Problems With Women On Hills Like White Elephants The short story "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway has a lot to do with the way the author lived. The time period that the story primarily refers to is when he was married to Hadley and having an affair with Pauline. The story shows problems within a relationship and a lack of communication between a couple. While Hemingway was writing this story, he wrote a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald about Pauline. He wrote that he sat in the shade and talked to her while she waited at the station. In the story “The American and the girl who was with him sat at a table in the shade, outside the building” (Hemingway 731). The girl comments on the hills in the background, how she likes white elephants. Her boyfriend ignores her and changes the subject every time she talks about the hills. According to James Mellow, "Another oddity is that in the first manuscript fragment relating to the story, written in 1925, Hemingway remarks to Hadley, 'Look at those damned white mountains,' and she replies, 'They are the things most mysterious I have ever seen'" (348). This shows how Hemingway came up with the idea of ​​white elephants. Another part of the story that relates to his life is the setting. While Hemingway was in Spain, the setting of the story, he discovered that Hadley was pregnant for the second time. The story could have shown her true feelings about the pregnancy. In the story, the boy is moody and wants the girl to do what he wants. This may be the same feeling Hemingway had towards Hadley towards the end of their marriage. Also, in the manuscript of the story, he wrote a note about Pauline. This shows that he cared about her while writing the story. Another relationship between the two is the way Hemingway treated women. He has been married four times and can be assumed to have had his share of difficulties in finding the right woman. The man in the story has difficulty communicating with his girlfriend, which creates problems in their relationship. Basically, he wants her to do what he wants and won't let it any other way. As Mellow says, "It's a classic, understated Hemingway story about the failure of communication between the sexes"." (348).