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.”
(P 432)
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 death of his friend made him having the desire to be a doctor. However,
That is how much he doesn’t even try to help her through her sickness. He should just not try to do that and try talking more so that he knows that the sickness is a mind problem. But does he try no he doesn’t he thinks of ways to tie her up and lock her up. She even thought if people get out of the wallpaper in the room like she did. But then he thought of a way to calm her it was to make her rest and comfort her. She wanted to sleep with John but he said you should undoubtedly rest better for the night all
Thompson, Diane. “World Literature I (Eng 251): Dante's Inferno Study Guide.” Northern Virginia Community College. Last modified 2007. Accessed 30 September 2011. http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/eng251/dante.html
Through these and many other allusions found throughout Dante’s Inferno the reader witnesses the strong sentiments Dante has towards those who sin against God, as well as those who commit acts of betrayal. By using such allusion Dante allows the reader to engage more easily because of the continuity created in using such literary device. Through the allusions the constant theme of God’s just being the ultimate truth and Jesus is the only way to salvation is clearly
To initiate on the theme of control I will proceed to speak about the narrators husband, who has complete control over her. Her husband John has told her time and time again that she is sick; this can be viewed as control for she cannot tell him otherwise for he is a physician and he knows better, as does the narrator’s brother who is also a physician. At the beginning of the story she can be viewed as an obedient child taking orders from a professor, and whatever these male doctors say is true. The narrator goes on to say, “personally, I disagree with their ideas” (557), that goes without saying that she is not very accepting of their diagnosis yet has no option to overturn her “treatment” the bed rest and isolation. Another example of her husband’s control would be the choice in room in which she must stay in. Her opinion is about the room she stays in is of no value. She is forced to stay in a room she feels uneasy about, but John has trapped her in this particular room, where the windows have bars and the bed is bolted to the floor, and of course the dreadful wall paper, “I never worse paper in my life.” (558) she says. Although she wishes to switch rooms and be in one of the downstairs rooms one that, “opened on the piazza and had roses all over the window. ...” (558). However, she knows that, “John would not hear of it.”(558) to change the rooms.
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 the Devine Comedy Dante’s Inferno Dante goes through nine levels of Hell. The levels of Hell have a specific meaning. Level one through five is lust, six through seven is violence, and eight through nine is fraud. In the second level of Hell he meets Francesca and in the eighth level he meets Odysseus and Ulysses. He wants to know what the people did to put themselves in that situation. There form of sin identifies with Dante with one being Greed and the other being Fraud.
In conclusion, through the imagery that Dante inserts in the Inferno, one can see how each specific
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.
William Carlos Williams’ passion and dedication of medicine can be seen through his literary contributions of short stories and poems. The Doctor Stories use interior monologue in a stream-of-consciousness as a tool to reflect each narrator’s experience and gives insight into the character and his appraisal of each of the situations encountered. It is through this stream-of-consciousness that we come to realize the observational nature of this doctor’s actions and thoughts.
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
Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough of 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 doctor emerges as sympathetic and keen to human behavior, which is the characteristic that we all know about a good doctor. However, he appears prejudiced and undeniably blunt. The writer’s selection to use interior monologue as reflects his understanding about conversation and gives an insight into the characters of some of his patients, and his assessment of his experiences. The writer uses pathos to depict the parents as cooperative yet distrustful and nervous, which the doctor finds obstructive. However, his respect for the parents changes since the...
...tentially be cured with a one surgery. He uses this story of death to share that life is short. “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by Dogma. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” He uses repetition and parallelism to drive his message home.