A Psychological Approach of Force in “The Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams

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“The Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams is a confrontation between a doctor and his young patient. The story is narrated by the doctor. The doctor use of force with his young patient sparks a question whether the doctor is the protagonist or an antagonist or both. We will examine the story as we look at the psychological approach of the doctor and, Mathilda, the sick patient.
The biggest conflict of this story is that the doctor needs to check the patient, which is a little girl, but the patient will not let him. The Doctor seems to be ordinary and doing an ordinary duty, he comes checkups on the sick patient. But, we know that there is more to the story because his thoughts. Before we go in depth of the story, we need to analyze the doctor and Mathilda, the sick patient.
As we know, Mathilda is a young girl who is sick and has diphtheria. She looks at the doctor with a “her cold, steady eyes, and no expression to her face whatever.” (628-631) This could be an example of her distrust of people or she has instinct about the doctor. She is stubborn and rebellious. She will not...

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