"Indian Camp" By Ernest Hemingway

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Indian Camp The short story "Indian Camp" by Ernest Hemingway describes Nick's journey into experiencing the cycle of life and death. He witnesses a baby being born, a suicidal man's dead body, and also his father and uncle's obvious prejudice towards "Indians", all in one night. The story does not contain many details, which gives the readers a lot to think about after reading it. The two major themes of the story are the fear of death and the racial domination between Caucasians and natives. The two themes are presented throughout the plot of the story with the help of the setting, symbolism, diction and the conversations between the main characters. The story begins when Nick, his father and Uncle George are on their way to an Indian camp in order to help a pregnant woman. The camp is in wilderness, everywhere is dark. The pregnant woman lives in a shanty with poor conditions. Although the story is narrated from Nick's point of view, the dirtiness and death-like atmosphere is presented clearly by the way he describes the setting. His father delivers the baby while the woman experiences a lot of pain. Nick refuses to watch the whole process because the experience is beyond his tolerance. On their way back, he sees the woman's husband killed in a brutal way. As a child, he is not ready to face the fear of death yet. He asks questions about death from his father. As a symbol of masculinity, his father answers him in short sentences and with a manly silence. This silence affects both Nick and the reader, since it makes them feel the fear of death. After a few minutes of thinking, he decides not to die. Hemingway shows Nick's innocence when he writes “he felt quite sure that he would never die"(268). As an innocent child, he decides to deny death and avoid it. Using the word "would" instead of will, shows his certainty, as if he does not know that death is

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