This short story reflects the ways in which Ernest Hemingway presents only the "tip of the iceberg" and the impact of the story lies beneath the surface, left to the imagination of the reader. It seems remarkably clear that Hemingway was determined, in this writing, to demonstrate an alternative way of thinking that reflected his own alternative attitudes regarding the status quo.
             This story was published in 1927 by Hemingway and for that time period, it seems very risqué and contains a heavy sexual undertone. The use of the word 'come' is frequent throughout the story along with big and synonyms of hard. Also, many of the phrases exchanged between the two characters are seeming to directly point to sexual contact. It is my understanding that this story shows Hemingway's distress over his first wife's pregnancy and the constraints it put on his life is reflected in this fictional work. I considered this when reading and found it held up fairly well. Which raises the question, is this story about sex or abortion? It seems to me that Hemingway uses this strong sexual tone to distract the reader from the true meaning of the story, abortion? I am not sure which of the two was considered more offensive in the early 1920s, sex or abortion? So I was having problems deciding what the paper was truly on. Then I came across the statement by the man "we'll be fine afterward. Just like we were before" which lead me to the conclusion that the story is about abortion.
             Because sex for the first time would lead you to new levels, not take you back to old ways. It took me about five readings to catch that. I see this story as a decision of whether to have the abortion and consideration for the safety of the women, which was argued for a substantial amount of the story. The train station is placed between two sets of train tracks. Obviously, each set has a train heading in the opposite direction. This is symbolic of their two available choices. ...