Men Without Women

Yeah, I had to read 'Hills Like White Elephants' twice. I read it the first time and I didn't completely comprehend what was going on. Some of their dialogue wasn't very clear to me, especially when she says, "And we could have all this and we could have everything and every day we make it more impossible." So, I went on wikipedia and I read about the whole abortion theory and I read about Hemingway's whole 'Iceberg Theory'. Everything made a lot more sense to me in the context of abortion. I think the story does have SOME meaning when you understand the 'operation' as just some general operation, but I really think Hemingway does go out of his way to insinuate abortion (though I didn't pick this up at all in my first read through).

Also, I'm not really able to relate with the woman at all with or without the abortion context. I was actually really annoyed by her character the same way I become annoyed with real life characters like her, and I'm not generally annoyed with all women so I am not saying that all women are like her. I think I just really find myself aligning with the male character. In my (of course sexist) opinion, I think Hemingway succinctly depicts the feminine 'feeling' persona versus the male 'thinking' person very accurately in regards to the typical dynamic these kind of conversations and situations have.