time at the station.
The train station is a significant setting in this short story because it relates to the couple’s decision and how they have to pick which way they feel is best for them. Not only is the train station an important setting, but also the table in the barroom behind the bead curtains is significant to the short story. The barroom alone is a sense of relaxation and casual talking; being that alcoholic drinks are served to the customers. During their conversation in the barroom, the girl says, “That’s all we do, isn’t it-look at things and try new drinks. Therefore, the girl is used to drinking alcoholic drinks with the man whenever they are together. By getting the girl to drink beer, it puts her in a state of relaxation which would make her agree with what the man is saying.
The barroom as a setting, establishes the mood of the couple and their tone during the conversation. In relation to the short story, this signifies how the man is overpowering and is persuading the girl to get the operation done even if that is not what she believes. Not only is the barroom important, but also the bead curtains which “hung across the open door into the ar, to keep flies out. ” The bead curtain sets the reader up to think about boundaries and separations between the couple and all the issues they are facing, like the woman’s abortion. The placement behind the bead curtain adds seclusion from others’ thoughts and opinions in their lives.
The table behind the bead curtains in the barroom are both significant settings in this short story Being set in both, the train station and the barroom, there comes a significance relative to the short story. The train statio ow there are many options and tracks one can take, but only one is best for that specific person, like the girl in this short story. Barrooms are common places where there are alcoholic drinks and relaxed human beings who are willing to talk. Specifically, the bead curtains in the barroom provide separation and boundaries between the couples and the public, but also between the girl and the man. Altogether, the settings have a significant impact on the strenuous decision of the couple and their lives.