The rhetorical purpose of omission is to purposefully leave out certain details in order for readers to figure them out themselves. This also helps stories become less convoluted and crowded when it comes to details. Sometimes details in texts are unnecessary and can be left out without changing the story at all; sometimes this makes the story better. An author may choose to omit certain information in order to let readers become immersed in the story and actually create details of their own. In “Hills Like White Elephants” Hemingway omits the topic the man and girl are talking about: abortion. I believe he does this because it is a sensitive topic but also because it’s not hard to realize what they are talking about after rereading it a few times.