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Nick is the young protagonist of the story, brought along by his father and Uncle George on a trip to a nearby Native American encampment to care for an “Indian lady” who has been in labor for two days because her child is being born in breech position (meaning bottom instead of head first). The narrator doesn’t make clear how old Nick is, but his childlike questions throughout make it seem that he is years from reaching puberty. Nick a curious boy who idolizes his father as a paragon of strength and wisdom. The trip begins as an occasion for Nick to learn about some of life’s realities, but things quickly go awry as it becomes clear that the Indian woman will need to be given an emergency cesarean. At some point during the procedure her husband takes his own life, leaving behind a bloody scene which Nick glimpses despite his father’s attempts to shield him from the sight. Nick leaves the “Indian camp” shaken. On the trip home, he retreats into his father’s arms, believing that he will never die.
Nick Adams Quotes in Indian Camp
The Indian Camp quotes below are all either spoken by Nick Adams or refer to Nick Adams. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Indian Camp Quotes
Inside on a wooden bunk lay a young Indian woman. She had been trying to have her baby for two days. All the old women in the camp had been helping her. The men had moved off up the road to sit in the dark and smoke out of range of the noise she made. She screamed just as Nick and the two Indians followed his father and Uncle George into the shanty.
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Prior to this passage, Nick’s father only told Nick that they are going to the Indian camp to help a sick Indian woman. In this passage, however, it is clear that the woman is going through a difficult labor, and that Nick’s father is there to help deliver the baby. The fact that the men in the camp can’t bear the screams, but women have been helping the Indian woman for two days, undercuts the picture of masculinity as powerful and dominant that exists in the rest of the story. Here, it is the women who are strong enough to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidun
“Listen to me. What she is going through is called being in labor. The baby wants to be born and she wants it to be born. All her muscles are trying to get the baby born. That is what happening when she screams.”
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When Nick tells his father that he believes he knows what’s going on—that the Indian woman is going to have a baby—his father corrects him with this clinical, unemotional description of birth. Nick’s father offers an interpretation of birth that makes it seem like a simple physical process, consequently removing the mother’s desires from the process, or any other emotional aspect of birth. According to Nick’s father, it’s the muscles that do the work, not the woman, which is an attitude that gestures to his misogyny. Here, Nick’s father demonstrates a stereotypical brand of masculinity by trying to teach his Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor
“Oh, Daddy, can’t you give her something to make her stop screaming?” asked Nick.
“No. I haven’t any anesthetic,” his father said. “But her screams are not important. I don’t hear them because they are not important.”
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This exchange exposes the negative outcomes of Nick’s father’s stoic, masculine posture. On one hand, Nick’s father can’t let the Indian woman’s screams bother him too much as a doctor. His goal is to deliver the baby and must remain calm and focused in order to achieve his task—a lesson he tries to teach Nick. However, this disposition mitigates his empathy for the mother’s clearly unbearable pain. This callousness, perhaps aimed at treating the mother more effectively, also demonstrates a deep disrespect for her wellbeing. It also provokes the reader to wonder if Nick’s father’s disregard for her pain is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Ape
“Those must boil,” he said, and began to scrub his hands in the basin of hot water with a cake of soap he had brought from the camp. Nick watched his father’s hand scrubbing each other with the soap. While his father washed his hands very carefully and thoroughly, he talked.
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This scene demonstrates one of the symbolic functions of water in the story. In several occasions, water acts to separate Nick Adams and his father from the native people in the shantytown. At first, it’s a lake that physically separates the Adamses from the camp. Here, boiled water separates Nick Father’s medicinal standards of cleanliness required in birthing from the native cultural standards underway before his intervention. In washing his hands and tools, Nick’s Father seeks to impose order on a situation on a chaotic situation that he inherited. Importantly, Nick observes that his father washes carefully and thoroughly, suggesting Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequun
“Now,” his father said, “there’s some stitches to put in. You can watch this or not, Nick, just as you like. I’m going to sew the incision I made.”
Nick did not watch. His curiosity had been gone for a long time.
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In this passage, Nick’s refusal to watch the operation any longer signals a turning point in his initiation journey. Nick’s father brings him on this medical trip ostensibly to expose him to a chaotic adult situation and demonstrate how one can overcome such a situation through hard work and focus. When Nick refuses to watch the end of the surgery, he is actively retreating from brutal realities. However, it’s not the brutality of the scene that causes Nick to look away, it’s that his curiosity is gone—a phenomenon associated with adulthood. In this sense, his father’s attempt to initiate him Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam co
“Why did he kill himself, Daddy?”
“I don’t know, Nick. He couldn’t stand things, I guess.”
[…]
“Is dying hard, Daddy?”
“No, I think it’s pretty easy Nick. It all depends.”
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After witnessing the gruesome events in the shanty, Nick asks his father a series of questions to try to understand what happened. Nick’s father’s curt, emotionally distant responses confirm the particular lesson he’s trying to teach Nick. Nick asks existentially hefty questions about life and death that would, for many people, require equally complicated responses. Instead, Nick’s father suggests that one shouldn’t bother to understand big questions, but rather should work to shield oneself from emotional vulnerability. For instance, he says that The Father killed himself because he couldn’t stand things. He brought his guard down. Nick’s Father shows him Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaec
They were seated in the boat, Nick in the stern, his father rowing. The sun was coming up over the hills […] In the early morning on the lake sitting in the stern of the boat with his father rowing, he felt quite sure that he would never die.
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This final passage makes it clear that Nick received messy, ineffective initiation into adulthood. Nick’s father had the opportunity to introduce Nick to this scene of gruesome birth and death and help Nick to build an empathetic understanding of the harsh realities of life, in turn building a healthy, adult perspective. Instead, the whole experience seems to have insulated Nick further from the adult world. Here, the tone of the story turns brighter as the narrator observes the natural beauty surrounding the characters. Nick sits back in the boat, in his father’s care, believing that he will never die. This Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam vol
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Nick Adams Character Timeline in Indian Camp
The timeline below shows where the character Nick Adams appears in Indian Camp. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Indian Camp
Nick Adams, Nick’s father, and Uncle George arrive at the shore of a lake where “two...
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...a cigar, and gives one to each of the Indians as well. The Indians lead Nick’s family across a meadow and through the dark woods by lantern light until they reach...
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Nick’s father orders water to be boiled. He turns to Nick and explains that the Indian...
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The older women signal that the water has boiled. Nick’s father pours half of the water into a basin, using it to scrub his hands...
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Later, Nick’s father begins a Caesarian section to deliver the baby. Uncle George and three Native American...
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Throughout the surgery, Nick holds the basin of water for his father. After a long procedure, Nick’s father successfully...
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...are closed, she’s pale, and doesn’t know if the baby is alive or not. Meanwhile, Nick’s father is triumphant after the successful delivery. He informs the mother that he will be...
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Nick’s father remarks that they should check the father because “they’re usually the worst sufferers in...
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Now outside the shanty, Nick’s father apologizes to his son for taking him on the trip. Nick, trying to reflect...
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As Nick’s father rows his son back across the lake, away from the camp, the narrator notices...
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