Reading the story “The use of force” by William C. Williams doesn't interest me that much. I see it just as a normal scenario of a doctor and uncooperative patient. I ignored the small details of the story but digging deeper, it really got my interest. It’s not just it, the conflict between the doctor and the patient was different. It somehow made me think that the doctor has possessions and that’s bothering me.
In this story, the doctor was called by a mother asking him to check her daughter up. They suspected that the child was suffering from a certain disease. The doctor came and saw the child sitting on his father’s lap while looking at him like he’s unwelcome. In the next part of the story, the doctor just does what a doctor should do, approach the patient, making her trust him but everything he does seems to not work, he attempted to make the young girl obey him too many times but nothing works. The patient doesn't like him and she keeps lying about what she really feels. Then the mother told her daughter that “Look how kind he is to you. Come on, do what he tells you to. He won't hurt you.” as assurance to her daughter but this doesn't change the situation.
The doctor thought that the girl has a more serious illness but he first need to see the throat of his patient to be sure. After several failed tries to get some diagnosis, the doctor starts losing his patience, “For Heaven's sake, I broke in. Don't call me a nice man to her. I'm here to look at her throat on the chance that she might have diptheria and possibly die of it. But that's nothing to her. Look here I said to the child, we are going to look at your throat. You're old enough to understand what I'm saying. Will you open it now by yourself or shall we have to open it for you?”
At this part, it’s just normal to feel irritated after doing your best and getting nothing in return. The patient's expression doesn't change, not moved by what he says. The doctor decided to use force for him to finish his diagnosis. He must see the patient’s throat for a reason and the doctor discussing it with the parents was a good move for me and explaining what harm may occur if they failed to do it. I really thought that there’s nothing wrong with this story but the next line of the doctor made me bothered.
“I had to smile to myself. After all, I had already fallen in love with the savage brat, the parents were contemptible to me. In the ensuing struggle they grew more and more abject, crushed, exhausted while she surely rose to magnificent heights of insane fury of effort bred from her terror of me.” the doctor’s thought.
This thinking was not right for a professional doctor. The way he praises the beauty of the child creeps me out. There’s a hidden desire on this line and that was really inappropriate. This line might also bring the possibility that the doctor has possessions to patients who are very hard to please. Like, being challenged to get what he wants triggers his inner obsessions. Other way, both of my ideas about the doctor’s thought was unlikeable.
Then this thoughts of the doctor follows “I could have torn the child apart in my own fury and enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to attack her. My face was burning with it. The damned little brat must be protected against her own idiocy, one says to one's self at such times.”
This thought was the creepiest, this was pure violence. We can think that was just normal because the doctor was just irritated but digging deeper may give us another message. The thoughts of this doctor can be similar to the way of thinking of a murderer or a rapist. Pleasure on attacking her shows that this doctor may be having a sadistic condition. Having satisfaction on other people’s suffering will never be normal.
As I continued reading the story, I pity the young girl for the fact that she was suffering from an illness and still being hurt by placing force on her while getting the diagnosis. The parents helped the doctor out of desperation because their child may be showing the symptoms of the illness diphtheria. I can’t completely say that the force was bad for it can be the only thing that will help the doctor gather the information needed, the thought on the doctor’s mind is the thing I consider to be purely bad and inappropriate.
When the doctor finally got the wooden spatula behind the last teeth and just the point of it into the mouth cavity, the patient opened up for an instant but before the doctor could see anything she came down again and gripping the wooden blade between her molars she reduced it to splinters before the doctor could get it out.The doctor asked the mother to get him a smooth-handled spoon. The child's mouth was already bleeding. Her tongue was cut and she was screaming in wild hysterical shrieks. At this part, I pity this patient, obviously this child really doesn't like the doctor but the parents don’t have any choice.
We can relate this story on what’s happening in the public hospitals right now, the quality of care is diminished due to stress plus the status of life really affects how the doctor will approach the patient. The family in this story was just an average family who’s not rich but not poor. How can I say that they’re not rich? Most of the people who are rich gets regular check-ups and they have their own doctor but this family called an unknown doctor. The fact that the doctor said that the girl’s parent will pay him three dollars leads me to assuring that he only came for work.
Life was really unfair. Humans are really complicated. You earn lots of money, you earn more respect. You earn respect, others will think you deserve money. You have all the advantages if you’re rich and respected. This society right now can be described in 3 words, MONEY, POWER and RESPECT. Some may be against that this society is just about “money” but let’s not be hypocrites, because it really is about money. The ones who can say that money doesn’t rule the world are the ones who have it. You can’t hear a starving and suffering person begging for respect only, because money is everything now. I came to this thinking for status and way of living of people was shown in the story. The way that the doctor thinks was also questionable for me. This proves that being a professional won’t make you a professional, I know everyone will get what I wanted to say there.
Going back to the story alone, the doctor forced the heavy silver spoon back of her teeth and down her throat till she gagged. And there it was - both tonsils covered with membrane. She had fought valiantly to keep the doctor from knowing her secret. She had been hiding that sore throat for three days at least and lying to her parents in order to escape just such an outcome as this.
The intention of the doctor was good, but the action he have done in order to get his diagnosis wasn’t. Human thinking was indeed very complex, it is normal to have things that makes us interested. But, having obsessions and satisfaction in seeing other people suffer was not normal and it never will.