Schema

Schema

Schema is the experiences that the reader brings to the story. Ernest Hemingway’s “Indian Camp” tapped into the schema of the reader. While reading this story I was touched by many of Nick’s experiences because of my own past.

The first thing that touched my resources of memory was going with simply Nick being on an outing with his father. I recall many trips with my father. We went fishing as much as possible, because my father knew that was my favorite pastime. I was also proud when my father allowed me to be his “helper” even when it probably meant more work for my father. Nick went with his father, a physician, to assist an Indian with a difficult delivery. However, Nick did not seem very enthusiastic about being a helper with the delivery.

The birth of the Indian baby also brought back tender memories of my own children’s births. Some pictures will never leave your mind. The pain and joy of a birth is hard to capture. I cannot imagine witnessing an easy birth at such a young age, but to witness a cesarean section without any pain medicine would have been a very difficult thing to process to someone of any age. This definitely aged Nick quite a bit.

Unfortunately, the Indian father’s suicide also brought back memories. I have a dear friend who has attempted suicide several times; fortunately, he has not succeeded. Suicide is a terribly painful thing which effects everyone that the suicide victim touched during their life. Suicide can even effect strangers who just read about it or hear it on the news. Nick was changed forever with the witness of this event. I think that the pain of his baby being born was too much for the Indian to handle.

Ernest Hemingway captured both life and death in “Indian Camp.” He took the reader on a journey through Nick’s visit to an Indian Camp where Nick’s father took him to an Indian camp in order for him to experience childbirth, but Nick also witnessed the suicide of the father of the baby. In the beginning of the story, Nick was very childlike. He sat close to his father in the canoe. However, by the end of the story, Nick was distant and more closed. On the trip home, he sat away from his father in the canoe. We are forever changed by our experiences. I was changed by my trips with my father, the birth of my children, and my friend’s suicide attempts. Nick was changed by these same things.

References

Sipiora, Phillip. “Indian Camp.” Reading and Writing about Literature. Pearson
Education, Inc, 2002. 28-31.