Indian Camp By Ernest Hemingway Analysis

The usage of baggage as a symbol is consistently present throughout Hemingway’s stories of “Indian Camp,” “Big Two Hearted River,” and “Hills Like White Elephants;” baggage is representative of the memories that one possesses and how they are affected by the passage of time. In “Indian Camp,” Nick and his father entered the tent of an indian woman in order to aid her in the birth of her child, and Dr. Adams proceeded to unwrap a handkerchief full of his tools. Prior to washing his hands and beginning to operate, the doctor handed the tools to the Native-American woman and said, “those must boil.” Dr. Adams boiling away the impurities from his baggage parallels how he must rid himself of all distractions and empathy in order to use his knowledge

He had his leather rod case in his hand and leaning forward to keep the weight of the pack high on his shoulders, he walked along the road.” The pack being so heavy that it pulls him backwards is indicative of how Nick is constantly reminded of the war despite his futile attempt to make progress without regression. While awaiting a train in “Hills Like White Elephants,” an American man and a girl concluded an argument about the fate of their unborn child; the couple was deciding whether to have an abortion or to continue in their strife with the addition of a third member to their relationship. When their conversation concluded, “he picked up the two heavy bags and carried them around the station to the other tracks.” The man picking up and moving the heavy bags mirrors how he and the girl are making a decision about their child; the child had tainted the only baggage which all must bear, their memories, and by moving the bags the couple reveals their decision to have an abortion. Hemingway’s perspective of women and children being an embodiment of a white elephant is fundamental in his perception that memories weigh down a man and increase the difficulty to change; throughout “Indian Camp,” “ Big Two Hearted River,” and “Hills Like White Elephants,” baggage is a hinderance to the possessor, but a help to