Critical Analysis Essay of Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time
Hemingway’s Presentation of Race in “Indian Camp” and “The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife”
In Our Time is a collection of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories. Two stories from this collection, The Indian Camp andThe Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife is oftentimes compared because they basically have the same theme: racial identity. These two stories also portray Hemingway’s belief about race and its implication to human relations and authority. In the first story, Hemingway presents race as simply a biological feature; while in the second story, he presents a more complex racial relationship worthy of constructionist and essentialist debates.
In Indian Camp, we can see the cesarean operation in three points of conflict: Dr. Adam’s caesarean operation on the Indian woman; Dr. Adam versus the Indian father; and the Indian women versus other women. An article of Jurgen C. Wolter describes the word caesarean is a technical term especially during the earlier times and in the Indian camp. It connotes imperialism, authority, and power. In the story, the white doctor performs caesarean operation to the Indian woman without anesthesia. Thus, it is very much understandable that the Indian woman screams very loud. Furthermore, there is also a conflict between the doctor and the Indian husband. At the end of the story, the Indian husband commits suicide maybe because he cannot stand the image of his wife being restrained by Dr. Adams, Uncle George, and Nick. An image of an Indian wife being restrained by three white men is too much to take for the Indian husband, so he commits suicide (Strong, 18). Lastly, there is also a conflict between the Indian woman versus other woman if we look into the setting of the caesarean. Because the operation is done in the remote Indian camp, the cesarean operation is done without anesthesia—a situation that is very unlikely to happen in the context of white women who are in the “civilized” setting. All of these conflicts boil down to racial identity and its implication to authority and gender.
On the other hand, in The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife, it is the three Indians who arrive in the doctor’s garden. In the same way, it is the doctor who needs the Indian men’s help to dislodge the logs and to saw them up. Unlike the first story, wherein racial power relation is more subtle, the second story shows stronger regard to this theme. The straightforward exchange of violent words between the doctor and the Indian man shows utter reverse of power relations, wherein the dominant language has lost its force. At this point, the Indian men are able to somewhat resist the power that is being exuded by the white American doctor. The authority of the doctor disappears because he knows that he is ultimately outmatched by the superior strength of the Indian man (Donaldson, 64). This scene manifests that authority rooted on racial difference is arbitrary. Hemingway dismisses race as simply a biological feature.
In his works, Ernest Hemingway shows lifelong interest in race, racial relationships, and race differences. He uses these themes to define American identity. Native American stories like those mentioned in this analysis portray individuality, freedom, innocence, loss, and masculinity are part of the American identity (Mandel, 378). In the Indian Camp, the authority vested on the doctor is based on his temporary role as the surrogate father of the Indian boy because he saves his life and his mother’s life. In The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife, the authority of the doctor is limited by the Indian man’s physical strength. In these two stories, Hemingway presents racial identity and power play is unstable and temporary. The power or authority vested based on race is not reliable because it is bounded by many limitations.
Works Cited:
Donaldson, Scott. The Cambridge Companion to Hemingway. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Mandel, Miriam. Hemingway and Africa. New York, NY: Camden House.
Strong, Amy. Race and Identity in Hemingway’s Fiction. New York, NY: Palgrave MacMillian, 2008.