Cycle of Life and Death in Indian Camp Essay

Indian Camp

The short story "Indian Camp" by Ernest Hemingway describes Nick's journey into experiencing the cycle of life and death. He witnesses a baby being born, a suicidal man's dead body, and also his father and uncle's obvious prejudice towards "Indians", all in one night. The story does not contain many details, which gives the readers a lot to think about after reading it. The two major themes of the story are the fear of death and the racial domination between Caucasians and natives. The two themes are presented throughout the plot of the story with the help of the setting, symbolism, diction and the conversations between the main characters.

The story begins when Nick, his father and Uncle George are on their way to an Indian camp in order to help a pregnant woman. The camp is in wilderness, everywhere is dark. The pregnant woman lives in a shanty with poor conditions. Although the story is narrated from Nick's point of view, the dirtiness and death-like atmosphere is presented clearly by the way he describes the setting. His father delivers the baby while the woman experiences a lot of pain. Nick refuses to watch the whole process because the experience is beyond his tolerance. On their way back, he sees the woman's husband killed in a brutal way. As a child, he is not ready to face the fear of death yet. He asks questions about death from his father. As a symbol of masculinity, his father answers him in short sentences and with a manly silence. This silence affects both Nick and the reader, since it makes them feel the fear of death. After a few minutes of thinking, he decides not to die. Hemingway shows Nick's innocence when he writes he felt quite sure that he would never die"(268). As an innocent child, he decides to deny death and avoid it. Using the word "would" instead of will, shows his certainty, as if he does not know that death is inevitable. The fear of death has always been something unknown to him, so this is probably the closest he has ever felt to death. Although the experience shows Nick's sudden personal growth, its main point is to create a feeling of fear into the readers' hearts.

Furthermore, the cultural inequality between the group of white people and the natives is revealed as one reads through. At the beginning of the story, Uncle George hands out cigars to two Indian men. This can be considered as a sign of competition, as he tries to show off his superiority. In addition, Nicks father is shown as a responsible doctor. However, halfway through the story his true personality is revealed when he lets Nick watch the procedure. He treats the woman like an animal and acts as if the whole thing is a show, from which his son should learn lessons. Nick notices the painful screams of the woman, but his father says they are not that important. The most racist and cruel line in the story is when the woman bites Uncle Georges hand, and he calls her damn squaw bitch!(267). This shows his lack of foresight because he does not consider the womans condition and talks to her worst than a master talks to his dog. Moreover, the doctor pays more attention to the bite on Georges hand than the screaming woman having her baby. Even after delivering her baby, not only he sews her up with fishing supplies, he is proud to have his accomplishment recorded on the medical journal. One might even wonder that maybe he is not carrying his medical kit on purpose, so that he can perform a new experiment and challenge his abilities. It seems that anything is more important to him than the woman who has had a caesarean. One of the possibilities that might have caused the husband to commit suicide is the fact that he observes how white people are gaining the control of their lives. He understands that if the doctor has not been there, his wife would not have survived. He is ashamed of depending on their help, so he decides to end his mystery and kill himself. He cannot see the way his wife is suffering and also the disrespectful way these men treat her. These are all evidences that prove the inequality and racial domination between the two groups, which is an important theme of the story. Since the story is being told throughout a partial and innocent point of view, it is not a racist story. However, it is clearly showing the racism that exists within the society. The author does not choose sides and leaves the judgement to the readers.

In conclusion, this story is very unique mostly because of the way it is narrated. There is not much use of emotions or feelings. The story is mostly based on conversations and events. It ends without a conclusion and leaves the reader a lot to think about. With this in mind, Hemingway does a remarkable job by developing different themes and creating conflicts for his readers, especially in such a short context.