The Parallels Between Birth and Death in Hemingway’s Indian Camp

  30 August 2018

The Parallels Between Birth and Death in Hemingway’s Indian Camp

Ernest Hemingway demonstrates the ideas of morality and suffering through his collection of short stories, In Our Time. These themes of morality and suffering are first introduced in the short story, “Indian Camp” in which the protagonist of many of the stories, Nick, is first exposed to the brevity of life and the parallels between birth and death. In Indian Camp, Nick assists his father in delivering a baby in an Indian camp. In doing so, Nick witnesses the beginning and end of life through the birth of a child and the suicide of that child’s father. Setting progression and the parallels between the birth of the child and the death of the father illustrate life in a nearly cyclical way while also demonstrating the brevity of life. 

The progression of the setting of the story demonstrates life as a cyclical aspect, however, Nick’s personal changes show that, unlike in a circle, things are unable to return to as they previously were. Nick begins and ends the story by a lake near the Indian camp. This repetition of setting identifies that the process of birth and death are similar. They are both finite, both brought forth with suffering, and both decisive endpoints in the circle of life. 

While the similarities may identify birth and death as evidence, the changes within Nick show how once you leave a point on the near-circle, you will never have an opportunity to return. Nick’s journey represents the progression of life in that he first embarks towards the Indian camp tentative and full of innocence, as a baby embarks upon the world after birth. He then suffers through his experiences at the Indian camp and loses his innocence, similarly to how one would in life. He finally returns to the island lacking in innocence and utterly changed, as one would be in their moments of death. The journey which Nick goes through demonstrates how life is cyclical and yet not, due to its defining, separated points.

The similarities and differences between the birth of the child, and the death of the father also demonstrate the near cyclical pattern of life. When the woman is birthing her child, she lies with “her head turned over to one side” (Hemingway, 16). Similarly, “the husband in the upper bunk rolled against the wall” (Hemingway, 16). They both enter their critical points, birth, and death, in a fetal position showing that despite the differences in birth and death, they give off the impression of life being similar to a circle. Despite this, it is evident that life is not a cycle through the differences between birth and death. The birth is filled with screams and sounds whereas the death is silent. Uncle George says that the father “took it all very quietly” whereas the mother was described to have “cried out” (Hemingway, 18,16). 

While life progresses similarly to a circle, one could not go from the point of death back to the point of birth. Birth and death are the points at which the near-circle begins and ends. Through “Indian Camp”, Hemingway demonstrates the prevalence of mortality and the brevity of life, and through the full work, demonstrates the effect of morality on those who have suffered through close encounters with death, particularly due to war. While one may be reluctant to go through life, as the baby was reluctant to begin and the father was unwilling to continue, the process of life is inevitable and once you begin, there is no circle on which you can return to the beginning of. 

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. “Indian Camp”. In Our Time, Scribner, 2003, pp 13-19.