Indian Camp

Factual Information

"Indian Camp" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway.

Characters

Nick

Nick is a young boy who goes on a trip with his dad to an Indian Camp. He has no idea of what he is going to encounter when he arrives because his father did not tell him where they were going or why. The story is based on Nick's experiences at the Indian Camp.

Nick's father

Nick's father is a doctor who goes to the Indian Camp to help a young Indian woman give birth to her baby. Towards Nick he is very caring and he seems to be a good father.

Uncle George

Uncle George goes along with Nick and his father to the Indian Camp. He doesn't seem to be as nice and caring as Nick's father. The narrator of the story gives the reader the impression that he doesn't have any sort of attachments, and shows up whenever he wants to.

Metaphors

Nick and his father set out for the Indian Camp during the nighttime and come back during the day. This is a metaphor for Nick not knowing what he is going to encounter and then coming out of the whole situation by learning a few life lessons. "Other metaphoric relationships (father and son, white man and Indian, middle-class and poor) serve important purposes in this compelling story"(34).

Major Themes

One major theme of this story is how Nick matured after he witnessed both life and death. He went into the camp as being a young inexperienced boy on what seemed to be a fishing trip with his father. The trip ended up being to an Indian Camp where his father had to help a young Indian woman give birth to her baby. While they were there, the baby's father committed suicide. Nick witnessed birth and death on this trip. He came out with questions about life and death he would have never had before. Although Nick did mature a great deal, he is still young and doesn't fully understand everything he witnessed. ". . .he felt quite sure he would never die"(31). Nick doesn't yet understand that everyone has to die at some point in their life. Another theme of the story was how the doctor treated the Indians in the story. He was very caring towards Nick, but when it came to the Indians he acted as if they had no feelings. "But her screams are not important. I don't hear them because they are not important"(29). He didn't seem to care that he was in terrible pain and just continued with the surgery.

Works Cited

Sipiora, Phillip. “Indian Camp.” Reading and Writing about Literature. New Jersey: Upper Saddle River, 2002.