Hills Like White Elephants

The operation that Jig is considering having is an abortion. The girl seems to want to keep the baby, but is trying to decide if she should have the operation to please the man she is with. He keeps saying how simple it will be, and how after she has it they will be happy. He also says that he thinks it is the best thing for the both of them. I think the man doesn’t want to have the child because he wants his lifestyle to stay the same. The story mentions suitcases with stickers from all of the places they had stayed the night, which means that the couple traveled a lot. If they had a baby, he would have to settle down and they could not live the same lifestyle they had been. The man keeps saying how simple the procedure is which shows that he is not concerned about the physical risks at all. Emotionally it will be risky for her because she could regret changing her decision for him.

I was very surprised that the story was written by a man because it focuses so much on the emotional turmoil of the woman in the story. The discussion and thought process reveal that of a torn woman. She can’t decide wither to please the man in her life or please herself. I also think the setting is very important to the topic of the story. The setting is a train station in Spain. The two are waiting to catch their next train and I think this is important because it relates back to the lifestyle the man doesn’t want to give up. They are having the discussion while sitting at the station waiting for the train so they can begin traveling again.