Point of View: Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants"; Banks, "Black Man and White Woman in Green Rowboat"
"Hills Like White Elephants" (Note: the man and woman arearguing about whether or not she should have an abortion.)
1. What is the primary conflict in this story?
2. Who is the protagonist, and who is the antagonist?
3. What do we know about the man? What does he want, and how do you know?
4. What do we know about the woman? What does she want, and how do you know?
5. What differences in their attitudes and values emerge from the conversation? How accurate is the man's judgment about their future? Does he seriously try to understand her feeling about an abortion? Does she misunderstand his concern? To what extent do they openly express their feelings?
6. From what point of view is the story told? How does this affect the meaning of the story?
7. How does the setting at a Spanish rail crossing affect the meaning of the story?
8. What is a "white elephant"? How does this expression suit the story?
9. She says, "And once they take it away, you never get it back." Who is "they"? What is "it"?
10. Has the quarrel been resolved when the story ends? What kind of resolution does the story offer?
"Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Rowboat"
1. What's the setting of this story? Could the story have been set in another part of the United States with the same effect?
2. What is the point of view employed in this story? Was there a point in the story where you became aware of the point of view? Does point of view have any effect on the meaning of the story?
3. Is your consciousness of race crucial to your understanding of the story?
4. Although no direct reference is made to the man's race, there is emphasis on the historical implications of his color, first when he ties his shirt over his head so that he looks, in her words, like an Arab sheik and, in his words, like a galley-slave, then when his face is described as "somber and ancient." What is the author suggesting with these allusions?
5. Is there any moment in the story when the man is given an opportunity to express his wishes regarding the situation?
6. What is the implication of her statement, "Well. We've been through all this before. A hundred times"?
7. How does this story compare and contrast to "Hills Like White Elephants"? What are the similarities and differences in the woman's role in the decision she has made?