He tells her that their relationship has always been normal, and he is only "worried" about the pregnancy. When in reality all he want is for her to get the abortion. In the end The American man and Jig both sit on opposites of the bar, symbolizing their mental thought process on whether they should part and take different paths. (Hemingway 591-94).
"Good People" by David Foster Wallace's is a short story about two Christians, Lane A. Dean and his girlfriend, Sheri Fisher with an unwanted pregnancy. The story starts off with Lane A. Dean, Jr., and his girlfriend, Sheri quietly sitting alongside one another at the park on a bench. Sheri has called him over to talk to him about the scheduled abortion they have later in the evening. As they sit there quietly, Wallace shows us the details of their surrounding through Dean's thought process, relating it back to the many issues Dean has with birth, his youth and family. Throughout the story, as we see into Dean's mind we can see that he doesn't want the child, and is him and Sheri are to stay together, he expects her to have the abortion. However, since they are Christians and he understands that having an abortion is a sin, he creates an imaginary conversation were Sheri decides to keep the child, but releases him of any responsibilities of taking care of it. Also throughout the story we never once hear Sheri voice her opinions, the conversation we see is all from Deans perspective and his imagination. (Wallace 215-20).
Many critics have stated that Wallace's "Good People" is a modern world view of "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway's. Just as the critics believe that, so do I for number of reasons. Both the stories are about two young couples who have a dilemma; an unplanned pregnancy, in both of the story the female characters want the child but the male characters don't.
