Hemingway: 'Iceberg technique' og 'Indian Camp'

The ”Iceberg technique” also known as the “iceberg theory” or the "theory of omission" is a way of writing, which has become famous in Ernest Hemingway’s stories. He adapted this writing style while he worked as a journalist. According to Hemingway, the true meaning of a story or any piece of writing should not show just from reading the text. People should be able to think for themselves and discover the story themselves as well.The iceberg technique is simply that what the author writes is only the tip of the iceberg, the rest of it is under the water and the reader has to find it via hints in the text. For example in the short story Indian camp by Ernest Hemingway, when Uncle George is handing out cigars to the Indians who rowed him over to the shore. Nothing is said about it, so you have to know that when a man is handing out cigars it is normally because he is becoming a father for the first time and it is to celebrate. That is only one of the clues we get to figure out that Uncle George is the father to the Indian woman’s child. Another hint is that, while the Doctor is performing the surgery, Uncle George is by her side and not the supposed father who kills himself.