"Doctor" Will
While
Esther is visiting Buddy in medical school, he takes her on a tour of the
hospital he is working at. Buddy takes Esther to see a woman giving birth and
Esther is pretty disturbed by the way the woman is on drugs so she is unaware
of what’s going on but still in pain. She mentions that it seems like the sort
of drugs a man would create. While reading this scene, I was also really
bothered by the way Will, a resident at the hospital” acted during the birth
scene.
As Esther
and Buddy enter the room, they stop to talk to Will before going in. Buddy asks
Will who’s on the job and will says “‘I am,’ Will said gloomily, and I noticed
little drops of sweat beading on his high pale forehead. ‘I am, and it’s my
first.’” Will acts as if helping Mrs. Tomolillo give birth is some huge chore
for him and something he really does not want to do. His gloomy voice implies
that he is dragging his feet into the room because he is dreading helping Mrs.
Tomolillo give birth. The drops of sweat on his forehead also seem to imply
that he is nervous and perhaps not prepared to help her. To make matters worse,
Buddy then tells Esther “(…) that Will was a third-year man and had to deliver
eight babies before he could graduate.” Instead of acting as though delivering
babies is a really important job not to mention an important part of the women’s
lives Buddy acts as though it is just one more annoying task Will has to check
off his list. Buddy and Will make it seem as though delivering babies is not an
important medical procedure but just something keeping them from graduating.
As Esther
enters the room Will tells her, “‘You oughtn’t to see this,’ Will muttered in
my ear. ‘You’ll never want to have a baby if you do. They oughtn’t to let women
watch. It’ll be the end of the human race.’” Will acts as though the mother
giving birth is some awful and terrible thing, which he cannot do anything
about. He does not seem concerned about the drugs the mother is on and he doesn’t
really seem to care that it might be painful for the mother. Even during the birth,
Will seems unprepared. When he is handed the baby he is overwhelmed. “(…) Will
kept saying, ‘I’m going drop it, I’m going to drop it, I’m going to drop it,’
in a terrified voice.” Despite the fact that he is a third year resident, he
seems terrified to hold the baby. While Esther is very aware of how the mother
must be feeling during the birth, Will seems as though he could not care less.
I feel the same way about Will and, in general, about men in medicine is the book. Dr. Gordon, for example, seems really passive in his treatment of Esther, not taking an active role in trying to figure out what he could do to help.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the male doctors in the book are personifications of what Esther believes is wrong with the society. Will is the image of men just using women and to help them progress and as a chore to be bothered with, Buddy is the image of how women need to remain pure, but men can do whatever they want, and Dr. Gordon is the image of how men don't see women as humans. Obviously not all doctors are like this, but I think this gives us a little bit of insight into the way things were done in the past.
ReplyDeleteEverything about the portrayal of male figures of authority in the book just seems so wrong with how we think of things now in the 21st century, its hard to imagine the setting of the book is just 60 or so years ago. Makes us really think about how far we have come both in the area of women's rights but also mental illness as a concept.
DeleteI agree that the depiction of Will's clinical distance is a bit disturbing. It reminds me of how we all sometimes look at something with a removed perspective, like the trials of war or suffering in third world countries. Sometimes it's hard for us to connect with those things, so we reduce the enormity of the situation into facts and procedure. For one reason or another, Will cannot empathize with the woman, and so he reduces the childbirth to a procedure. I think that a lot of the issues in this world could be solved if only we could experience and connect with the crap that goes on.
ReplyDeleteI think that Esther's reaction to the birth is the same reaction I would have. I also felt really bad for Ms. Tomolillo because she is giving birth and the person delivering the baby is an unexperienced 20 something year old. Her delivery is just another bullet mark that Will has to cross off before he can be an actual doctor.
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