"Hills Like White Elephants"

The operation Jig is thinking about doing is obviously an abortion. The first instance where we are told anything about the "secret" operation, the man says to Jig "it's really an awfully simple operation," in fact he even goes as far as saying "it's not really an operation at all." At this time I knew they were discussing an operation, but what kind I wasn't sure, until I noticed the girl's reaction to what the man was saying. She was quiet, and when she did talk, her words were of concern, not about the surgery, but about what happens afterwards. For example, she asks, "what will we do afterwards,"and "if I do it you'll be happy and things will be like they were and you'll love me?" This is an obvious clue because she is worried about their relationship and where it will be after the abortion. Besides her concern for the aftermath of the operation, the man's overall casual attitude ensures that the operation is an abortion. He is in a way pushing this operation onto her and comforting her by saying it will bring happiness and be like old times. He forces her to think more about their relationship and the aftermath of it than how she really feels and how it will affect her emotionally. She says, "Then I'll do it. Because I don't care about me."

Jig and the man aren't realizing the physical and emotional toll it has on a woman. I think in the back of Jig's mind she is worried about it, but the man is talking her out of her own thoughts. She is in love, and is worried more about keeping the man around than trusting her own thoughts.