The Use of Force 3

Since this short story is set in a time where anesthesia and laughing gas are foreign concepts, I do not necessarily identify with the purpose or values expressed in this work. Personally, I believe that the doctor is an insane man that needs to use excessive force to get what he wants. If using excessive force to accomplish a goal is a value expressed in this story, I clearly don't identify with the story in that aspect. However, in a way, we can identify with the experience of the sick, little girl. I'll make this clear right away: I have never had a doctor forcefully stick a spoon down my throat until I started to bleed. Still, as little kids, most of us have been extremely fearful with going to the doctor's office. Let's be honest, it's a very frightening experience. You initially don't know this strange man with these weird tools. Apparently he is trying to help us, but the only reassurance we can get from our mom and dad is, "He won't hurt you." Just hearing the word "hurt" makes us cringe and, ironically, we are now more fearful than ever. So in this way, I understand why the little girl was so reluctant. She does not know this man nor trust this man... and why should she? The blame should ultimately be placed on the mom and dad. Their job was to calm the little and push her to trust the complete stranger. However, they completely fail and end making her more anxious. They were complete pushovers with no control over their little girl. "The father tried his best, and he was a big man but the fact that she was his daughter, his shame at her behavior and his dread of hurting her made him release her just at the critical times when I had almost achieved success..." Bad parenting at it's finest.