indian camp

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

• 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

• The civilized world

• Scientific

• The pursuit for stable lives

• Rational

• Ex: the doctor’s behavior after he came to the camp.

The Indian camp• 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 discrimination1.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 jack-knife and sewing it up with nine-foot, 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?

• 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

• Racialism?

• Patriarchal consciousness?

• Emotional detachment?

The Doctor-Devil or Angel?

Conclusion• Medical Ethic

• Life and Death

• Gender Issue

• Race

Thank you for your listening