In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Indian Camp” we follow Nick, his father and Nick’s Uncle George as they visit a Native American camp in the woods. Nick’s father is a doctor, and he is going to help a young woman struggling to give birth.
Two Native American men row the three of them across a lake to the camp, and Uncle George gives them cigars. Once they enter the shanty, they discover the young woman screaming with labor pains in the lower bunk bed. Her husband, who has hurt his foot in an accident three days before, is lying in the upper bunk.
While Nick’s father prepares carefully for the examination, he explains the details of childbirth to his son. The woman has been struggling to give birth for the past two days. Her screams don’t bother Nick’s father, but Nick asks his father to give her something for the pain. Unfortunately, there is no anaesthetic. The woman’s husband turns away from them to face the wall.
Eventually, Nick’s father must perform a Caesarean on the woman with a jackknife, and Nick has to assist. Uncle George and the two Native American men hold the woman down, and she bites George on the arm, which makes one of the Native American men laugh.
Det er gratis at oprette en konto