William Carlos Williams "The Use of Force"

A detailed Summary of William Carlos Williams "The Use of Force"

William Carlos Williams "The Use of Force" deals with a variety of emotions felt by a doctor during a house call. The story begins when a physician is summoned to make a house call on a family with whom he has had no prior contact. He quickly sizes up the situation: the household is poor but clean; the patient is a female child whose parents are nervously concerned, dependent on and yet distrustful of the doctor. The child's beauty and penetrating stare make an immediate impression on him. Concerned that diphtheria may be the cause of illness, he uses his customary professional manner to determine whether the child has a sore throat. The girl, however, won't open her mouth. She fights him off and all attempts to cajole her into compliance fail. He forces the girl's father to hold her down, while he manages to pry open her mouth after a long battle. She does, in fact, have diphtheria. "The Use of Force" is a story that employs the use of connotative language to convey its socially relevant theme within a brief conflict.

William Carlos Williams uses situational irony to support his theme as seen in the quote, "Then I grasped the child's head with my left hand and tried to get the wooden tongue depressor between her teeth. She foug

The theme in "The Use of Force" as stated earlier is the user of force loses his humanity in the minds of others. While this theme may not be applied universally it is intended to show through the story that ones means cannot always justify their ends. This simple story set in a house with two conflicting characters and does not delve into an imaginary world, but it does allow the reader to look into the mind of the doctor. However the lack of quotation marks might imply that this battle between the doctor and the child is in the mind of the doctor rather then reality. Wherever this story takes place it does illustrate an issue that all societies deal with, which is whether force is an acceptable method to attain ones goal or a savage instinct humanity should discard. These conflicting ideas can be seen when Williams writes; "In a final unreasoning assault I overpowered the child's neck and jaws. I forced the heavy silver spoon back of her teeth and down her throat till she gagged. And there it was - both tonsils covered with membrane." As seen the girl is sick and now the doctor will be able to save her but was it worth the blood the girl bled, the answer to this question is Williams theme and he conveys it in an insightful manner.

ht, with clenched teeth, desperately! But now I also had grown furious - at a child. I tried to hold myself down but I couldn't." The rage the doctor feels towards his young sick patient is a representation of Williams message, which is the user of force loses his hu

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Approximate Word count = 1015
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English