In the short story "Hills Like White Elephants" written by Ernest Hemingway, the two main characters find themselves in a moral dilemma. The girl is pregnant by her lover the American. The American, who is not named by the author, wants the girl to have an abortion but she is not convinced. The dualistic nature used throughout the story by Hemingway is evident not only in the main characters' dialogue, but also in the use of setting and symbols. The train station located between two very distinct landscapes is very symbolic. One side is dry and barren while the other is green and fertile. The American and the girl are both sitting at the station on the dry barren side. It is the American who most likely chose to sit on this side. It is the American who initially is very persistent that the girl has the abortion. When the girl tastes the Anise del Toro, she comments, "Everything tastes like licorice. Especially all the things you waited so long for, like absinthe"(Pg.401). The American quickly responds, "Oh, cut it out" (Pg.401). The double meaning of his response is obvious. On the hand he is telling the girl to stop complaining. On the other, he subconsciously and brutally is telling her to abort the baby.
             His insincerity about the abortion is very evident when he tells her "if you don't want to you don't have to. I wouldn't have you do it if you didn't want to. But I know it's perfectly simple" (Pg.401). Several times the American says one thing but means the opposite. The American's persistence still cannot convince the girl. After leaving the luggage on the other side, he enters the barroom to drink an Anis. The people there were "waiting reasonably for the train"(Pg.404). This scene reinforces the feeling he now has that it was he who was being unreasonable. When he leaves the barroom, he finds the girl smiling. This final smile of hers indicates that she is happy at his change of heart. The girl, u
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