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Ernest Hemingway Indian Camp Differences

Decent Essays

Ernest Hemingway uses word choice when Nick and his father talk about the pregnant Indian woman’s screams, when the doctor talks about how the father has it the worst in these type of situations, and what Nick’s Uncle George calls the woman when she bites him to create a ‘white man’s’ superiority throughout “Indian Camp”. When talking about how Nick and the doctor feel about the woman’s screams, the words chosen help to show male superiority. A boy, Nick, travels to an Indian camp with his father, a doctor, and his Uncle, George. They are there so they can help deliver an Indian woman’s baby. The woman is crying out because she is in labor, and experiencing extreme pain. This causes Nick to say to his father, “’Oh, Daddy, can’t you give her something to make her stop screaming?’” …show more content…

Not only is male superiority demonstrated here, but reinforced with when the father says, “’her screams are not important. I don’t hear them because they are not important’” (Hemingway 92). The screams of the woman are a result of the pain and represent her feelings and emotions. ‘Important’ generally has a positive relation; it describes something that has great significance. By saying that the Indian woman’s screams are not important, but Nick’s feelings about her screams are, it is showing that men are superior, more important, and of higher value than women. Not only can this idea of male superiority be seen with what Nick and his father say about the woman and her screams, but when his father talks about the father of the new born baby. After the baby is born via caesarian, the doctor, Nick’s father, decides to check on the father of the new born baby, saying “’They’re [new fathers] usually the worst sufferers in these little affairs’” (Hemingway 94). ‘Suffering’ has a negative relation, and is used to describe when someone is going through intense pain or

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