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Paige Brewer

Professor Diehl

HUMN-2010-A

February 13, 2024

What breaks Nick Adam’s heart?

The heartbreak that I will be addressing is the relationship between Nick Adams and his

dad Doctor Adams. The relationship between Nick and his dad is very intriguing because the

dynamic between them is something that you don’t see very often. The stories that we see this

relationship that I will be talking about are “Indian Camp”, “The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife”,

and “Ten Indians”. I think that the relationship between Nick and his dad is the most significant

heartbreak because even though they have an interesting relationship his dad has put him through

so much trauma, and it effects Nick’s relationship with everyone that enters his life. As you read

this paper I will elaborate more on my thoughts.

The first story that we see an interaction between Nick and his dad is “Indian Camp” and

in this story Nick witnesses seeing child labor, suicide, and see his dad in doctor mode. Nick sees

his dad in a professional manor but also focused on just getting the baby out and not about

anything else that is going on. “There’s some stitches to put in. You can watch this or not, Nick,

just as you like. I’m going to sew up the incision I made” (Hemingway 93). Here is where we

can interpret that Doctor Adams is letting Nick see what he wants to see. In this story we can’t

tell how old Nick is but we can gather that Nick is pretty young and to witness everything that he

witnesses in this story you would think that his dad would make him wait outside. “Nick,

standing in the door of the kitchen, had a good view of the upper bunk when his father, the lamp
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in one hand, tipped the Indian’s head back” (Hemingway 94). In this section this is when Nick

witnesses suicide. As we can see already at a young age Nick has already been traumatized with

childbirth and suicide. The last thing that I want to mention is that at the end of this story Nick

and his dad don’t talk much about what happened and they get back in their boat and ride off. We

can also see that Nick will go with his dad anywhere because this was a last-minute delivery and

Nick chose to go in with his dad. So, they clearly have some sort of a strong bond and Nick’s dad

is not opposed to it.

In the next story that we see Nick and his dad interact is “The Doctor and the Doctors

wife”. Even though an interaction with Nick and his dad isn’t shown until the end of the story we

can see a different angle of their relationship. In this story we can tell that Nick’s parents are

clearly not together as normal parents are. They sleep in two separate rooms and Doctor Adams

wife seems almost afraid of or tired of dealing with Doctor Adams. Also, they both believe in

different things like Doctor Adams believes in medication while his wife doesn’t believe in

doctors. Just from this we can see that there is probably tension in the house already and Nick

can see it. “He found Nick sitting with his back against a tree, reading. Your mother wants you to

come and see her, the doctor said. I want to go with you, Nick said” (Hemingway 103). We can

see that Nick can clearly see that his dad is upset or irritated with something and instead of going

to see his mom he stays with his dad. As we dive into this it makes me question if Nick always

tries to make his dad feel better and if so then that plays an impact on Nick and how he is in the

future. Nick tries to make his dad feel better and we can see Nick do this later on with his “best

friend” Bill and try to help Bill get over what he had going on. This also shows that Nick doesn’t

have a relationship with his mom because we never see Nick interact with his mom so maybe
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Nick sides with his dad to not only make him feel better but also because his dad is his role

model and is more adventurous.

The last story that we see Nick and his father is “Ten Indians”. In this story Nick spend

the 4th of July with his friend and their parents. Then when he goes home his dad breaks the news

that his “crush” Prudence was getting around with another guy. Before diving into this my first

question was why is Nick not celebrating with his parents? As we get further into the story when

Nick does go back home his mother is nowhere to be seen and his dad is trying to butter him up

with pie and being strange. When his dad broke the news about Prudence Nick was heartbroken.

“His father got up from the table and went out the kitchen screen door. When he came back Nick

was looking at his plate. He had been crying” (Hemingway 335). I don’t think Nick was

expecting himself to be so upset but this news lead Nick into his biggest heartbreak of them all

and his dad had been the one to break the news. In this story his dad doesn’t try as hard to make

Nick feel better like how nick tries to make his dad feel better. I also think that the fact that his

dad broke the news to him made it hurt even worse.

In conclusion, we see that Nick and his dad go through so much together. Nick witnesses'

childbirth, suicide, different part of his dad, helps his dad feel better, and receives the most heart-

breaking news from his dad. Clearly, we can see that his mom isn’t around, so Doctor Adams is

all Nick has and because of this he has been through so much trauma and didn’t have anyone else

and never asked questions. Nick took everything as it is, and this effects every decision that he

makes in the future.

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Work Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. “The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway”.

New York: Charles Scribnurs Sons, 1966.