they are having a conversation about whether or not she will go through with an abortion. The American shows little, if any, empathy towards the girl, whom he says he “would do anything for.” He, in fact, belittles the process, and “attempts to minimize its pain and inconvenience for the woman (Grebstein 112).” Hemingway shows this through dialogue that is exchanged through the two. “‘Yes,’ said the girl. ‘Everything tastes of licorice. Especially all the things you’ve waited so long for, like absinthe.’‘Oh, cut it out.’‘You started it,’ the girl said. ‘I was being amused. I was having a fine time.’‘Well, let’s try and have a fine time.’ . . .‘It’s really an awfully simple operation, Jig,’ the man said. ‘It’s not really an operation at all.’The girl looked at the ground the table legs rested on.‘I know you wouldn’t mind it, Jig. It’s really not anything. It’s just to let the air in.’The girl did not say anything.‘I’ll go with you and I’ll stay with you all the time. They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural (172).’”Another example in the story that can be used to support the reader’s view that the American is self-absorbed is: “He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train (174).” This passage helps support the reader’s view, because it shows that the American believes that Jig is unreasonable. He thinks this because Jig has not yet consented to go through with the abortion. The American is portrayed through this passage as one who is completely self-absorbed and chauvinistic.In the short stories “A & P” by John Updike and “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, the male protagoni...
