In "Hills Like White Elephants," how sincere is the man in his insistence that he would not have the girl undergo the operation if she does not want...

While
it is certainly obvious that the American wants the girl to have the abortion, he is not totally
insincere in telling her that he will accept her decision. Proof of this is to be found in the
fact that he actually tells her so no less than five times in this minimalistic story.

The first time he gives her this half-hearted asssurance he immediately repeats
it.

"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."

"And you really want to?"

"I think it's the best
thing to do. But I don't want you to do it if you don't really want to."

He is clearly giving her an opening to tell him that she definitely
does not want to have the abortion, that she positively wants to go ahead and have the baby, and
that it means a great deal to her.

A little later he says:

"I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to
do--"

And then just a few sentences later:

"You've got to realize," he said, "that I don't want
you to do it if...