“No. I don't have any anesthetic. But his screams are not important. I don't hear them because they are not important." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay: Ernest Hemingway, Indian Camp, 1924 One of the most important lessons a young man should learn is the one he learned from his father. In "Indian Camp," Nick goes on his first trip to the barracks to witness a cesarean section, and his father demonstrates how to face adversity with stoicism. Beneath Hemingway's simple prose and plot of the father-son relationship reveals intense racial differences between the white man and the Indian, focusing on the hierarchy of authority. Hemingway explores Indian man's bitter response to the "savage versus civilized rivalry" that prevailed during early colonization through his careful use of imagery and symbolism. The story begins with Nick Adams, his father, and two other Indians traveling in the dark across the lake to an Indian camp. Hemingway creates the structure for Nick Adam's entry from his physical world into a metaphorical world. As soon as the Indians' boat docks at the beach, Uncle George delivers cigars to both Indians. The gesture does not seem to derive from a debt of Uncle George towards the doctor since the doctor is simply helping the patient. The act must have been an expression of gratitude, like a gift. The relationship between Uncle George and the Indians immediately reveals implications of a dominant and subordinate dynamic. Through this exchange, Dr. Adam likely gained a sense of superiority with the gesture. This scene is comparable to Columbus's logbook, where he commonly allowed for the appropriation of the homeland through the act of gift-giving. Subsequently, the journey of the Indians across the beach, over the meadows, over the woods and over the hills, closely resembles the way in which the first Spanish settlers explored unknown waters in the native territories. These four places to which the Indians travel allude to the four voyages that Columbus undertook before finally reaching the New World. The images skillfully depict the symbolic departure of the world Nick knew and into an empty realm of modernity. The author emphasizes the primal aspects of the Indian encampment by detailing the shacks in which the Indians live and suggesting the lack of electricity when he observes, “An old woman stood in the doorway holding a lamp” (67). He also highlights the bad smell in the room: "The room smelled very bad" to further highlight the unevolved lifestyle of those living in the shacks. Early on, racial differences are made explicit with the recurring juxtaposition of civilized/wild, light/dark, and clean/dirty. When the Indians arrive at the woman's cabin, Nick's father makes a great effort to teach him an important lesson about what the woman is going through. Nick is clearly traumatized and struggles to cope with the woman's screaming, leading him to ask his father, "Oh, Dad, can't you give her something to make her stop screaming?" (68) This scene is full of hidden meanings, especially Dr. Adam's attitude towards the entire procedure. Dr. Adams tells Nick, “But her screaming isn't important. I don't hear them because they are not important." Dr. Adams is teaching Nick to maintain an apathetic view of his mother's distress. There are no signs that other Indians feel this way about their mother's screams. The emotional distancing demonstrated by Dr. Adams is made explicit when he says, "When they're not born (first of all) they create a lot of problems for everyone" because he describesthe process of childbirth simply as a physical act and ignores the anguished state of pain that the woman feels. The reader discovers that there is no anesthetic and he must operate on the mother via caesarean section. Uncle George and the three men restrain the mother, which is undoubtedly one of the worst cases of obstetric violence. Commonly in obstetric malpractice, there is a power struggle between doctor and patient. In truth, Hemingway is examining the racial conflict between the early settlers and the Native Americans when their homes and lives were maliciously taken away from them. Doctor Adams, as a "conqueror", must exercise his control over the mother's body, this territory uninhabited for him. Native Americans have always had great respect for their land and have maintained a deep connection with their “Mother Earth”. Indigenous peoples' right to self-government is spiritually based, and this power has been exercised for years to support a special role on their planet. In the wake of harsh marginalization, Indian territory and sovereignty are stripped from them, just as the mother's baby was aggressively cut away from her. Stripped of her humanity, Mother bit Uncle George in her best attempt at revenge against her conquerors. Uncle George responded to her wild behavior with obscenities, calling her a “damn squaw bitch” (68). She acts very barbaric and just as uncivilized as her mother. Immediately after finishing the procedure, Dr. Adams thought to look at the father and say, "They (fathers) are usually the worst sufferers in these little matters," which reiterates how Dr. Adams undermines the difficulties of a mother and this wonderfully vulnerable moment in her life (69). Similar to the post-game high, Dr. Adams felt proud of his work and proudly says, “That's one for the medical journal George” (69). The immediate desire to publish this operation in a medical journal draws parallels to the way Columbus sent glowing reports to the king and queens about the colonizers' interactions with the natives. Colonizers typically appropriated territory through written proclamations and served as the last time-honored form of dominion over Native Americans. The way he reels off the operation, as “the talkative football players are in the locker room after the game,” illustrates to the reader how Dr. Adams is enjoying his victory similarly to the winning football team. The dominant and subordinate dynamic is re-established when Uncle George sarcastically says, "Oh, you're a great man, all right," which also reinforces the self-glorification Dr. Adams wallows in and how apathetic he is towards efforts of the mother. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Adams removes the blanket from the Indian to reveal that the Indian silently cut his own throat during the ordeal. This Indian represents the Indians who suffer from the cruel hand of the Spanish administration. These Indians were quickly succumbing to the harsh treatments and deadly European diseases they brought with them. It was the doctor who pushed the Indian to kill himself. Dr. Adams imposed on the mother. Nick witnessed his first suicide and finds himself with many questions like, "Why did he kill himself, Dad?" (69) His father responds with such placidity: “I don't know, Nick. He couldn't stand things, I guess” (69). Dr. Adams' passivity echoes similar attitudes dating back to the early periods of westward acquisition. From the colonial perspective, “pure” bodies are worthy of protection and violence on “impure” bodies like Indians is overlooked. This tradition of harming Indian bodies embodies the little physical integrity that settlers held for themselves. Please note: this is just an example..