Abortion In Ernest Hemingway's Analysis

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The conversation between the characters continues and Jigs true feelings about the abortion begin to rise. While the two continue to talk about the future a conversation plays out where The American says, “We can have everything, we can have the whole world, we can go anywhere” and Jig responds to this by saying, “No, we can’t. It isn’t ours anymore. And once they take it away, you never get it back” (Hemingway, 214). The American and Jig are holding one conversation but are talking about two completely different things. When The American speaks of the world, he means it literally. He believes that the two can have the world together, and their problems will be over, after Jig gets the abortion. While Jig on the other hand is referring to something completely …show more content…

For her, the world represents their unborn baby. At first it may be unclear, but once she makes the remark about them taking it away and never getting it back it becomes clear that she is talking about the baby and getting the abortion. This portion of the text is the first time the reader gets an idea of how Jig truly feels about the abortion. It appears that Jig, “perceives the seriousness of the “choice” the man whishes her to make, while the man is either oblivious to its magnitude or willing to pretend it is simple for his own piece of mind” (Bauer, 130). The way she refers to their unborn child as the world, shows that she already feels strongly for the child and understands that once she has the abortion, there is no way to get the child back. The way the conversation is held also shows Jigs true feelings. Before this section she seems content with having the abortion if it would make the American happy, but in a split second her attitude

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