One Two Three Little Indians

One, Two, Three Little Indians  Ryan Bell/1.3

The short story “One, Two, Three Little Indians”, by Hugh Garner, hands us a lens into the oppression of native people in society caused by the

Ignorance of their white oppressors. Through the application of symbolism, Garner demonstrates the degradation of native culture due to the effects of modern day society. At the beginning of the story, Garner introduces the baby, whom is the story’s most important symbol. The baby is used to symbolize native culture.  On the first page of the story, Big Tom says to his wife, “The baby seems pretty sick”. The author uses the sickness of the baby, whom symbolizes native culture, to demonstrating that their culture is affected by an ailment brought on by modern day society in addition to the oppression from white people. Throughout the story, the condition of the baby worsens and when the wife says that she will get some cough syrup for the baby, Big Tom says, “It won’t do any good. We should take him up to the doctor tomorrow” (2). Garner utilized this exact dialogue to communicate that in order to save the native culture, there has to be a big change. The doctor in the story is used to symbolize a change in society that will not only stop the decline of native culture, but also nourish it. The doctor comes up repeatedly throughout the story, but the most powerful application is near the end of the narrative when the baby is extremely sick. Big Tom saw that his child (native culture) was on its last leg and tried to flag down a person to drive him and his baby to the doctor but none of the white people driving by stopped. This is extremely powerful because it symbolizes the notion that white people in today’s society turn a blind eye to the decline of native culture due to its immaterial impact on them. After Big Tom gave up on flagging down a car, the narrator says, “Babies did not die like this in their father’s arms on a highway that ran fifteen miles north to a small town with a doctor and all the life-savings devices to prevent their death…” (pg.5). Garner engrains that quote into the story because it truly exemplifies Garner’s motive behind the narrative. What he is really trying to say is that we can save native culture, and we have the tools to do it, but if white oppressors ignorantly turn a blind eye it will inevitably die. To conclude, through the use of symbols, Garner communicates that if we are not consciously aware of the fragile nature of culture, and, in order for it to be maintained, it must be supported by both those who directly and indirectly identify with it or it will eventually be ruined.