Uncle George

Uncle George is an ambiguous character

Uncle George is a secondary character in Hemingway’s short story “Indian Camp” - and a fairly mysterious one.

Nothing is revealed about his background, and we never get any clear answer as to why he is accompanying his brother and young nephew to the camp. Towards the end of the story, he suddenly disappears and does not follow his brother and nephew home.

The first impression of Uncle George is positive because he is handing out cigars to the two Native American men who helped them cross the lake (p. 13, l. 3). He also assists in holding down the woman along with the two men when his brother has to operate on her. 

However, our impression of Uncle George changes for the worse when the young woman bites him on the arm: “Uncle George said, ‘Damn squaw bitch!’ and the young Indian who had rowed Uncle George over laughed at him.” (p. 14, ll. 34-35). This derogatory phrase about the young woman indicates that Unc...