AU, Wing Hay Gwyneth

152001
Eng120 Introduction to Literature

1. In your words summarize the plot of the short story The

Use of Force in fewer than 80 words. (10%)
The story is in a doctors perspective; he suspects that a girl
is suffering from diphtheria and decided to examine her
throat. Nevertheless, the girl refuses to open her mouth. The
doctor opens her mouth by force, which makes her even
more defensive. At the end, the doctor finds out that his
prediction is correct and the girl has been hiding her
symptoms from her parents for at least three days.

2. Why is it that the dialogues are not put in quotation marks?

What kind of difference does it make if they are put in
quotation marks? (10%)

The dialogues are not put in quotation marks. It expressed

the irrational mind of the narrator. The doctor was out of his
mind and flooded with fury. He was so desperate to prove
his prediction was right. This also successfully drew the
attention of readers as the absence of quotation marks made
no pauses in between conversations. If the dialogues were
put in quotations, the plot would be much more structured
and would not achieve this closely knitted effect.

3. The story begins with They were new patients to me, all I
had was the name, Olson. So, the narrator knows that the
 surname of the family is Olson. But it seems that he has
never addressed to them as Mr. and Mrs. Olson but only the
father and the mother. Why? (5%) How does it show to us
his attitude to the patients family? (5%)

The narrator, i.e. the doctor has never addressed to the

parents as Mr. and Mrs. It is believed that it was because
they are a less well-off family. It could be shown in the part
where they let their daughter stay in the kitchen as it was the
only warm area in the house. They could not afford heating
facilities anywhere in the house. Their relatively lower social
status, as compared to the narrator himself, might be the
reason why the doctor did not address them properly.
It shows to us that he is quite impolite to the patients family.
It is common sense that you should address people by their
last names. However, the doctor has not done that. He
somehow looks down on less privileged people.

4. What is the narrators attitude to the girl? (10%)

The narrator has spent some time trying to open the girls
mouth and examine her throat but did not have joy from it.
Throughout the process, he has lost his temper and he has an
urge to overpower the girl. He starts to use force and the girl
starts bleeding.
He said he could have torn the child apart in his own fury
and enjoyed it. And it was a pleasure to attack her. The
process or should I say the fight shows that the doctor
seems to be out of control as the resistance of the girls has
challenged his power. He was angry with her.
5. Why is the doctor so angry about being called a nice man?
(5%)

The doctor is so angry about being called a nice man

because he has not been a nice man after all. As the little girl
is so resistant towards him and would not cooperate at all, he
starts to use much more violence just because he wants to
prove himself correct. In other words, it was for his own
purpose, not the patients. This was not something a nice
man would do. Therefore, being called a nice man makes
him guilty. He is, at the same time, stressing out because he
is behaving very violently to the girl ironically. A great
contrast has been shown.

6. Read the following excerpt:

Perhaps I should have desisted and come back in an hour
or more. No doubt it would have been better. But I have seen
at least two children lying dead in bed of neglect in such
cases, and feeling that I must get a diagnosis now or never I
went at it again. But the worst of it was that I too had got
beyond reason. 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. Others must be
protected against her. It is a social necessity. And all these
things are true. But a blind fury, a feeling of adult shame,
bred of a longing for muscular release are the operatives.
One goes on to the end.
Notice the change of tense forms here. Why does the
narrator say I should have, I too had got, I could have
torn? (5%) What does this variety of tense forms (simple
 past tense, present perfect tense, past progressive tense,
simple present) tell us about the point of view of the narrator?
(10%)

The narrator says I should have, I too had got, I could

have torn because these were the desperate thoughts and
imaginations in his mind. However, he is unable to act so
hostile in reality. They are unreal.

The variety of tense forms shows the more intense change of

emotions of the narrator. At first, he says maybe he should
have come back later. He is quite calm and is trying to solve
the problem rationally. Then, as he knows that diphtheria is
fatal, he is getting more intense and realises that he too had
got beyond reason. He starts to lose his mind, and he even
has the thought of tearing the little girl apart in his fury. He
is close to insane.

7. Why does the narrator say there is a feeling of adult shame?

(10%)
It is because the doctor implies his personal emotions on this.
As an adult, he uses violence on a child, not to mention she
is his patient. He is ashamed because he actually enjoyed
defeating her. He is releasing his anger through force. For
a doctor, this is not professional at all. Therefore,
consciously, he knows that he should be ashamed of himself
for doing that to a child.