The stories “A&P”, “A Rose for Emily” and “Hills Like White Elephants” are like pieces of a puzzle because they are all linked together by common similarities. John Updike's “A & P,” William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily,” and Ernest Hemingway's “Hills Like White Elephants” may be different in some ways, but they are very similar to each other. The similarities between the three tales are themes, symbolism, internal conflict, and tragic events. By reading a story, you learn valuable messages that you can use in life. The three tales share a common theme of the mystery of other minds. In “A & P,” the protagonist Sammy uses very sexist language when he says, “With the straps down, there was nothing between the top of her dress and the top of her head except just her, this bare top and clean upper chest drops from the shoulder bones like dented sheet metal tilted to the light” (Updike 561). In addition to the sexist comments, when Sammy calls women sheep and witches readers are perplexed because they can't believe why he said these comments about women. In “A Rose for Emily,” Tobe never goes to the authorities and tells them about Emily, but instead “went through the house and out the back and was never seen again” (Faulkner 96). Readers suspect that Tobe has mental problems because they wonder how anyone in their right mind wouldn't tell the authorities that there is a body in Emily's house. In “Hills Like White Elephants,” Jig thinks about having an abortion when she says, “And I'll do it and then it'll be all right” (Hemingway 1). Some readers wonder how anyone in their right mind could ever consider having an abortion. The symbolism in all three stories is similar because they all cover something. In “A&P” the swimsuits the three girls wear are a symbol of their attempts to do so