In Katharine Treadway’s and Neal Chatterjee’s scientific article, Into The Water, they both discuss the complexity of the doctor’s way of dealing with compassion, or sometimes, lack thereof, by describing to the reader of different observations made in the hospital. One of the more shocking passages is when Treadway retells the reader of what she wrote in a reflection of her first year. Within only a few paragraphs, she makes it apparent that the key to having proper compassion in the medical field is to be self-aware. She acknowledges the tragic and traumatic in detail and startlingly bluntly, never sugar coating an incident, “I have seen entirely too many people naked. I have seen 350 pounds of flesh, dead: dried red blood streaked across nude adipose, gauze, and useless EKG paper strips.” The way she describes these types of incidents such as the death of a baby “— blue, limp, quiet” or someone on an OR table, “…anesthetized, splayed, and filleted…” are so profound, and yet necessary as people outside of the medical field don’t naturally understand why a doctor would disassociate themselves from the people they treat. It’s almost like looking at gruesome pictures of warfare, people don’t necessarily want to see it, but how can people learn from their mistakes (and victories) without seeing their consequences. While this passage as a whole tells us how doctors should act in terms of compassion and association with their patients, I think it is important to note, that we as the reader should also take on some of this responsibility. We tend to hide from the grim, grotesque things of reality, while doctors are forced to live with it every day, when perhaps, we, the reader, should become more compassionate towards the doctors who sometimes treat us.
Category: Reading Response
Reading Response 1 – Berger – Hannah Evans
Hannah Evans
Michele Rivkin-Fish and Jane Thrailkill
ENGL 264/ANTH 272
26 January 2020
Reading Response: A Fortunate Man
A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor by John Berger has many elements of chaos and disorder, which is accentuated by the style of narration and use of dramatic irony.
The narration in the story is somewhat unusual; the flow is constantly broken as the narrator cuts in by speaking about something that will happen as it pertains to the situation before going back to the present events. This is seen throughout the text, like when Berger writes, “The man would tell the story many times, and the first would be tonight in the village. But it was not yet a story” (p. 17-18). This interruption of the story as future events are referenced breaks the flow but also correlates to the theme of injury. Just as accidents and disability disrupt the normal flow of one’s life, the way it’s written is reminiscent of this as it continuously interrupts the usual flow of the story.
Berger also utilizes dramatic irony, which is when the author and audience have knowledge that characters in the story don’t. In this case, it’s that the man will eventually lose his leg despite best efforts. On page 18, the narrator states that he worked on “the leg the fourth of them would lose.” However, toward the end, the doctor tells Harry that he’ll keep it. This is at odds with the sentence referenced earlier; this incongruence between the doctor’s optimistic prognosis and what actually happens shows the volatility and unpredictability of injuries. Even if all the correct actions are taken, you cannot ensure a certain outcome; the worst can still occur despite best preventions. This is a common theme throughout stories of disability and affliction, and the text highlights this by contrasting the doctor’s prediction with the loss of the man’s leg.
Works Cited
Berger, John, and Jean Mohr. A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor. Vintage Books, 1967, pp. 17-19.
Reading Response #1 – On “A Fortunate Man”
Sam Whitfield
Julio Villa-Palomino
ANTH 272
January 25th, 2020
I chose to examine a section of the second vignette of Berger’s “A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor.”. This story recounts the slow decline of a woman throughout the years, despite the doctor’s attempts to diagnose and cure her. He pursues many routes of diagnosis, ranging from x-rays and allergy tests, but everything comes back inconclusive, leaving the doctor without any potential treatment. Over time he learns what is causing the illness, and realizes it is too late to treat her, shown when the narrator describes that “She now survives on steroids.” (Berger and Mohr 23). The rest of vignette further describes the impact of the illness on the woman, and ends with a paragraph describing a river. This is a stark contrast to the story told immediately before it, where the doctor was confidently able to save a man whose leg was crushed under a fallen tree. In this way, the story of the woman can be seen as a failed restitution narrative, as the woman was unable to receive a cure, or get better. It is interesting how the author explores how the doctor feels about failing in this key moment of the narrative, as generally stories of suffering and illness focus on the feelings of the patient. The doctors feelings on this are best exemplified in the lines “And afterwards the shallows, clear but constantly disturbed, endlessly irritated by their very shallowness as though by an allergy. There is a bend in the river which often reminds the doctor of his failure.” (Berger and Mohr 23). The river being clear, but being constantly disturbed exemplifies the condition of the woman, where she is stable and living, but her condition leaves her with constant problems. The bend in the river exemplifies how, even though he failed in his task, the doctor must learn from his experiences, move on, and continue trying to heal others.
Works Cited
Berger, John, and Jean Mohr. A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor. Vintage Books, 1967.
First Reading Response: The Illness Narratives
Laurel Zeigler
Professors J. Thrailkill and M. Rivkin-Fish
ENGL 264
26 January 2020
First Reading Response: The Illness Narratives
In the first chapter of Kleinman’s The Illness Narratives, Kleinman sees an opportunity to clarify his point by distinguishing illness from disease and sickness. Kleinman’s discussion of these three terms offers us insight into how the Western world views illness, disease, and sickness, and allows us to explore alternative ways of thinking. Klienman also discusses how the Western view of illness and disease can be damaging to both patient and physician.
Why distinguish illness from disease and sickness? In Kleinman’s view, these are very different things. While illness represents the actual feelings of the ill and those around them, disease is the label given to the physical symptoms by the physician. Sickness, meanwhile, refers to how the society at large views both illness and disease. For example, a chronically ill person may see their disorder as an inescapable fact of life, something to be managed, like the weather. This is illness. Meanwhile, under the disease model, a doctor might see the same disorder as a particularly frustrating problem to be solved. And as sickness, the society at large may regard the disorder as a rare occurrence that elicits sympathy but not much fear.
Under all the disease and sickness models, and sometimes the illness model, the West regards the body as separate from the mind. A sick person may grow frustrated that their body is a useless vessel for housing their otherwise healthy mind. However, there is a growing body of evidence that links the way people think about their disorders with overall physical health. As Kleinman states, “By now a very substantial body of findings indicates that psychological and social factors are often the determinants of the swing towards amplification,” or exacerbation of a health problem. This regard for body as separate from mind is part of what Kleinman calls a “radically materialist pursuit of the biological mechanism of disease.” Here, “materialist” refers to the ignorance of the mind’s role in treating the body. Physicians focus only on physical wellness, on the material self, and ignore the immaterial, which may equally if not more affect the person’s health.
Kleinman urges his readers to consider how they interact with illness in their own lives, and to rethink how their societies structure ideas of sickness. After all, not long ago, homosexuality was regarded as a disease even though those “affected” were, for the most part, perfectly healthy otherwise. Autism is still regarded as a disease, even though those with the disorder do not, overall, desire a cure. We need to rethink matters of illness, sickness, and disease not just in our own lives but in the lives of others, and physicians in particular must start to pay attention to the whole health of their patients. Only then can we create a truly well society.
Reading Response #1 – The Journey of Multiple Sclerosis
Christiana Stickel
Professor Rivkin-Fish and Professor Thrailkill
ANTH 272 / ENGL 264
25 January 2020
The Journey of Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis can be a positive journey, or so Nancy Mairs tells
her readers. In her illness narrative, Mairs describes living with Multiple
Sclerosis and its implications for her life. At the beginning of the narrative,
readers are impressed with her difficult life as evidenced by falls,
embarrassing moments, and progressively debilitating occurrences of her
Multiple Sclerosis. However, Mairs’ writing is a quest narrative in that she
conveys hope and self-discovery in the process of her illness. Examining
the second to last passage of her narrative, Mairs imparts her most
powerful message: “This gentleness is part of the reason that I’m not sorry
to be a cripple” (9). During this passage especially, the reader senses
feelings of gratefulness and contentment which seem incompatible with
her illness. Her feeling of gratefulness contributes to an overall theme of
courage and self-discovery. It is as if Mairs is telling her reader that yes, she
may have an illness, but no, she will not let it get the best of her. Later
adding to this theme, Mairs says about Multiple Sclerosis, “I’m getting the
hang of it” (10). However, Mairs does not profess an easy life. She writes in
a way that conveys the cyclical frustration that she faces through
highlighting “a life wrenched by change and loss, change and loss” (9).
Additionally, Mairs views her illness as a way to help others. She seeks to
use her knowledge about her own suffering and feelings to reach others in
similar circumstances of suffering. This illness narrative is important for
people to read because it is incredibly inspiring. Mairs’ way of approaching
her illness convinces her readers to be courageous against any challenge
they face.
Works Cited:
Mairs, Nancy. “My Life as a Cripple.” www.wheelersburg.net/Downloads/Mairs.pdf. Accessed 24 January 2020.
Response to A Fortunate Man
Elizabeth Grace Newhall
Julio Villa-Palomino
Anthropology 272
26 January 2020
Response to A Fortunate Man
On the surface, Henry Berger’s A Fortunate Man tells the story of a country doctor. Each passage, however, tells not only the doctor’s story, but a story he shares with at least one other person, including the patient. In the short narrative about the man caught under a tree, the bystanders play an equal, if not greater, role in the story. In fact, the reader hears more from the bystanders than the actual injured person, who doesn’t express anything except for some grunts and groans. Once the doctor arrives and the initial franticness of the accident subsides, all three onlookers begin to parrot this idea that the man caught “had a chance” and “could’ve got clear” of the tree before it fell. Readers feel the awkward lull that accompanies being a bystander without a “job.” In the beginning, the men occupied themselves with leading the doctor to his patient, but once the doctor takes over, the only thing the men can do is stand there. They transition from bystander to commenter just in an effort to fill the uncomfortable silence.
Although the tone is fairly innocuous, they imply through their comments that the man had a choice as to whether or not he would be injured, but he chose to get caught under the tree. For a reader, this attitude can be angering and especially disturbing. Although this takes place in early 20th century England, it has implications on the modern idea of victim-blaming. Although today we normally don’t shame people for being victims of this type of physical injury, it makes as much sense as blaming a victim of sexual assault or a person that suffers from mental illness, which is no sense at all.
Language and Illness
One of my favorite readings thus far has been the excerpt from “My Life as a Cripple” because it was an example and application of what we had previously been talking about in class. Nancy Mairs’s blunt and straightforward tone made me feel surprised at first. The opening image she gives her readers is one of her in a bathroom stall; she is honest and uncensored when it comes to expressing how she experiences life with MS. This view of her illness is reflected in the language she uses to describe herself; she opts to call herself a cripple as opposed to handicapped or disabled.
The fact that people wince at the word cripple exposes how we tend to obscure the illness with the desire to make everything seem nice and politically correct. This desire has led to the usage of ‘differently abled’, a word that, according to Mairs, describes both anyone and no one (Mairs 1). Thus, using these vague terms distances what is said from how Mairs experiences MS. I thought it was interesting that, while she calls herself a cripple, Mairs would never refer to anyone else as a cripple. Language has the power to shape how we view the world and ourselves which is why semantics is important when it comes to expressing illness. Certain words, like a cripple, are steeped in societal implications. How individuals use and understand language is influenced by the society and culture they live in but also their own individual experiences, like in Mairs’s account.
Mairs, Nancy. “On Being a Cripple.” University of Arizona Press, 1986, 1-10.
John Berger’s “A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor” Dialogue Analysis
John Berger’s chaos narrative “A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor” begins with a physician driving to a person trapped under a fallen tree. The Doctor arrives at the field and approaches the injured man along with three others. The dialogue between the Doctor and the three people was very rich in significance to the meaning of the story. The Doctor tells the men to lift and they worry that “we could injure him worse than ever” (Berger 19). This harsh reality of Medicine is an internal struggle the physician encounters because professional treatment can cause further injuries to the patient (i.e. surgery risks). This would have been especially true in the 1960s since medical techniques and treatments were not much advanced. The author continues to exclaim, “He could see the crushed leg… like a dog killed on the road” (19). This simile emphasizes the gruesome injuries that the Doctor witnessed daily and the traumas it created for him. This perpetuates the theme that Medicine can be horrifying and taxing on the healers themselves. The dialogue continues to assert that the Doctor “seemed the accomplice of disaster” (19) as if the Doctor was actively attempting to harm the patient. The theme of Medicine being merciless and unpitying is presented, as the Doctor probably struggled with vivid memories of watching people die and feeling responsible for their death. In Medicine, not every patient will survive their injury nor will they live to tell their story of illness. The dialogue ends with a dark mood, yet contrasted with a glimmer of hope, as the Doctor believes the man “won’t lose his leg” (19). This is referencing the hopefulness that the Doctor must maintain to continue helping patients, while also dealing with the hardships caused by previous patient death.
Berger, John, and Jea Mohr. A Fortunate Man: the Story of a Country Doctor. Vintage Books, 1997.
On Being A Cripple
Katie Pelay
Glass Grant
ANTH272/ENGL264
26 January 2020
For my first reading response, I am choosing to respond to the Nancy Mairs reading entitled On Being a Cripple. This particular reading stood out to me because of the honest tone that the author takes when describing her journey with Multiple Sclerosis. She begins the essay with a story, revealing an incident that pushed her to write about her experience as a “cripple.” It is interesting to note that she does not reveal her diagnosis until further along in her essay. I take this to mean that she does not put much importance on her diagnosis, rather taking her life into her own hands and living one day at a time. She is persistently optimistic but is not shy to discuss the realities about her disease.
The passage that struck me most was when she recalls a time where she fell in the parking lot during an outing with her friend. In this passage, I find that the complexity of illness shines bright. She recalls the incident in a humorous tone but also understands the dangers that her illness brings to her life. To me, the passage reveals how the disease can abruptly show itself with no signs—interrupting her life just as she interrupted her friend. Overall, this essay reveals the complexity of illness with its highs and lows in a refreshingly candid nature.
Reading Response to Berger’s A Fortunate Man
“One of them shouted a warning, but it was too late.” (p.17)
With the very first sentence of his story, Berger throws his reader right into the unknown: there is no setup, introduction of the place or characters. This short piece is an example of ethnographic writing, a social observation which Berger wrote while accompanying an English country doctor. The writing is fast-paced, mirroring the action of the doctor hurrying to save the man crushed by the tree. The narrator of the story is Berger himself: an observer, not emotionally involved in the events but reporting on them. His writing, however, is not devoid of emotion: behind the events, Berger conveys emotions which paint an image of his characters: pain of the injured man, worry of the onlookers and dedication of the doctor.
The doctor is the main focus of Berger’s writing: he is the one whose actions we follow from the moment he gets the call about the accident until the injured man is taken away in an ambulance. Conveying the reality of the country doctor’s life is at the heart of the story. As people around comment on what’s happening, the doctor’s attention is focused on helping the trapped man. He also takes the time to explain what he’s doing to the three onlookers, reassuring them. Berger wonderfully captures the reactions of the onlookers to the doctor’s presence and his actions. To them, he is a friendly saviour but also a not-always-welcome outsider. To the injured man, he is a source of courage and hope.
“The three onlookers were relieved by the doctor’s presence. But now his very sureness made it seem to them that he was part of the accident: almost an accomplice” (p.18)
“Again the doctor, whom they knew so well, seemed the accomplice of disaster” (p.19)
So strongly tied to ideas and memories of illness, the country doctor seems to the people a part of the accident. His presence is synonymous with the presence of illness and injury. At the same time, he can relieve pain and illness but also be a constant reminder of their existence. The above sentences convey the mixed emotions people have towards doctors and reveal a truth about being one. The country doctor is a friend who is only present during most difficult and unpleasant of times. When that time is over, he doesn’t necessarily want to be remembered.
Works cited:
Berger, John, and Jean Mohr. A Fortunate Man: The Story of a Country Doctor. Canongate, 2016, pp. 17-19