Abortion In Ernest Hemingway's Waiting For A Train To Barcelona

Hunter Drain-Lee
English 11
Mrs. Cesaro
3 March 2017
Partial Draft
    Thesis Statement-
An unnamed American man and a woman named Jig are waiting for a train to Barcelona so Jig can get an abortion. While the two are waiting for the train, they go into a bar to have a drink. When they sit down and their waitress comes over to them to take their order, she glares out the window at the white hills for a moment and then proceeds to take their order. The unnamed man and Jig look out at the hills and notice how they are covered from top to bottom in white and the land beneath the hills is barren and brown. Jig said that “they look like white elephants” and the man disagreed. The two got into a deep conversation  about the abortion and Jig decided that she wanted to keep the baby. By the end of the discussion, the man had convinced Jig to abort the child.

The scene opens on a railway station in Spain where the Barcelona-to-Madrid express is expected in 40 minutes.

A man and his girlfriend Jig, sit at a table at the train stations bar. They order a couple beers and get into conversation. The landscape surrounding the station was "white in the sun and the country was brown and dry” in between. Jig remarks that the hills look like white elephants and the man strongly disagreed with her. The young couple decided to try a new beverage, the anis del toro, with water. Jig says that it tastes like licorice, and the two start their very serious conversation about the abortion again.When they order another set of beers, the man turns the conversation into trying to convince Jig to get the abortion again. He says that the operation is very simple and that Jig should not mind it.The man feels that if Jig gets the operation, the relationship that the two had would go back to what it once was.. Jig is considering what the man is saying, but is also very skeptical at the same

time.
The man does not want to sacrifice Jigs happiness for his own satisfaction. Even though the man is very rude and tense throughout this conversation, he explains to Jig how he thinks it is best for their relationship. Jig says that she will get the operation because she does not care about herself. This guilt trips the man into saying that he does not want her to get it if she feels that way. The two walk outside because they hear the train coming. The man “picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the tracks” but they could not see the train.