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Theme of Family
In essence, family is defined as a group of individuals who are related based on affinity and consanguinity. Family is considered as a primary social institution essential for the upbringing of children. Indian Camp by Ernest Hemingway begins with a story of a country doctor who is Nick Adam’s father. The doctor has been summoned to a native Indians’ camp to deliver a child. The father of the child commits suicide by slitting his own throat after his child is delivered by caesarean section. The Indian Camp is considered as an initiation story in that the focus of the story is about childbirth and death at the same time. The aspect of the family is brought about by the relationship between Nick and his father as well as in the relationship between individuals in the Indian family. On the other hand, the play Proof by David Auburn indicates a struggle by the main character in the play, Catherine to find a compromise between her need to fulfill her dreams and the obligation for care towards her father. Hemingway and Auburn aim at providing the audience with the importance of family in any given society.
Dr. Adams or Nick’s father enhances the theme of family by working with his son as his assistant in his medical practice. He exposes his son to events of childbirth and violent death. These two events are aimed at strengthening the personality of his son as he poised to meet similar events in the course of executing his tasks as a doctor after taking up skills from his father. Dr. Adams insists to his son to watch as he performs the caesarean section as he aims at ensuring that his son can be initiated into a tough world as a medical practitioner. In addition, this is aimed at molding a character that is able to face up to the cruelties of life as a man. The experiences of witnessing birth and death are usually a common scene in the medical field. Hence, Dr. Adam is influential in guiding his son through the experiences of working as a doctor.
The theme of family is also exercised by the conduct of the Indian man in that he opts to kill himself because of the loss of his beloved wife as well as the loss of a baby. Dr. Adam as a doctor is able to achieve control over the situation by delivering the baby. The death of the native father is able to revert control from the doctor, which was gained by delivery of the baby. The native husband and his wife seem to have a deep connection. This is probably driven by the screams of the wife, which Doctor Adam defines as unimportant. However, the screams are possibly deafening to the husband in that during the course of the caesarean section he opts to commit suicide because of the possible loss of his soul mate and only family. Hence, it could be termed that losing his wife was equal to the loss of life. Thus, the two are possibly united in the afterworld after their demise. Additionally, his pain is intensified given that he is ailing from a deep cut inflicted by an axe. The pain of losing a wife and possibly the child coupled by physical pain is intoxicating
On the other hand Catherine is brought out in the play as an inherently strong individual in that she is able to take care of her father at the expense of achieving her dreams given that, she is extremely intelligent. Her father succumbs to his mental illnesses prompting Catherine to abandon her ambitions in the mathematical field to exercise hr duty of care to her father. In addition, she is also afraid that she might succumb to a similar illness as her further given that the tow have similar levels of intellectual capability. This notion of the loss of sanity is illustrated by her inner turmoil because of the inability to make a balance between her duty of care to her ailing father as well as her ability to achieve her dreams in the mathematical field.
In addition, the loss of her opportunity is reinforced by her thoughts about her father lamenting of the wasted opportunities. This provides an express illustration of her loss of connection of the real world and her imaginative world. It might be an illustration of her loss of sanity similar to her father. Hence based on such, she is able to make an inference that she is gradually losing her sanity and could succumb to the illness similar to her father. In addition, it is also the indication of the longing of a daughter for the issue of opinion by her father as well as issue of instruction. This provides an express indication of the role of a father in a child’s life. Her father was responsible for ensuring that she was in line with her goals to achieve success in the mathematical field given that, she has high intellectual capability in mathematical field. Hence, she is conscious of the fact that she is failing in her role to ensure that she utilizes her mathematical skills and potential for maximum benefits.
Her father’s attitude is the main factor towards her development of an apprehensive attitude given that she is unable to make an individual and independent decision without consulting her father. He questions her ability to compete with other students in her institution of choice, NorthwesternUniversity, indicating that her level of seriousness to achieve her dreams and competing with other students in the students is relatively low in comparison to other students in the institution. His questioning act results in a loss of self-confidence and determination by Catherine. This might be because of his desire to have an unmatched level of education, as Catherine’s attendance would result in higher achievements given that, she has a higher intellectual capability.
Furthermore his questions towards her ability to compete with other students in what he terms as a highly serious educational environment is an indication of his dire need to have Catherine by his side during his ailing period. Hence, he would suffer from loneliness as he nears demise. Additionally, this also brings about an aspect of loss in that attendance to a higher institution of learning far away would resulting his abandonment and possible relocation to a mental institution. Hence, he accrues security from the presence of his daughter. His sense of security drives him to inculcate a fear of achievement and taking of risks on Catherine. This is evident by her high level of lack of self-confidence.
Demoralization is also actualized by her sister’s hurtful yet honest words as she provides that she failed in letting her sister waste her prime years taking care of her ailing father. Claire states, “Maybe. Alternatively, maybe some real professional care would have done him more good than rattling around in a filthy house with you looking after him. I’m sorry, Catherine, it’s not your fault. It’s my fault for letting you do it” (Auburn, 14). She also adds that professional medical care would have been appropriate to ensure that his father would make progress in terms of development. This reinforces the belief that she wasted her prime years taking care of her father who did not need help from her but help from professional medic practitioners. Hence, her belief in her own inadequacies is reinforced by her sister’s views that she was inappropriate to take care of her father. Thus, she is provided with two failures, the loss of her prime age to exercise her full potential in academics as well s her inadequacy to take care of her father and enable his recovery.
Catherine’s life is determined by the conditions of her family. The ability to achieve individual success is determined by the views from her father given her relationship and experiences with her father. Additionally, she is deterred from achieving hr goals because of the need to fulfill her duty to care for her father given that he played a significant role in taking care of her as a child into adulthood. Hence, she is only exercising her responsibilities towards her father because of the connection existent in a family.
Conclusively the Indian Camp and Proof provide the importance of family in life and the effects of relations of individuals in a familial setting towards achievement of individual success. It is evident that parents, and specifically fathers, are tasked with providing direction to their children for the achievement of their individual goals as well as providing them with the much-needed motivation to achieve such goals and success.
Work Cited
Auburn, David. Proof. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2001. Print.
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