“The use of the force”

A couple of days ago I came across a website www.classicshort.com . It was in this site where I found an interesting short story called “The use of the force” by William Carlos Williams (1883-1963). Williams was an American author closely related with modernism and who influenced “the beat generation”, but he was also a paediatrician and probably because of this reason, the main character of this story is a doctor.

The doctor-patient relationship here is shown from the view of a physician who is summoned to attend a house call. Her patient was a beautiful child whose parents were concerned about her illness because they were afraid that it could be diphtheria, a deadly illness in those days. They were new patients for him and the girl showed a reluctant attitude towards the doctor. In order to determine if she had diphtheria or not, the doctor should examine her throat and this ended up in a situation that escalates into a battle between them, since the child resisted the examination and the doctor was convinced that it was necessary so that he could have an early diagnosis.
The narrator of the story is the doctor; consequently we can appreciate his own thoughts and feelings, as well as his reaction to this hostile situation. The use of the force is the way the physician dealt with this stubborn child but especially with his self-control issues.
In summary, “the use of the force” shows us a moment in the life of a stressed out doctor and one of those situations which medicine people are forced to face and are part of their jobs.

Erin