Identifying the Main Character in The Use of Force
Since Olson narrates the story, I was tempted to focus on his opinions and motives in accessing and handling the intense situation of diagnosing a sick child. Though tempted to focus on Olson, after meticulous analysis of the passage, I noted Matilda as the character that force is being applied to-clearly a manifestation of the title of this story.
All attention and focus is on Matilda employing care to her appearance as well as her fluster. Matilda just would not allow Olson to take cultures from the back of her throat. Olson’s blunt remarks to Matilda’s naïve parents “for heavens sake...she might have diphtheria and possibly die from it,” doesn’t affect the child in the least. Nothing changes. Diphtheria is an infectious disease in which a membrane forms over the air passage. Olson orders one parent, whom he subconsciously had not disclosed, to place the child on his lap and hold her wrist. Matilda shrieked terrifyingly, desperately, “Stop it! You’re killing me!”
Matilda’s mother is even more naïve than her father because obviously Olson told the child she would die of a sore throat to startle her and prompt gravity to the urgency of acquiring the cultures. Yet, Matilda’s mother still questioned the doctor contemptibly till her husband had to suggest that she take leave of absence from the room, inferring that diphtheria is deadly. Olson’s ego is ruffled, for he states that he could have torn the child apart in his own fury and enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to attack her.
Force is implied from the statements ‘Then the battle begins’ and ‘Oh yeah’ in Olson’s objection to the alternative to go to the hospital. This is embodied by the descriptions: abject, crushed, exhausted, magnificent heights of insane fury, and terror for the doctor. The doctor wrestles with Matilda and her parents. Operative determination in the final unreasoning assault, to overpower her neck and jaws to insert the tongue depressor, succeeded.
Focus shifted from each character back to the child. Olsen speaks about the other characters at length, at all times referring their effect or concerns on the child. The only mention of defensiveness is in Matilda. She had fought valiantly, hiding the secret of her sore throat and cried blinding tears. Olson becomes impatient calling Matilda “a damn little brat,” emphasizing her ignorance when he says she has to be protected from her idiocy.
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth century a disease dominated the world killing one in three people who caught it, smallpox. The few that survived the disease were left with very disfigured bodies and weak immune systems. In modern days this disease seems very unusual and hard to catch; it is all because of one man, Edward Jenner.
The doctor in William Carlos Williams’ The Use of Force ultimately saves Mathilda’s life but under what motive? His motive to win the battle against her or the motive to actually try to cure her? The fact that Mathilda’s life is on the line brings out the heroic attributes of the doctor in the story. In the end, even though the doctor has malicious thoughts, the doctor is a hero because he ultimately saves Mathilda’s life and continues with helping Mathilda despite her every attempt to deter the doctor and refuse his help.
Mom’s words and doctor’s advice did not become a way to obstruct the narrator and his pride. Paying no attention to Mom and the doctor’s warning, the narrator took his crippled brother out and trained him anyways regardless of Doodle’s physical restraints, because he is embarrassed. “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him (Hurst 204).” Even worse, the narrator knew it was his pride that made him to force Doodle into cruel training, “I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother (Hurst 206).” In addition, due to his embarrassment, the
The illustration of Margaret’s mother standing in the doorway looking down on Clementine shows there is a direct didactic lesson taking place. This picture reinforces the adult-centeredness that is being portrayed because her mother is an obvious authority figure and therefore knows what is right. Margaret’s mothers concern of Clementine’s and Margaret’s behavior shows that she is caring and giving the children knowledge that they should be taking to heart. She is teaching them a direct lesson. Margaret’s mother standing in the doorway, hovering over Clementine, shows that she is the center of authority and gives her power. When she tells Clementine that she should be in her room thinking about the consequences of her actions it shows that Clementine and Margaret need to be thinking about their actions and learning a lesson. Punishment weakens a behavior because a negative condition is introduced or experienced as a consequence of the b...
As the world recovers from recent school shootings, people wondered why these events have occurred. They are focused on drug use, violent society, video games, bullying, and mental issues to try and explain an unexplainable event. The idea that a person would shoot others for little or no reason gave little relief to the survivors.
During the Civil War, injuries caused lots of damage on soldiers and their bodies. Usually, when a soldier gets severely injured, amputation was the best option. A common phrase, “Bite the Bullet”, became very prevalent upon the Civil War culture. The phrase literally meant during the amputation process, the surgeon gave an actual bullet to the soldier to bite on while his limb was being removed (Phrases). In the beginning of the novel, Henry constantly contemplated running when the battle started, or staying to fight for victory. Henry did not show any signs of courage until he steeped on the battlefield for the second time and began to fight. Injuries inflicted on Henry and his comrades drew out a lot of courage on themselves along with the rest army division. “At times he regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, ...
Marie, who is a product of an abusive family, is influenced by her past, as she perceives the relationship between Callie and her son, Bo. Saunders writes, describing Marie’s childhood experiences, “At least she’d [Marie] never locked on of them [her children] in a closet while entertaining a literal gravedigger in the parlor” (174). Marie’s mother did not embody the traditional traits of a maternal fig...
Briefly Describe One Important Tool that Can Be Used to Measure its Occurrence in a Population
...aspects are depicted unrealistically and inaccurately. Though she depicted the overwhelming fear and panic of a shooting, as well as a common, believable case of circumstances leading up to the shooting, it seemed highly unlikely that the main character, who took a bullet for another classmate, would be despised and outcast by almost every other character. However, the novel did cause the reader to truly feel Valerie’s pain, and to understand the absolute horror that a school shooting brings to the students, teachers, school, and community.
The history of smallpox goes back for thousands of years. It is thought to have appeared as much as 10,000 years ago and since then, it has claimed the lives of millions of people, many of whom have been famous figures in history. After a vaccine was discovered in 1796, countries throughout the world began the fight to eradicate the disease. This fight was won in 1980 as a result of the international effort headed by the World Health Organization. Today, smallpox is no longer a threat in nature but the virus is still stored in labs, from which a biological weapon could be made.
The doctor contains his professionalism, but as it goes on, pieces of frustrated irregularities begin to surface. As the doctor learns that the parents say no, that the girl says she doesn’t have a sore throat, he purs...
...only likely occurrence), it can be concluded that the reappearance of the smallpox disease would cause devastation of great magnitude. Because of the eradication of smallpox so long ago, it is believed that any occurrence would be due to a bio-terror event (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). The United State’s has a viable plan for response in the event of smallpox falling into the wrong hands and becoming weaponized. Hopefully worldwide endemics of the past would not reoccur.
In “The Scarlet Ibis,” written by James Hurst, Doodle, a boy born with health problems, experiences cruel actions from his older brother who wishes Doodle would have been born as normal as possible with no health conditions. As Doodle grows his older brother tries to teach him to be as normal as Doodle portrays to be capable to be, such as teaching him to walk, although this affects Doodle’s health severely, which eventually leads to his early death. The narrator in “The Scarlet Ibis” causes Doodle’s death by leaving Doodle in the rain, teaching him things that affects his health, and creating a sense of curiosity.
• Setting – It’s not actually mentioned, but it is implied that it at the Olson’s house, a doctor is called to look at the daughter as she is not feeling well.