Cancer Ward: “The Old Doctor”
In this chapter Ludmila goes to visit her former mentor Dr. Oreshchenkov. He lives in a nice home and it is filled with things of the past and who he is. Ludmila has realized that she has cancer. However, she is not willing to except her own intuition and goes to Oreshchenkov to be sure and even to be told that “it’s nothing serious”. While she is there she has a small sense of release and calm. Later the two of them get in to a discussion over the need for the “family- doctor”. These scenes have deeper meaning than just the literal sense. This chapter can be interpreted by using Dante’s “Four Levels of Interpretation”. The first level of interpretation is the literal. This level focuses on what literally happened in the story. The second level of interpretation is the allegorical. This level is concerned with the meaning hidden beneath the words in the literal sense. It tells of the nature of man and what we do in certain situations. The third level is the moral level. It is the message behind the story. This level teaches us a lesson that we should use in our lives. The fourth and final level is the anagogical level. This is the level that is the sense beyond. It is not only literally true but shows a truth of greater glory and truth of the spirit. Dante used the example:
“...in the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt,
Judea was made holy and free. [7] For even though the literal truth of this passage is clear, what it means spiritually is no less true, that in the departure of the soul from sin, it is made holy and free.” [8]
The doctor lives in a better-than-average home in a nice neighborhood. It is full of things from his past and is well maintained. He has an old Grand piano and there are many books on the shelves. Some of these books were recently acquired by Oreshchenkov from a fellow doctor. This doctor had just retired and became a bee-keeper. He did not enjoy being a doctor and now he was free of it. He could now do what he really wanted and was...
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...hich occupied them, which they believe was central to their lives, and by which they were known to others. The meaning of existence was to preserve unspoiled, undisturbed and undistorted the image of eternity with which each person is born.”
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The doctor sees the people of his past, not as their accomplishments, but who they really are. He sees that they are so preoccupied with the things they are doing that they think that that is all they are and that is how other people saw them. They become objects of their work and activity and loose who they are. The doctor sees that the purpose of life is to remain true to yourself. Don’t allow yourself to distort what you really are. See yourself as a person. If you do that you will continually keep your soul pure. If you live your life a human being your soul will remain unspoiled and will last for eternity. To live a human being you must be and treat everyone as a beloved creation of God for your entire life. That is “the truest of all tests” for a man.
The passage is here not only to illustrate the struggle of becoming a doctor but to tell future medical students that they should want to become a doctor for the passion of helping people and not for the future “big payoff”. Also the passage informs the readers that not all doctors end up making as much as they
The death of his friend made him having the desire to be a doctor. However,
The second level is known as lust and consists of the desperate and the despondent. All the sinners who will be found to be guilty of lust will be condemned to this level for eternity. The souls of all the individuals found guilty of this sin will be scattered and blown about without any hope of rest. In this level, people will be subjected to eternal unrest and hopelessness. This level is the second farthest circle from Satan and is slightly harsher than the first one, but is not as cruel as the other circles that follow.
Before understanding Dante’s motives behind the hierarchy and why it does not make sense, it is first necessary to understand the philosophical tradition behind Dante’s writings. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle proposed that there are two potencies that make humans to be human. The first is what he called the possible intellect, or the ability to know. To fulfill the possible intellect, it would require one to know everything. Also according to Aristotle...
is very upset and think that they are the cause of her "death". Also, the Friar
...ards monstrous figures and sympathy towards those who seem to be tortured unjustly. In his perverse education, with instruction from Virgil and the shades, Dante learns to replace mercy with brutality, because sympathy in Hell condones sin and denies divine justice. The ancient philosopher Plato, present in the first level of Hell, argues in The Allegory of the Cave that truth is possible via knowledge of the Form of the Good. Similarly, Dante acquires truth through a gradual understanding of contrapasso and the recognition of divine justice in the afterlife. Ultimately, Dante recognizes that the actions of the earthly fresh are important because the soul lives on afterwards to face the ramifications. By expressing his ideas on morality and righteousness, Dante writes a work worth reading, immortalizes his name, and exalts the beliefs of his Christian audience.
Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia, or the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man's journey through Hell and the observance of punishments incurred as a result of the committance of sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment, and the punishment itself, has a direct correlation to the sin committed. The punishments are fitting in that they are symbolic of the actual sin; in other words, "They got what they wanted." (Literature of the Western World, p.1409) According to Dante, Hell has two divisions: Upper Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence, and Lower Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The divisions of Hell are likewise split into levels corresponding to sin. Each of the levels and the divisions within levels 7,8, and 9 have an analogous historical or mythological figure used to illustrate and exemplify the sin.
Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough the depths of hell and invokes much imagery, contemplation and feeling. Dante’s work beautifully constructs a full sensory depiction of hell and the souls he encounters along the journey. In many instances within the work the reader arrives at a crossroads for interpretation and discussion. Canto XI offers one such crux in which Dante asks the question of why there is a separation between the upper levels of hell and the lower levels of hell. By discussing the text, examining its implications and interpretations, conclusions can be drawn about why there is delineation between the upper and lower levels and the rationale behind the separation.
The Cancer Center is a very large hospital building that offers various services. Maddie arrived on time and dressed appropriately for the task at hand each time she showed up for this assessment site. Maddie was very excited when she noticed the wigs in the service office and quickly counted all the wigs and let the Discovery Specialist know how many wigs were set up on the shelves.
In conclusion, we can see that Dante presents the reader with a potentially life-altering chance to participate in his journey through Hell. Not only are we allowed to follow Dante's own soul-searching journey, we ourselves are pressed to examine the state of our own souls in relation to the souls in Inferno. It is not just a story to entertain us; it is a display of human decision and the perpetual impact of those decisions.
Dante’s Inferno and its levels within are meticulously thought out for the time period of the 1300s. However, there are a few alterations to be made to fit the values of present day society.
Additionally, as the story progresses, the seven major monsters represent that the degree of evil and torment of which the character Dante encounters gradually increase in accordance with the degree of sin, enabling the poet Dante to create more intense story.
The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri “Inferno” can bring tons of literature culture to the reader. It is full of allegories that sometimes leads the reader to its own interpretation and imagination. Allegory is a way of writing where ideas are defined with characters and events of a story. It could also be said that Allegory is what the reader can perceive from a work of literature. In the Canto IX (61-63), Dante gives a sense of pause in order to call on the attention of the reader as if Dante is speaking directly to the reader himself.
This results in going to a great school, accomplishing their goal to get good grades and to go to a great college in order to study the practice of medicine. Without believing in himself, they’d never accomplish that goal. Once becoming a doctor at a hospital or private practice of any sort, whe or she will make money and this will make them feel a sense of pride and prosperity. When they help their patients, they gain respect from their patient and even themselves. People feel safe with them and it makes them feel accomplished. All the hard work and hard times payed off—and it was because of
In Italian Dante Alighieri (1265) Poem, The Divine Comedy Inferno, Translated by Mark Musa. Dante demonstrates the value of personal development which is the ability to keep a balanced life and continuously learn from past mistakes in order to create a better future. Dante begins the poem wrapped in his own thoughts and suffering but by the end of the poem he begins to understand other’s sufferings beyond his own. In his growth throughout his journey he learns about pain and sorrow that he cannot comprehend. He becomes more aware of the torture that is around him. At the beginning he appears to think that his life was horrible but by the end of the poem he seems to realize that he can make his and others lives better by becoming a better person. Dante also learns how to respect others by learning why the shades are in hell without judging them for their crimes, a few times however Dante disregards the core value of respect when he comes across a few shades that he personally disliked during that shades life time. Dante feels that a shade deserves to be psychically harm a shade when the shade does not respond. This shows complete disregard of the respect core value. The core value of excellence is also represented by Dante. The excellence core value is striving to be the best in all that you do and to always try to do everything better than the last time. As he goes through the layers of hell he learns more about life and gains courage that he lacked at the beginning of the poem.