23 pages • 46 minutes read
Ernest HemingwayTen Indians
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1927A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Nick Adams
The protagonist of “Ten Indians,” Nick is the only character whose interiority features in the story. No physical description is provided—as with the other characters—but the story’s subtext implies he is an adolescent. Alongside clues like living with his father and his crush on Prudence Mitchell, “Ten Indians” is grouped with other childhood stories in The Nick Adams Stories. Hemingway characterizes young Nick through his actions—his silence when the Garners make racist remarks shows his discomfort with anti-Indigenous stereotypes, but he is also polite and obliging. He thanks Mrs. Garner for including him in the day’s festivities, saying, “I had a wonderful time” (22), and obeys when she asks him to send Carl up to the house. Nick is also responsible, returning home because he knows his father is waiting for him, and the two have an ease with each other.
When Nick learns of Prudence’s infidelity, his emotional nature comes out, represented by his repetition of questions already answered, his inability to finish a sentence, and his breaking down into tears (though he does not cry in front of his father, showing that he is concerned with social norms regarding masculinity). The enormity of his feelings reflects his young age, and when Nick goes to bed, it seems he is on the cusp of adulthood, his youthful innocence shattered. However, his thought “My heart is broken […]. If I feel this way, my heart must be broken” hints that he is miming adult feelings and situations rather than feeling them deeply (25). This is reinforced the next morning when he has to remind himself that his heart is broken. Rather than completing a coming-of-age journey into sober adulthood, Nick remains childlike, his intense feelings coming and going rather than lingering and affecting his state of mind.
Nick’s Father
Nick’s father—revealed to be a doctor in other Nick Adams stories—is present in the second half of the story. He is a quiet man who embodies traditional masculinity—he spent his day fishing, and Nick describes him as a “big shadow” on the wall. He is also nurturing, feeding Nick and looking after his emotional health, though Hemingway includes small details that hint at a restrained emotionality. For example, he feeds Nick cold chicken rather than a hot meal, and he leaves the room after sharing the bad news about Prudence, returning to see that his son cried but not soothing him through his tears. These details all combine to highlight how love and affection are tempered by traditional masculinity.
Nonetheless, he cares for his son in the way he knows how. First, he shares what he saw rather than trying to hide the truth—while he knows Prudence’s actions will hurt Nick, he also knows that concealing the truth will not protect him. Second, he gives Nick privacy so he can process his emotions rather than demanding he not feel them at all. Finally, he offers extra slices of pie, hoping to offer a bit of comfort. While Nick does not take the extra dessert, he feels much better the next day, showing that his father’s strategies helped him work through his heartbreak.
The Garner Family
The Garners, as a nuclear family consisting of husband, wife, and two sons, represent the ideal American nuclear family. Traveling in a wagon over rough terrain, the image of the family calls to mind American pioneers, especially as they disparage Indigenous people along the way. By associating this family so closely with Americana, Hemingway implies that their anti-Indigenous bias is likewise deeply ingrained in the American psyche. Their racist remarks about Prudence and other Indigenous people contrast with their otherwise friendly behavior—Mr. and Mrs. Garner cuddle in the front of the wagon, joking with each other, and they invite Nick to join them for dinner, showing that they are generous with those they see as like them. However, Indigenous people factor into nearly all of their interactions, emphasizing that the American mythos, from colonization to westward expansion, is built on anti-Indigenous violence and displacement. Mr. Garner represents this explicitly when he drags an Indigenous man out of the road, needing to physically move him to continue the family’s journey.
In keeping with Hemingway’s “Iceberg Theory,” there is no moralizing about the Garners’ bias, nor do they face consequences for their behavior. However, Hemingway juxtaposes the family with the Adamses, revealing the latter to be more open-minded. Mr. Adams does not shame his son for having a crush on an Indigenous girl, and he does not insult Prudence, unlike the Garners. With this, Nick and his father present an alternative way of being American, one that involves coexistence rather than bigotry.
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By Ernest Hemingway
