There are many questions that Hemingway's novel raises in the reader, but I'm only going to talk about the presence of racism in it. At first reading one might not notice the signs of racism, and might not understand why the young Indian man killed himself while his wife was giving birth to their baby. These questions cannot be fully answered of course, because we do not know the writer's intentions. Every statement I'm going to make is based on my own opinion, other people might have different interpretations of this novel.
             I think Nick's father and Uncle George were aware of their racist attitude, but they tried to hide it even from themselves. They tried to act as if they looked at the Indians as equal, for example when Uncle George gave both Indians (who were rowing the boats) cigars. This gesture is particularly important, because of the special meaning of "smoking" in the Native American culture. I also think that the lack of Nick's father's self esteem can partly be caused by his bad conscience. This is why he needs Uncle George to reassure him: "Oh, you're a great man, all right."
             On the contrary to the above, they sometimes fall out of this "role". For example when Nick asks his father to give anaesthetic to the Indian lady who is in labour, the father answers the following? "...her screams are not important. I don't hear them, because they are not important." This statement clearly shows that Nick's father does not pay attention to the suffering of an Indian woman, because she is simply "not important". I believe that this is not the right attitude for a doctor, who is supposed to help anyone without considering the person's skin colour. And couldn't the sentence : "I don't hear them, because they are not important." refer to all Indians?
             Uncle George also shows absolute lack of sympathy when the woman- who is in great pain- bites his arm. He says the following: "Damn squaw bitch!"- which indicates the he does not re
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