Ernest Hemingway pulled from his past present experiences to develop his own thoughts concerning death, relationships, and lies. He then mixed these ideas, along with a familiar setting, to create a masterpiece. One such masterpiece written early in Hemingway's career is the short story, "Indian Camp." "Indian Camp" was originally published in the collection of "in Our Time" in 1925. A brief summary reveals that the main character, a teenager by the name of Nick, travels across a lake to an Indian village. While at the village Nick observes his father, who is a doctor, deliver a baby to an Indian by caesarian section. As the story continues, Nick's father discovers that the newborn's father has committed suicide. Soon afterward Nick and his father engage in a discussion about death, which brings the story to an end. With thought and perception a reader can tell the meaning of the story. The charters of Nick and his father resemble the relationship of Hemingway and his father. Hemingway grew up in Oak Park, a middle class suburb, under the watchful eye of his parents, Ed and Grace Hemingway. Ed Hemingway was a doctor who "occasionally took his son along on professional visits across Walloon Lake to the Ojibway Indians" during summer vacations (Waldhorn 7). These medical trips taken by Ernest and Ed would provide the background information needed to introduce nick and his father while on their medical trip in "Indian Camp." These trips were not the center point of affection between Ed and Ernest, but they were part of the whole. The two always shared a close father-son bond that Hemingway often portrayed in his works: Nick's close attachment to his father parallels Hemingway's relationship with Ed. The growing boy finds in the father, in both fiction and life, not only a teacher-guide but also a fixed refuge against the terrors of the emotional and spiritual unknown as they are encountered. In his father Ernest had someone to lean on (Shaw 14). In "Indian Camp," nick stays in his father's arms for a sense of security and this reinforces their close father-son relationship. When Nick sees the terror of death, in the form of suicide, his father is right there to comfort him. From this we are able to see how Nick has his father to, physically and mentally, "lean" on, much like Hemingway did (S...
... middle of paper ...
...egular job or move out" (Waldhorn 9). Both Hemingway and Krebs moved out and got jobs. Beyond a doubt, Hemingway wrote from his past experiences. In "Indian Camp," Hemingway used his own relationship with his father to breathe life into the fictional characters of Nick and his father. By leaving his childhood and entering the war, Hemingway recalled his own accounts of injuries and love that made up the character Henry and Barkley in A Farewell to Arms. And finally, with his return home after the war, Hemingway uses Krebs in "Soldier's Home" to express his distaste for the home life.
Bibliography
Gajduske, E. Robert. Hemingway's Paris. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978. Mahoney, John. Ernest Hemingway. New York: Barnes and Noble INC., 1967. McSowell, Nicholas. Life and Works of Hemingway. England: Wayland, 1988. Meyers, Jeffery. Hemingway: A Biography. New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1985. Shaw, Samuel. Ernest Hemingway. New York: Fredrick Ungar Publishing Company, 1974. Tessitore, John. The Hunt and The Feast, A life of Ernest Hemingway. New York: Franklin Watts, 1996. Waldhorn, Arthur. A Reader's Guide to Ernest Hemingway. New York: Octagon
*Paragraph Break*Both "Indian Camp" and "Soldier's Home" place young women in a secondary, objectified role. Hemingway takes this approach to focus attention on the psyches of his male protagonists, self-obsessed in their youth or war-weariness. It may not endear the author to feminist readers, but it does make for some powerful short fiction.
" The Hemingway Review. 15.1 (Fall 1995): p. 27. Literature Resource Center -.
In The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume II. Edited by Paul Lauter et al. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1991: 1208-1209. Hemingway, Ernest. A.
Hemingway constantly draws parallels to his life with his characters and stories. One blatant connection is with the short story, “Indian Camp,” in which an Indian baby is born and its father dies. As Nick is Hemingway’s central persona, the story revolves around his journey across a lake to an Indian village. In this story, Nick is a teenager watching his father practice as a doctor in an Indian village near their summer home. In one particularly important moment, Hemingway portrays the father as cool and collected, which is a strong contrast to the Native American “squaw’s” husband, who commits suicide during his wife’s difficult caesarian pregnancy. In the story, which reveals Hemingway’s fascination with suicide, Nick asks his father, “Why did he kill himself, daddy?” Nick’s father responds “I don’t kno...
This is a great website that has a lot of detailed information about Hemingway’s literary and personal life. Scholar Kelly Dupuis does an excellent job of sifting through the sometimes dense research done by Bruccoli and others, which makes the site clear and accessible.
Throughout the 20th century there were many influential pieces of literature that would not only tell a story or teach a lesson, but also let the reader into the author’s world. Allowing the reader to view both the positives and negatives in an author. Ernest Hemingway was one of these influential authors. Suffering through most of his life due to a disturbingly scarring childhood, he expresses his intense mental and emotional insecurities through subtle metaphors that bluntly show problems with commitment to women and proving his masculinity to others.
In the story “Fearless” Adam brown, a United States Navy Seal, was known by many people to be brave and courageous. He never backed down from a dare. In high school he earned the name Psycho (pg.8). Adam brown came from a military Family his dad served 4 years in the military (pg.12) adam would model off of that. When adam was a small child he didn't care about his personal safety and but if his sister would do anything he would become super protective. But when it came to his older brother, adam would always try to one up him.
When a writer picks up their pen and paper, begins one of the most personal and cathartic experiences in their lives, and forms this creation, this seemingly incoherent sets of words and phrases that, read without any critical thinking, any form of analysis or reflexion, can be easily misconstrued as worthless or empty. When one reads an author’s work, in any shape or form, what floats off of the ink of the paper and implants itself in our minds is the author’s personality, their style. Reading any of the greats, many would be able to spot the minute details that separates each author from another; whether it be their use of dialogue, their complex descriptions, their syntax, or their tone. When reading an excerpt of Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast one could easily dissect the work, pick apart each significant moment from Hemingway’s life and analyze it in order to form their own idea of the author’s voice, of his identity. Ernest Hemingway’s writing immediately comes across as rather familiar in one sense. His vocabulary is not all that complicated, his layout is rather straightforward, and it is presented in a simplistic form. While he may meander into seemingly unnecessary detail, his work can be easily read. It is when one looks deeper into the work, examines the techniques Hemingway uses to create this comfortable aura surrounding his body of work, that one begins to lift much more complex thoughts and ideas. Hemingway’s tone is stark, unsympathetic, his details are precise and explored in depth, and he organizes his thoughts with clarity and focus. All of this is presented in A Moveable Feast with expertise every writer dreams to achieve. While Hemingway’s style may seem simplistic on the surface, what lies below is a layered...
When we first encounter Nick Adams he is too young to be viewed as a strong masculine character. In the early story “Indian Camp” Nick is no more than a child tagging along with his father to assist in a medical procedure. Along with being chronologically practical, a starting point of weakness for Nick’s character brings up an important aspect of Hemingway’s views on masculine behavior; masculine behavior is not an internal, instinctive set of characteristics but rather is learned from observing authoritative male figures. Nick seeks out these role models from a young age, both directly and indirectly, in an attempt to gain an understanding of his own budding masculinity.
In terms of father-son relationships, the father is a very important role model for his son, and every boy needs a fatherly figure. In his collection of short stories that comprise In Our Time, Hemingway shows Nick Adams as a child that lives and learns under his father’s guidance. Dr. Adams is a central figure in two of the short stories, “Indian Camp” and “The Doctor ...
Hemingway, Ernest: The Short Stories. Simon and Schuster, New York, First Scribner Paperback Fiction Edition, 1995
There are many parallels to Hemingway’s life and his main character’s development. First in “Indian Camp” chapter one, we are introduced to Nick Adams and his father. They are on a boat going to an Indian camp to operate on a woman who cannot deliver her baby. The simple connection to Hemingway’s life is that his father was...
When Hemingway was growing up, he would perfect his fishing during his family’s summer vacations to Horton’s Bay. Right up until he decided to enlist in the army, his passion was fishing. The fishing trip in the book demonstrates that Jake can find happiness in the sun, without Brett. Spending time with two men that know the woman he loves makes him realize he is better off without Brett.
"Indian Camp," much like the boat that takes Nick Adams to shore, starts "off in the dark" (1). This dark engulfs Nick Adams as he begins his journey on an unknowing night that parallels his own lack of awareness. Not sure of where he and his father are being led, Nick is rowed toward his future by an Indian guide. By the end of the narrative the light of a new day rises, and with it an epiphany within Nick. Nick's experiences within the Indian camp have caused him to grow as a person and Hemingway's usage of light symbolizes this new understanding gained by Nick.
Hemingway's protagonist, Nick, in the short story "Indian Camp" rides curiously asking "where are we going, Dad? (28). Yet, being secure while Nick lay back with his father's arm around him (28). Upon arrival of the shanty lined beach, life's lesson begins to unfold. Nick's sympathy for the woman screaming in pain because of delivering a baby without anaesthetic unleashed a feeling of compassion. Nick's apathy for the final stage of the birthing process was the opposite of the elation his father and uncle felt. The moving education of Nick was witnessing the completed suicide of the indian man. The protagonist question of immortality was very poignant; especially when he asked his father " Is dying hard?" (31). Nick left with the feeling "that he would never die"(31). I can relate to Nick's experience in the story. I remember joyously going to a destination with my mother. I was elated to go work with my mother whose occupation was a counselor working for the City of Chicago Mental Health Center. The car stopped at the Chicago Reed Mental Hospital. The Sunday afternoon excursion turned from a fun car ride to a shocking reality check. The coming of age reality for me was seeing the young patients in the hospital being sedated due to sporatic outbursts, a young girl rocking against the padded walls of the room, and people talking to themselves incoherently. The lesson for me was to express myself in an positive manner and not keep problems bottled up on the inside. Why? I do not want to become insane and be institiutionalized.