Analysis

Indian camp by E. Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American
novelist, short-story writer, journalist. His economical and understated style—which he
termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his
adventurous lifestyle and his public image brought him admiration from later
generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-
1950s, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he was a reporter
for a few months for The Kansas City Star before leaving for the Italian Front to enlist as
an ambulance driver in World War I. In 1918, he was seriously wounded and returned
home. All his life was full of events, travels and adventures, the experience of which
became the basis for his works. Among them are: «The Sun also Rises», «A Farewell to
Arms», "The Killers", “Death in the Afternoon”, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and others.
But not only is the experience of adult life reflected in the works of the author,
childhood and difficult relationships with parents also strongly influenced Hemingway.
His father was a doctor, and his mother was an opera singer. They had different views on
the upbringing of children, the father was unnecessarily strict, and the mother spoiled
him very much. However, it was with his father that he developed a better relationship,
because the mother's attitude towards her son was strange. Until the age of 6,
Hemingway wore dresses and did not get a haircut. In addition, Grace - Hemingway's
mother - called her son "dolly", at an older age, she forced him to study music, which he
later hated. The writer often raised the issue of loss of masculinity in his works.
He could not endure the "matriarchy" in the family and left home at the age of 21.
Since then, relations with his parents began to deteriorate, they did not recognize his
passion for writing. When Hemingway was successful and sent home several copies of
his book, his parents returned them to the publisher, writing to their son that they did not
want to keep such disgusting books in their house. Despite the categorical attitude of his
parents, Ernst was always polite and respectful to them. However, these events greatly
affected his life.
 “Indian camp” is a short story by Ernest Hemingway written in 1921. It’s about a
little boy, Nick, who, along with his father and uncle, are heading to an Indian camp. The
boy's father is a doctor who goes to help an Indian woman with childbirth. Although the
story is presented as third-person narration, however, all events are given through the
perception of the boy, we learn what he sees and hears.
The text can be divided into 4 parts:
1. Exposition: The story takes place in an Indian camp in the state of Michigan
(the cities of St. Louis and St. Ignace are mentioned in the text). It probably takes place
around 1910 based on the fact that Hemingway himself was a child at that time and his
own father also was a doctor, who also paid doctor’s calls among Indians in Michigan.
2. Complication: The author tells about the serious condition of the woman,
describes the operation that was carried out by Nick's father. The doctor explained to his
son every action, he wanted to show him the peculiarities of the doctor's work. After a
successful operation, the doctor decided to help the father of the child, who was injured
and needed his help.
3. Climax: The doctor found that the Indian had committed suicide by cutting
his own throat. They tried to get Nick out of the room, but he had time to see everything.
The author does not disclose the real reasons for suicide, but I can offer three: The first
one is the man decided that his wife and child died, because after the childbirth, she lost
consciousness, and the child did not immediately begin to breathe.
The second reason - the man could not bear the cruelty of the situation, he was
under pressure, because he was next to his wife for all three days, while she was in
agony, trying to give birth, while he himself was seriously injured all this time. And
when he heard the doctor's cruel words that “her screams are not important” and that he
had no anaesthetic, so he would make the operation without it. It was a great shock for a
man who had been under emotional stress for a long time.
And the third one is that uncle George was the real father of the child, which is
confirmed by the fact that he had friendly relationships with the Indians, he handed out
the cigars to the Indians like the father, held the woman in labor during the operation, and
stayed in the camp after it. And the husband of that woman could not cope with his own
shame and his wife's infidelity.
 4. Denouement: Nick was perplexed about the reasons for the Indian's act, his
father explained this by saying that the man "could not stand things." They returned
alone, Nick lost in thought, he felt quite sure that he would never die.
The main characters are Nick and his father. Nick was a little boy, the son of a
doctor. He helped his father during the operation, he was a very calm and obedient child,
performed all the tasks and turned his head away when his father ordered him. Nick
showed respect for an Indian woman who was in pain. He was worried about her
condition. It was the first thing he asked his father, even after seeing the dead man. He
faced life and death at the same time, but even after that, he felt safe.
His father was very professional doctor. He was a confident and domineering
person, never showed confusion. He gave orders to everyone without hesitation. He was
a teacher for his son, he told and showed everything that happened during the operation.
However, suicide exceeded the level of cruelty that he wanted to show his son. He
regretted that Nick had witnessed that.
The main problem of this story is life and death or the cycle of life. The author
emphasizes the cyclicity twice: firstly, with the help of framing: At the beginning and
end of the story, the main characters are in a boat and floating on a lake. But there are a
few significant differences: this is the atmosphere and the position of Nick and his father.
On the way to the camp in the boat, Nick is sitting in his father's arms; on the way back,
Nick sits on the opposite end of the boat. The atmosphere at the beginning of the story
was tense, even sinister: their silent, cold, misty, wet and dark way to the Indian camp. In
the final part of the story, the atmosphere is softened by the father’s concern and regrets,
sweetly naming his son Nickie. The darkness is replaced with daylight, and Nick is
enlightened by his father’s answers to his questions.
«A bass jumped, making a circle in the water» - this is the second hint of cyclicity.
I think, this story is the story of a little boy growing up. He faces life and death
with a courage that the adult Indian man does not have. Nick is stronger than him. He is
sure that he will never die, because comparing himself to that Indian, he realizes that he
can stand many things.