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Indian Camp Essay

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Indian Camp is written by Ernest Hemingway. The story is about Nick, Nick’s father and Nick’s uncle; George. They are rowed across the lake by two Indians. Nick’s father is going to perform a caesarian operation on a woman who has been in labor for two days. When they arrive at the shore, they are walking through a logging road to enter the shanties. Inside the shanties nick can here the woman scream. Her husband is also there, lying in the upper bunk. Nicks father performs the caesarian operation on the woman with a jackknife. After the operation the husband of the woman has committed suicide. He has cut his own throat. Nick sees him lying in his own blood. Nick and his father sails home in the daylight, but the uncle stays at the camp. Nick asks his father some questions, and lets his hand trail through the water, and in that moment he feels quite sure he will never die.
Nick is the main character of this short story. Nick is a young boy accompanying his father, a doctor, on a mission (Nick lay back with his father’s arm around him. p. 12, s.11-10). In this text Nick gets to experience a very traumatic thing; suicide. Nick seems quite interested in the process of the work, because he handles the situation without crying or really having a reaction in that major. In the ending of the story Nick says he felt quite sure he will never die. He asked his father why the husband committed suicide, and his father answered that he thinks it is because that he just couldn’t stand things, he had no strength to see his wife in pain. Nick does now feel that he has so much strength because he has witnessed these traumatic and painful things, so now nothing can kill him. He feels immortal.
Nick’s father is a doctor. He seems very ambitious (he was feeling exalted and talkative as football players are in the dressing room after a game. P. 15 s. 19-20) and quite focused on his job, because he only talks to nick and the uncle, that could very well be because of a professional attitude towards his job. He wants his son to become a doctor as well, (how do you like being an intern? p. 14, s. 40) therefore he takes Nick out on this mission even though he might not be as developed to watch the process as an adult would be.
Nick and his father’s relationship is a very trustful relationship. Nick trusts his father because he gets in to the boat without asking any questions about destination. Nicks father wants to show him how the life of a doctor (himself) is. They have a comfortable relationship and nick feels very safe with his father (Nick lay back with his father’s arm around him. p. 12, s.11-10).
In my opinion the theme in the story is personal development. In one day he experiences life and death, and when the day is over he has grown mentally. Another theme could also be the father-son relationship. They have both experienced the horrible suicide, and it seems like their relationship has grown after this experience (on their way to the camp Nick sits in his father’s arm and on their way back Nick sits in the opposite end of the boat.
I don’t think a parent should protect their kids about serious aspects of adult life in every way. I think every kid should make their own experiences and grow naturally with the experiences. If kids have been protected from these things their whole childhood, they would have no idea of how to react and handle the situations as they grow up and become adults.

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