Sophie Baker

Professor Diehl

HUMN 2010

9 February 2024

Analog Project

After reading the Nick Adam’s stories, it is clear that Nick has experienced many

different types of heartbreaks throughout his life time. The heartbreak that stands out to me most

is from the first story we read, “Indian Camp”. It is believed that Nick is at his youngest in this

story out of all the other Nick Adam’s stories, but that can only be inferred. After Nick

continuously calls his father “daddy” in this story, and the type of questions that he begins to ask,

I chose to believe that Nick is around 10 years old. At such a young age, Nick is experiencing a

difficult labor, risky surgery, broken marriage, profanity, his disrespectful father, and even a

suicide. It is obvious that this amount of distress would have an effect on someone, especially

someone as young as Nick is believed to be.

From the beginning of the story, the partner of the women giving birth is only referred to

as “the husband,” not the father. You can infer that the women had an affair with Nick’s uncle

George, who is the real father of the baby. Though it is hard to assume that Nick was aware of

this at his age, it could be believed that this event is Nick’s underlying issue with relationships

and marriage. Seeing a woman unfaithful to her husband AND seeing someone you love

(George) contribute to this heartbreak is something you never forget. From a young age, Nick

had to watch the effects of cheating which some would say is one of the hardest heartbreaks to

come back from.

 Something that is exemplified throughout many of the Nick Adam’s stories is his

relationship with his father. As many young boys do, Nick idolizes his father which I believe is a

huge aspect to Nicks failed relationships, leading to many heartbreaks in his lifetime. In the

story, Nick’s father eventually states, “‘But her screams are not important. I don’t hear them

because they are not important.’” You can take this comment many different ways, but it makes

me believe Nick’s father does not have any respect for women. In such a time of vulnerability,

for Nick’s father to say such a thing raises some red flags for me. Even though he is young, I

believe Nick picked up on the traits and is something he carried on into adulthood. These traits

would eventually ruin many of Nicks relationships causing many heartbreaks.

Of course, the biggest heartbreak of this story is Nick having to experience the suicide of

the husband of the women giving birth. Childbirth is known to be one of the most beautiful

events to happen so you can only imagine the confusion of Nick when the husband killed

himself. This, once again, gave Nick a clear depiction on how hard and painful relationships can

be on someone. One of his first memories of a relationship is someone killing themselves the day

his wife was supposed to give birth. You can only imagine the mental toll this would take on

Nick and the effect it would have on his future relationships. At the end of the story, Nick asks,

“‘Is dying hard, Daddy,’”. A heartbreaking question for someone so young to be asking.

It is clear that Nick experiences a ridiculous amount of heartbreak in the Nick Adam’s

story, “Indian Camp.” It is hard to know if this event actually took a toll on Nick’s future actions

and experiences, but it is obvious that it would be an event that would be permanently engraved

in his mind for the rest of his life.