Theories of the Indian Camp

I chose to write on Hemingway's "Indian Camp." I felt closer to this story than I did Joyce's story "Araby." There were many ideas that you can take from the story "Indian Camp." I had to read the story twice in order to get a feel for all the characters, especially, Uncle George. I did not really thing about who he was or his purpose in the story until we had group discussion.

Nick and his fathers place in the story were in some ways easy to understand. I personally feel that Nick's father, the physician, took Nick to the birth of the child for a learning experience. The father may have wanted Nick to follow in his footsteps. There could be many reasons that Nick's father wanted to take him along. "Indian Camp" does not really give the reader a good since of when the story took place. It is even possible that in a Native American culture that a child experiencing such things was a way of life for the Indians.

I felt more for the woman than I did any of the other characters. I am pregnant right now, so her position in the story touched me. It is true, Nick had to see the difficult birth of the child then see that the poor father had killed himself. That would be hard for anyone to bare. Imagining that I was in the position of the woman giving birth seems much harder to me. Being in labor for two days is enough to make me cringe. It does not say much about the child's father; only that he had cut his foot and was lying on the top bunk smoking his pipe. He did not have anything to do with the birth or help in any way. That and the fact that the child's father slit his own throat made me believe that he could not bare the intensity of the whole situation. It is possible that Uncle George's character could come in around the death of the father.

Uncle George's purpose in the story was not easy to understand like Nick, Nicks' father or the woman giving birth. I found there could have been many reasons for Nick's father to bring Nick to the birth; I also find many ideas for Uncle George's role in the story. Uncle George could have come along with Nick's father to assist him anyway that he was needed. Like I find with Nick, Uncle George could have come a long for the experience. Now if you really wanted to contemplate about Uncle George's character you maybe able to place him with having something to do with the child being born. The fact that he gave cigars to the young Indians could be a sign of celebration of the birth. It may have been a good gesture for helping pull the boat up on the beach. When it comes to the said father of the child killing himself, it could have been because he thought Uncle George was the real father. I personally do not find that to be the best conclusion to the suicide. In the end, Uncle George disappeared and Nick's father said that it's something that he has done before. I do not know why he disappeared but Nick's father saying, "It's something he's done before" leads me to believe that Uncle George was just there to assist in some way.

I enjoyed reading the short story and coming up with different theories of how and why the things happened the way they did. Stories that are easy to conceive are more enjoyable to sit and think about the many different reasons for the things that happened. Writing this blog and thinking about the story as much as I did has made me see that I should think just as hard about other story's such as Joyce's "Araby."