Ernest Hemingway's “Up In Michigan” as an Initiation

Given Ernest Hemingway's original plans for its publication, “Up in Michigan” should be recontextualized as a part of In Our Time, specifically as the introductory work. Hemingway viewed the narrative as central to his development, so he largely resisted efforts to censor or edit its original form. In the context of his oeuvre, it is thematically important. The traumatic effect of Liz's rape, as well as her conflicting response, is significant in that it reveals the importance of the story as Hemingway's first tentative initiation, a concept central to the more polished narrative “Indian Camp.”