123 School Work

Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway

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  "Hills like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway is a story that focuses on a couple
  engaged in a seemingly casual, yet intimate conversation about an unplanned pregnancy, while
  waiting for their train. The American and his lover, a woman whom he affectionately refers to
  as "Jig, " sit at a table at the train station, drinking beer and discuss her decision to move forward
  or not with an abortion. As the conversation continues, Jig becomes increasingly upset as her boyfriend persistently tries to convince her that everything will be all right. While he talks, she tries to make herself busy with her surroundings; and as she's looking off at the hills in the distance, she remarks how they look like white elephants (which are rare and highly worshiped) and her words are to mean that she doesn't want to be alone, no matter what decision she makes. What seems to be a mere debate to the American has much more significance as far as Jig is concerned, and she struggles at the beginning of this piece in telling her lover how she really feels about possibly bringing a life into the world or putting an end to one.
  Throughout their conversation, the man has an arrogance about him and continuously tries to assure her that "it's not really an operation at all" and that "it's just to let the air in." It is quite obvious that he only cares about how this is affecting him and attempts to mask his egotistic attitude by telling her she doesn't have to go through with the abortion if she doesn't want to. The American, who remained nameless, is rather self-absorbed in how the situation at hand will change his lifestyle. He doesn't give much thought to the seriousness of it all, and his desire to continue a life of drinking, partying, and being free to roam (free from the burden of a child) wherever he pleases is more important than anything else. He also tells her he doesn't want anyone else, when what he really means to say is that he doesn't want to come in second to a child...