"Indian Camp" Summary

Nick, his father, and his Uncle George cross the lake to attend to a sick Indian woman in an Indian camp. The woman has been in labor for two days. Her husband lies in another bed, listening to his wife's screams. Nick's father worries that the birth is breech and eventually he does a C Section to deliver the baby. There is no anesthetic and the woman screams as the men in the room laugh inappropriately at the pain experienced by the woman. The father sews up the incision, but Nick does not want to watch. On their way out, they realize that the husband of the woman has killed himself during the surgery. Nick's father regrets having brought his son. They go home.

"Indian Camp" Analysis

The attitude of the men toward the woman is particularly cruel. The...