Rabia Khan
10/27/16
Essay #2
English 101
Communication is the key to building a strong foundation of trust between a man
and a woman. Sometimes they are faced with tough decisions that can change their life
forever. In “A Sea Change”, it is about a man named Phil and a young girl. The couple
is talking about the girl who is leaving him for another woman. In “Hills like White
Elephants”, the American man and girl are at a train station having a conversation which
is not understood, but is about abortion. Ernest Hemingway described both these
stories to show that couples have conversation about different outlook on life. In both
the stories “A Sea Change” and “Hills like White Elephants”, both have a pair of couple
and are having a conversation about something important in their lives to which they
make a decision.
In the story “A Sea Change”, Ernest Hemingway narrates this story in a third
person, he every so often writes his stories in a third person. In this story, he is
exploring a subject that was not talked about at the time was bisexuality. The man
named Phil was aware that his girlfriend has cheated on him and finds out she had a
relationship with another woman. In many ways, it is often difficult for a man to accept it,
because it hurts their ego. Hemingway is suggesting that the man didn’t want her to go
to the other woman. Phil and his girl are seen arguing about both the relationships. He
has a difficulty believing and accepting her sexuality which he doesn’t approve of. When
his girlfriend was trying to convince Phil that she wanted to go, she thought it wasn’t an
issue. At no point in the story does Phil and the girl reach a common ground despite him
suggesting to her that he will be there when she comes back. She wants to live her life
as she sees fit. Phil starts to get frustrated by their conversation. He didn’t like how this
conversation was going. Phil then tells his girlfriend that her actions were n more than
‘vice’, a characteristic to which she objected. She was apologetic and somewhat
passive. There were signs shown in this story that she was reassuring her love for Phil.
Hemingway shows that Phil was hurting from her leaving, but he accepts her for who
she is. He tells her to ‘go on’, to which he was angry and hurt. She sees that he really
meant it and left the bar with a smile on her face. She leaves him behind, so he starts
talking to the bartender James. James was unaware of the conflict that exists between
