INDIAN CAMP In Our Time is a collection of short stories by Ernest Hemingway.It was published in 1925, and marked Ernest Hemingway's American debut. It contains several well-known Hemingway works, including the Nick Adams stories "Indian Camp", "The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife", "The Three Day Blow", and "The Battler", and introduces readers to the hallmarks of the Hemingway style. SUMMARY This story is a good example of the “initiation story,” a short story that centres on a main character who comes into contact with an idea, experience, ritual, or knowledge that he did not previously know. Hemingway wrote a number of initiation stories, or as they are sometimes referred to, “rite of passage” stories, and the main character in most of these stories is Nick Adams, a young man much like Hemingway himself. In this story, Nick Adams is a very young boy in the Michigan north woods, accompanying his father, Dr. Adams, and his uncle George to an American Indian camp on the other side of a lake. Hemingway’s own father was a doctor, who spent much time with his son in the northern woods of Michigan (most critics read this story as somewhat autobiographical). Here, a very young Nick is initiated into concepts that remained of highest importance to Hemingway throughout his writing career: life and death; suffering, pain, and endurance; and suicide. Nick’s father goes to the American Indian camp to help a young American Indian woman who has been screaming because of severe labour pains for two days, still unable to deliver her baby. When Dr. Adams arrives, she is lying in a bottom bunk; her husband, who cut his foot badly with an axe three days before, is lying in the bunk bed above her. Doctor Adams asks Nick to assist him, holding a basin of hot water while four American Indian men hold down the woman. Using his fishing jack-knife as a scalpel, Dr. Adams performs a caesarean on the woman, delivers the baby boy, then sews up the woman’s incision with some gut leader line from his fishing tackle. Exhilarated by the success of his impromptu, improvised surgery, Doctor Adams looks into the top bunk and discovers that the young American Indian husband, who listened to his wife screaming during her labour pains and during the caesarean, has cut his throat. Although this very short story deals with violence and suffering, with birth and death, sexism and racism, Hemingway’s emphasis is not on the shocking events themselves; instead, Hemingway shows the effect of birth and death on young Nick Adams. Nick’s progression in this short story is vividly portrayed in polarities. For instance, on the way to the camp in the boat, Nick is sitting in his father’s arms; on the way back, Nick sits on the opposite end of the boat. Similarly, while his father wants Nick to witness the birth (and his surgical triumph), Nick turns his head away; when the American Indian husband is discovered dead in his bed, Nick sees it, even though his father wants to protect him from it. The fact that Nick sits across from his father in the boat on the way back after this experience can indicate a pulling out from underneath his father’s influence. The young boy asks his father why the young American Indian man cut his throat and is told, “I don’t know. . . . He couldn’t stand things, I guess.” However, there are more subtle undercurrents for the American Indian husband’s suicide as well. The treatment and attitude of Dr. Adams toward the woman, who is an American Indian, are key also. When Dr. Adams tells Nick that her screaming is not important, it is at this point that the American Indian husband rolls over in his bunk toward the shanty PC/TSRS-DLF/ENG-XII/06 Page 1 of 4 Uncle George. as he is found later. then. he did not have the courage and strength to cope with it. Some have suggested that Uncle George is possibly the father of the child. This strong. as he seems to have a friendly relationship with the American Indians in the beginning of the story and hands out cigars to everyone after the birth. clearly disturbed by the scene. exuberant camaraderie over the job well done. the baby is brought into the world by a Caesarean section. he does not kill himself. women rarely do. Adams and Nick leave. Additionally. authentic man never succumbs. The physician assesses the situation in the closed. Nick’s father and Uncle George exhibit more ideal male behaviour. Nick’s father says that he probably killed himself because he could not stand it. Adams emphasizes to Nick that although this young American Indian man committed suicide. Here. In this masculine atmosphere. it focuses on the experience of the doctor rather than the woman. While this failure to confront the events at hand indicates fear. and he treats this incident with silence himself. Hemingway would write about men who could “stand things” and men who couldn’t “stand things. His handing out cigars to the men present could possibly be interpreted as paternity. Nick vows never to succumb to fear. Uncle George and Nick’s father have a playful. Instead. the reader learns that Nick feels “quite safe—that he would never die. Nick’s father could not think much of this man’s courage because he brought his young son to see what the father could not stand.” Even at this young age. although one could also surmise that he is simply sharing his way of celebrating the miracle of birth with the American Indians. With him are his young son and an older male relative.wall. Plus. He failed his test of manhood. Hemingway turns a typically female act in a female space into a male-dominated situation. mortal life.” A real. most of all. Hemingway explores how this young boy matures and how his vow never to bow to fear is central to the crisis in each story. In his later stories about Nick Adams. The woman does not even have a role in such an operation. He called this strength “grace under pressure. the suicide of the Indian father.” no matter how violent and painful the situation is. it can also indicate the American Indian husband’s resignation to the thoughtless racism of the White men who have come to help her. seems to be an example of a man acting in a feminine manner. pungent hut and determines that his only option is section--with a pen knife and fishing leader as his PC/TSRS-DLF/ENG-XII/06 Page 2 of 4 . silent masculinity reappears throughout these stories. Following the interpretation of Uncle George being the baby’s father. instead of a natural childbirth. Although this story is about a childbirth. And. Nick’s father does not hesitate to examine the state of the man’s body. Fear conquered the young American Indian man. After the birth. he stays behind in the camp after Dr. after slitting his own throat with a razor. During the boat trip back across the lake. Dr. Commentary This story introduces the theme of masculinity in these stories. From a fishing trip the local doctor is summoned to an Indian village to assist a woman in labour. His resolve never to bow to fear is so great that he’s ready to defy even the concept of natural. Throughout his entire writing career. while Nick and his father are talking.” Of vital importance to him was the concept of being able to “stand things. which is a surgical procedure. This kind of stoicism is what Nick's father seems to want to teach Nick—he does not give Nick long answers to his questions. simply withdraws from company. this squaw is held down by the men present as a man takes over the role of child-birthing. Ironically. both Hemingway and his father committed suicide. the husband’s suicide could be seen as an inability to deal with his own shame and the cuckoldry of his wife. facing death bravely. The rite of manhood for the Code Hero is facing death. The Code Hero is typically an individualist and free-willed. courage and endurance in a world that is sometimes chaotic. setting up In Our Time as a model of Hemingway's style and the Code Hero. Even the young man in Hills Like White Elephants contained many of the characteristics of the Code Hero such as free-willed. Although he believes in the ideals of courage and honour he has his own set of morals and principles based on his beliefs in honour. The travel trait is obvious by the mention of the stickers on the luggage denoting the many places they had been. individualist. The individualism comes out in his desire to not have a child. has silently slit his own throat. Hemingway defined the Code Hero as "a man who lives correctly. The first Nick Adam story. The Code Hero is present in the majority of Hemingway's novels. following the ideals of honour. if ever.instruments. is it morally acceptable to treat patients as though they were animals? The medical treatment of the labouring woman is unquestionably life-saving. apparently unable to tolerate his wife's pain and the racism of the white visitors. The technique and characterization contained in In Our Time is consistent with most of Hemingway's later writings. What justification is there for forcing a child to become part of a brutal sequence of medical events? When. and always painful. racism. Ignatius. celebrates his success as a surgeon only to discover that the woman's husband. The birth and growth of the Code Hero can be easily observed simply by watching the growth and development of Nick Adams throughout Hemingway's writing. According to Professor Paul Totah of St. In the end the Code Hero will lose because we are all mortal. but the true measure is how a person faces death." The Code Hero measures himself by how well they handle the difficult situations that life throws at him. The child. who has observed the entire proceedings asks. Nick's witnessing of the Indian's suicide introduces him to death for the first time. but only briefly. but the cruel insensitivity of the two white men contributes to the unnecessary death of the infant's father. often stressful. Instead of being frightened or sickened by the PC/TSRS-DLF/ENG-XII/06 Page 3 of 4 . courage and endurance. Qualities such as bravery. The doctor arrogantly. and no anaesthesia for the Indian woman. A final trait of the Code Hero is his dislike of the dark. and sexism in the professional relationship are all aired in these five pages. Nick Adams as Code Hero In Our Time Ernest Hemingway is noted for having made many contributions to the literary world and one of his most notorious contributions is the Code Hero. In Our Time was the second book Hemingway had published. terse piece from Hemingway's Nick Adams stories is laden with ethical problems. In Our Time contains a various assortment of Nick Adam stories at various stages of his life and also shows the Code Hero at various stages of its development. "Is dying hard. adventuresome and travel also define the Code Hero. His free will comes out also in his desire not to be a father. Duties to children and to patients. It would solidify the group aspect of a family between him and the lady. once he faces death bravely and becomes a man he must continue the struggle and constantly prove himself to retain his manhood (Totah). If he were a father he would have to begin making decisions for his child and family. as well as simple inhumanity. making In Our Time the first time Hemingway revealed the Code Hero to the rest of the world. His first contained only three short stories and ten poems and had little to do with the Code Hero. and travel. It symbolizes death and is a source of fear for him. However. Indian Camp shows Nick as a young boy and also shows Nick as he experiences the main characteristic of the Code Hero. not just for himself. Daddy?" This very short. The fear of darkness is also touched upon in Indian Camp. When Nick first goes to the camp it is dark and he sits in the boat with his father's arm around him. PC/TSRS-DLF/ENG-XII/06 Page 4 of 4 . The light shining on the water and warmth that Nick feels is also mentioned along with Nick's thought that he would never die. Nick draws strength and sanctuary from the morning as opposed to the night before. When Nick leaves the camp it is light outside.experience. Nick's feeling that he would never die shows this as an early stage in his development into a Code Hero. yet. Nick stays strong and asks his father questions about it instead. Nick runs his hand through the water. providing a sense of security. which is described as warm and provides the sense of security that his father had to provide during the night. He has not accepted the inevitability of death.