Indian Camp Sexism

706 Words2 Pages

Doesn’t every woman deserve to have the correct pre and post natal care? For most women this is accessible if they have a middle to upper class lifestyle. This leaves women in a societal lower class and in poverty with little to no care when having a child. Ernest Hemingway addresses this issue in his short story “Indian Camp,” where a doctor helps an Indian woman give birth but without the proper care she deserves. Although it appears to be a story about a doctor performing a procedure in life threatening conditions, Hemingway addresses racism and sexism issues through the male characters behaviors and lack of care for women. The native and white men both express sexist attitudes towards the Indian woman while she is giving birth, leaving her near death. As the …show more content…

Every doctor should have the correct medical tools and supplies at hand at all times, no matter the person or circumstance. When the doctor arrives to the shanty, he has his supplies placed in boiling water to clean and sterilize them. But when it came time for him to perform the caesarian section, the only tools he had were a jack knife and tapered gut leaders. The doctor didn’t have the proper care for the woman because he had tools to put in the water, but when it came time for the actual procedure he didn’t have the correct tools. The doctor is racist towards the woman because when she bit Uncle George, the doctor said he had peroxide for his arm. It wouldn’t make sense that he has peroxide for Uncle George but only has his fishing supplies for the procedure. After the woman bit Uncle George, he reacted by saying “Damn squaw bitch.” This is a racist attack towards the Indian woman coming from a white man. “Squaw” is a racist attack towards the native race. This shows that Uncle George believes he is a white man conqueror and is able to say these things women, especially women of a different

Open Document