William Carlos William's short story
"The Use of Force" is the story of Dr. William's attempt to coax a
young girl to open her mouth so he can properly diagnose her. However, his
attempts are met with strong resistance, and he eventually must use force to
pry open the little girl's mouth to save her. Throughout the text, many
emotions are described. They range from frustration to downright violence
within three pages. Because of the emotions displayed, it can be argued that
the most important theme in the short story would be “The desire to help may be
met with resistance”. Following in
second would be “Children are capable of stubborn furry”. The final most
important theme in “The Use of Force” is “People may secretly admire those who
resist them”.
“The desire to help may be met with
resistance” is the theme that reoccurs frequently in the story. From the
beginning, it was quite clear that the young girl would not cooperate with Dr.
Williams. From the beginning, the child was difficult. She refused to answer
the doctor’s questions about her sore throat and refused to open her mouth for
an examination. Eventually it got to the point of physically attacking him. Resistance
is evident throughout the entire story. “Children are capable of stubborn fury”
is another high ranked theme for this story. As stated before, the girl
attacked Dr. Williams and refused to open her mouth. When he tried, she
screamed as though she was being murdered. This furry coming from such a small
child proves what children are capable of.
Despite the violent resistance, “People secretly admire those who resist
them” is relevant because Dr. Williams states that he had “already fallen in
love with the child” because of her large efforts to fight him off, even though
receiving the throat culture would save her life.
Eventually, Dr. Williams is able to pry
open Mathilda’s mouth. Because of the state of her tonsils, she is clearly
sick. The story ends with Mathilda crying in defeat despite her best efforts to
defend herself against the doctor. Out of all the themes that can be chosen for
“The Use of Force”, resistance and furry are the most prominent.
No comments:
Post a Comment