Question

Why did Nick's father sign the contract? What do you think the reasons may be for his actions?

Answer 1

The classic short story "Indian Camp" by Ernest Hemingway tells of the recurrent Hemingway character Nick Adams. Nick is a child accompanying his father, who is a doctor, to an Indian settlement. A woman is having a difficult time with childbirth and Dr. Adams assists in the delivery. He has to use a jack-knife to perform an emergency caesarean section. During the operation, the woman's husband, in despair, kills himself by slitting his throat with a straight razor.

Explanation:

The relationship between Nick Adams and his father changes during the course of the story. In the beginning, as they are rowing towards the camp, Nick rests trustfully "with his father's arm around him." As part of Nick's initiation to manhood, his father asks him to assist with the medical procedure. He explains things to Nick in a dispassionate way and obviously expects Nick to react similarly, but eventually Nick looks away "so as not to see what his father was doing." He doesn't want to watch as his father sews up the woman's incision with fishing line.