The transition from child to adult can be a rough process. At times a radical experience has to occur for the change to happen. A meeting with the basic conditions of life, and with that the circle of life, can in many cases be a trigger for the transition from boy to man. In this short story the transition is linked to the dichotomy between civilisation and nature, civilisation dominating nature. In the short story “Indian Camp” by Ernest Hemingway, there is a case where a boy meets a natural environment. The result is that a feeling of superiority towards nature is created. The author of the text focuses on what impact seeing life and death can have on a child’s mind. The meeting with life and death is seen as a contributor to gaining adulthood. The author portrays a boy’s development as resulting from a strong experience.
The short story is structured as a fairy tale with a home-out-home structure. With that is meant that he starts in a comfortable place and then goes on a journey and then returns. In the text the comfortable place is the boat and the journey is to the island were the Indians live. In that way Nick starts out as one person, and after the journey learns something that makes him a different person. In a way the structure underlines the theme, because it helps you focusing on the change.
The boy named Nick starts his development toward adulthood in the text. He begins as a fragile boy who depends on his father and ends up as an independent and confident young man. The transition can be seen in many differences in Nick in the start and the ending of the text. In the beginning he relies on the support of his father where in the end he is fine by himself.
“Nick lay back with his father’s arm around him.” …. “They were seated in the boat. Nick in the stern, his father rowing”
In the short story Nick comes to terms with the circle of life. He experiences both life and death, which makes him grow up. To