In his father Ernest had someone to lean on (Shaw 14). .
In "Indian Camp," nick stays in his father's arms for a sense of .
security and this reinforces their close father-son relationship. When Nick sees .
the terror of death, in the form of suicide, his father is right there to .
comfort him. From this we are able to see how Nick has his father to, physically .
and mentally, "lean" on, much like Hemingway did (Shaw 11). .
Hemingway's love for his father was not always so positive though, and he often .
expressed his feelings about his situation though his literature. When .
Hemmingway was young, his father persuaded him to have his tonsils removed by a .
friend, Dr. Wesley Peck. Even though it was Dr. Peck who performed the painful .
operation, Hemingway "always held it against his father for taking out his .
tonsils without an anaesthetic" (Meyers 48). Hemingway saw the opportunity .
to portray his father in "Indian Camp" as the cold-hearted man who had .
his tonsils yanked out without anaesthetic. In a reply to Nick's question about .
giving the Indian woman something to stop screaming, his father states, .
"No. I haven't any anaestheticBut her screams are not important. I don't .
hear them because they are not important." (Tessitore 18) Hemingway lashed .
out at his father one more time before the story ends. In "Indian .
Camp," Hemingway uses the conversation between Nick and his father, .
concerning the suicide of the Indian, to show his distaste for his own father's .
suicide: 'Why did he kill himself, Daddy?' 'I don't know Nick.' 'He couldn't .
stand things, I guess.' 'Do many men kill themselves, Daddy?' 'Not very many, .
Nick' 'Is dying hard, Daddy?' 'No, I think its pretty easy, Nick. It all .
depends.' (Hemingway 19) Hemingway saw his father as a weak working man who .
served his wife, Grace, unconditionally. Ed worked a full day to come home to .
clean house, prepare food, and tend to the children. He had promised Grace that .
