Jig and the American are at a train station during a short pause in their trip. The trip was not explained in the story, but, it was only for a few minutes. According to Renner, like the train journey, they have two things they can do: they can continue with their trip or they can go back home. The pregnancy can be looked at in the same way, an obstacle in their lives. They can either go ahead having the baby, or they can go back to the way things were before she became pregnant. One set of tracks lead to the abortion and the other set leads to the way things were (29). The decision has to be made now. There is no turning back once the decision is made. The train is stopping

It seems as though the American is the strong one in the relationship in the begining. Jig is used to following along with whatever the American wants. But, in the second half we see the tables starting to turn. Jig is not comfortable with his decision this time and she starts to stand up for herself. She seems to know how to play him. Referring back to the story, Jig stood up and walked to the end of the station. "Across, on the other side, were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Embro." According to Renner, the sentence, " Across, on the other side were fields of grain and trees along the banks of the Embro" stands in pointed contrast to the story's second sentence: "On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun." " On this side" are the values associated with abortion: Sterility, the taste of licorice, and the pregnancy. "Across, on the other side" are the values associated with having the child: fertility, the water of life, and fruitfulness (29). Urgo states that the American's attempt to convince Jig to have the abortion comes too late that she has already made up her mind to have the baby (36). He feels that Jig will always resent him because, she would be getting the abortion to make him happy and she does not really want the abortion. According to Renner, he picks up the bags and carries them around the station to the other tracks. One set of tracks lead to the abortion and the other back to where they came from. They had come to the train station with the plans of taking the tracks that lead to the abortion, but he takes the bags around to the tracks that lead back to where they came from (39). Jig does not get the abortion. This story does not give everything to the reader. We only see the surface of what is happening. The reader is able to have his own ending and take part in the story. The reader feels the ending to this story is that due to the choices they have to choose from and the consequences, Jig's feeling about having the abortion and the American finally realizing her feelings that t

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1427
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)