Indian Camp
Group 5
李玠賢 廖翌喬 李欣儒 郭哲妤 馮瑩芝
About the writer of
Indian Camp
Ernest Miller
Hemingway
• 1899-1961
• One of the most
famous novelist in the
20th century
• Hemingway’s writing
style
• Other famous works:
• The Old Man and the Sea
• A Farewell to Arms
• For Whom the Bell Tolls
About Indian Camp
•The fourth short story written by
Hemingway
•Both of Indian Camp and another
work The Killer narrate the character
Nick’s growth and exposure to the
dark side of the world
STORY LINE
The Story Line
•Nick and his father with Uncle George
went to an Indian camp to practice
medicine
•Inside on a wooden bunk lay a young
Indian woman who was being in labor
•Nick witnessed his father performed a
surgery with his big kettle without any
anaesthetic on the pregnant
The Story Line
•The husband of the Indian woman
couldn’t bear the torture that his wife was
undergoing, so he cut his throat from ear
to ear
• The dialogue between Nick and his
father revealed the importance of death
Analysis
• Medical Ethic
• "Oh, Daddy, can't you give her
something to make her stop
screaming?" asked Nick.
"No. I haven't any anaesthetic," his
father said. "But her screams are not
important. I don't hear them because
they are not important."
"That's one for the medical journal,
George," he said. "Doing a
Caesarian with a jack-knife and
sewing it up with nine-foot, tapered
gut leaders."
Life and Death
"Is dying hard, Daddy?"
"No, I think it's pretty easy,
Nick. It all depends."
Main characters
• Nick Adams
• Nick’s father (Dr. Adams)
• Uncle George
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Supporting roles:
The young Indian lady (give birth to a baby)
The husband (suicide)
The young Indian (assistant)
About the Characters
Nick Adams
• a leading role
• Nick represents young Hemingway?
Compare these two parts
we find that
• New born baby: (should be happy)
 Nick never looked at it.
(Nick os: wow it’s so hard and
terrible!)
• Suicide husband: (should be horrible)
 Nick saw it clearly.
(Nick os: Ah! That seems fast and
easy!)
Nick’s father (the doctor)
• Being "professionally cool"
• Based on Hemingway's own father,
Clarence Hemingway
• He cared nothing about the
woman’s pain
• scary and ironic
Uncle George (Nick’s uncle)
• a shady character
• Did he hold some secrets or scare?
Uncle George (Nick’s uncle)
• Why did Uncle George keep
looking at his arm?
• Where did he go?
• Was it fear? Or something else?
• Difficult situation
• Skeptics...
Skeptics talk about
Uncle George
Later when he started to operate
Uncle George and three Indian men
held the woman still.
She bit Uncle George on the arm
and Uncle George said, "Damn
squaw bitch!" and the young Indian
who had rowed Uncle George over
laughed at him.
Across the bay they found the
other boat beached. Uncle
George was smoking a cigar in
the dark. The young Indian
pulled the boat way up on the
beach. Uncle George gave both
the Indians cigars.
• squaw bitch  a sign of intimacy ?
• cigars  giving of cigars by the
father of a newborn baby ?
• Also stays behind after the birth.
 Uncle George is the father of the
baby?
Symbolic Meanings
in the Story
The doctor
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The civilized world
Scientific
The pursuit for stable lives
Rational
Ex: the doctor’s behavior after he
came to the camp.
The Indian camp
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The backward society
Primitive
Irrational
The dark side of mankind
Ex: the Indian husband who
committed suicide.
Cultural inequality
Race
•The white (the doctor)
civilized, scientific, secure, and
rational side of life
• The Indian camp dark, primitive,
irrational side of life
Racial discrimination
1.There is no help given by Nick’s
father or uncle in rowing the boat
2.Uncle George gave Indians cigars.
Cigar means a hand-out given by
white people
3.Images of darkness and dirtiness
are used to explain the condition of
the Indian camp
4.Doing a Cassarian with a jackknife and sewing it up with ninefoot, tapered gut leader
5.Dr.Adam felt exalted and talkative
as football players are in dressing
room after a game
To sum up, the whole story shows
the Supermacism to such an extent
Sexual discrimination
Sexual discrimination
1. The woman is wordless and the
only noise she made reflects the
pain of her very female-specific
condition
2. “Damn squaw bitch.”
 Squaw refers to Indian woman,
which is often demanding
3.Her screams are not important
don’t hear them because they are
not important
Masculine stoicism
ignore pain of others, especially
women and minority
Life and Death
Contrast
• A short story covers through life
and death
• Newborn
→ Mother suffering between life
and death
→ Father suicide
Initially Recognizing
• Initiated to the adult world of
childbirth and death, curious and
confused
• Partial recognition—know death is
“easy” but neglect that giving birth
is difficult
Death
• Which is easier, life or death?
• Is the father’s death meaningless?
• Mother’s painful screaming. Doctor’s
indifference
→father’s death
• Nick’s partial recognition
→death is easy and he would never
die by such means
Ethics
The Doctor-Devil or Angel?
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Didn’t use anaesthetic
Inappropriate tools
The sharp pain of the parturient
The grief of the husband
The Doctor-Devil or Angel?
• Rescued two lives
• Showed the profound meaning of
life for his son
The Doctor-Devil or Angel?
• Racialism?
• Patriarchal consciousness?
• Emotional detachment?
Conclusion
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Medical Ethic
Life and Death
Gender Issue
Race
Thank you for your
listening