A Qualified Doctor but Merciless Human

秦建梅+周玉忠

【Abstract】In Indian novels， Ernest Hemingway showed his sympathy to the Indians through many Indians who are hardworking warmhearted but vulnerable during industrialization. The paper analyzes a white doctor in Ernest Hemingways Indian Camp from two aspects： being a doctor and human. It proves that the doctor is a qualified doctor in terms of his profession while a merciless human. The paper concludes that in the process of industrialization， people are vulnerable in the face of the advanced technology and equate with emotionless objects.

【Key words】Indian Camp； industrialization； qualified merciless

Introduction

The Indian Camp written by Ernest Hemingway tells us a story about a doctor who helped an Indian woman deliver. Despite of the poor medical conditions， the doctor managed to conduct a Caesarian with a jackknife， even if there was no anesthethic. However， the birth of the new baby came along with some unpleasant things. For example， the Indian woman was pale and tired， uncle Gorge got hurt， and the womans husband committed suicide and etc.. The novel shows us a well qualified doctor but a merciless human.

Studies conducted on Indian Camp from the perspective of the death themes， the growth of Nick and etc.， but fewer studies analyzed the doctor Therefore， by analyzing the doctor， the paper tries to reveal the effect of industrialization on people.

A qualified doctor

The doctor is qualified that can be analyzed from the following aspects.

Firstly， the professional doctor tried his best to conduct the operation. According to the novel： Nicks father went into the kitchen and poured about half of the water out of the big kettle into a basin. Into the water left in the kettle he put several things he unwrapped from a handkerchief.

“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 fathers hands scrubbing each other with the soap（Hemingway， 2010， p. 65）.

We can see that the doctor carefully cleaned hands and he did not begin the operation until he was satisfied with his hands.

Secondly， he kept sober and conducted the operation in a well planned manner. For lack of anesthethic， the laboring woman screamed wildly， but the experienced doctor was not distracted. Instead， he made detailed arrangements of the operation and calmly explained it to his son Nick.

Thirdly， the doctor was a responsible doctor. From the novel we can see that the operation was carried out in the evening and lasted almost a night. The doctor was willing to help the Indians and finally he made it. After a nights efforts， he promised to come and inspect the woman next morning.

From all the above， it is safe to say that the doctor is professional， experienced and responsible.

A merciless human

There are mainly four relationships around the doctor in the novel， including doctor and intern， father and son， doctor and patient， doctor and patients husband. Except the innate relationship of father and son， others are built based on the doctors profession. However professional the doctor is， he is a merciless human.

Firstly， Nick was both an intern and son to the doctor. No matter what role the father meant to Nick， the doctor was authoritative to him. Before the operation， the doctor just tried to introduce laboring knowledge to Nick authoritatively. For example，

“This lady is going to have a baby， Nick， ” he said.

“I know， ” said Nick.

“You dont know， ” said his father. “Listen to me.”（Hemingway， 2010， p. 65）

It shows the doctor wanted everything in control and no disagreement was allowed. Besides， as a father， he should have protected his son from hurt， but he failed. During the operation， Nick held the basin and watched the laboring process， suffering the scream of the woman and witnessed the brutal death of the husband. However， the doctor didnt realize the affect of all the bloody events on Nick until the end of the operation. We can see that the doctor paid little attention to others feelings whomever the person was.

In addition， between the doctor and his patient， the doctor was coldly and brutally. In the novel， there was no conversations between the doctor and the woman. During the operation， he asked Uncle Gorge and three Indians to hold the woman still. In this case， the doctor equated the laboring woman with an object instead of a person with emotion and dignity. However， compared with the doctor， all neighbors of the woman were warmhearted and ready to help. Besides， from the husbands suicide， and injuries on Gorges arms and so on， we can feel the power of the scream and the pain of the woman. But to the doctor， these things were nothing special. Furthermore， after the birth of the baby， the doctor was exalted and the said the successful operation can be recorded in the medical journal. Thats one for the medical journal， George， he said. “Doing a Caesarian with a jackknife and sewing it up with nine-foot， tapered gut leaders.”（Hemingway， 2010， p. 66）. It shows that the reputation and success are much more important than a baby.

Lastly， the doctors attitude towards the husband also proves the mercilessness of the doctor. After the operation， the doctor thought of the husband and said to Nick “they are usually the worst sufferers in these little affairs”（Hemingway， 2010， p. 66）. When asked about the the suicide， the doctor vaguely replied “he couldnt stand things” （Hemingway， 2010， p. 67）. Here the doctor used “the little affair” to show that the operation was nothing important. While the fact is that “little affair” took the husbands life away， and the doctor blamed the fragility of the man. Besides， according to Indian culture， it is inappropriate to conduct a delivery in public. Due to the ignorance of Indian culture， the doctor operated on the woman regardless of the Indian culture and the feelings of the couple. Therefore， the death of the husband is a kind of dissatisfaction to what the doctor did to him and his big family（Liu， 2003， p.75）.

Conclusion

Above all， we know that Ernest Hemingway successfully created a qualified doctor but a merciless human in India camp. In the novel， the doctor symbolizes the advanced producing force in the industrialization Although the advanced technology can help people solve problems， it causes even worse problems on earth. During industrialization， everything is materialized and there is no room for peoples feelings and emotion. For many people， reputation and success in material is everything and consider the ultimate goal in the world.

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作者簡介：

秦建梅，女，漢族，甘肅武威人，寧夏大學研究生在讀，研究方向： 翻譯理論與實踐。

周玉忠，寧夏大學，博士生導師。