The Use of Force

After reading this story, I did some research on William Carlos Williams to try to gain more understanding and perspective of “The Use of Force.” What stood out the most to me was that aside from being a poet and writer, Williams was also a pediatrician and general practitioner. That explained to me why he chose to write about a sick child and a doctor. I also discovered that he enjoyed writing more than being a doctor, which may explain why the doctor in “The Use of Force” lacked passion for helping others, unlike most doctors.
Unlike the common belief that most doctors choose their profession because of a desire to help and cure the sick, Williams developed the doctor in the story to be quite unlike that stereotype. The doctor is the narrator of the story, and his general lack of interest for patients and for his profession is apparent in the structure of the writing itself. Williams’ general lack of structure, such as a separation for quotations, and the monotony of the punctuation, lacking exclamations and commands, personify the doctor’s indifference towards his patients. This indifference only ceased for aggression created by the game of prying the child’s mouth open.
Like most writers involved with Imagism, Williams incorporated a lot of imagery in his writing to develop the characters; describing the child as gazing at the doctor with “cold, stead eyes, and no expression to her face whatever,” though she was an “unusually attractive little thing.” It was soon apparent that the child would not go down without a fight, exhibiting stubbornness that would inhibit her ability to be helped and cured by the doctor.
The doctor developed a relationship with the child that would be considered dangerous and inappropriate by other medical professionals. He almost immediately lost his patience and instead directed his pent up frustration and aggression towards that girl, having “already fallen in love with the savage brat.” He eventually saw her as a game instead of a needy child; the girl never bothered to surrender but chose instead to egg him on. Her parents were too worried for the child to be able to provide any sort of assistance for the doctor, and too ignorant to prevent the child’s behavior. The child never gave in until the doctor successfully “overpowered the child’s neck and jaws,” and instead chose to “fly at [him] while tears of defeat blinded her eyes."

The Guest

“The Guest” was an interesting read. There wasn’t a whole lot to the plot; it basically stayed in one place without any sort of rise or fall. Though the story wasn’t filled with suspense, it was still structured in a way that made me pay attention to the story and intrigued me in a way. One of my main questions while reading was, why did Daru refuse upfront to take the Arab man to the prison even though it was clear that the man had committed a crime.

It is my normal tendency to take the side of the protagonist or narrator when I read anything. I thought it was odd at first that Daru immediately refused to turn in a man that had already admitted to murdering his brother; however, I gave Daru the benefit of the doubt and I figured I would eventually come across the reason behind his actions as the story progressed. Unfortunately, I never fully understood his reasoning even after the story concluded. On the other hand, I also wanted to defend the Arab man, even though he was a killer. There was something about his quiet and reserved nature that showed some sort of innocence and naiveté in his character. I believe that Daru saw the same innocence in him from the beginning, though he was always very aware of the prisoner in case he turned out to be a silent killer. The Arab man turned out to be as honest and innocent as he seemed to be after choosing to continue on to the prison even though Daru tried to direct him towards freedom.

One of the reasons why I think that the Arab man turned himself in instead of running away has something to do with one of Daru’s earlier thoughts. That even in the drought and the terrible conditions Daru was facing he did not run away because “Daru had been born here. Everywhere else, he felt exiled” (Camus 173). I believe that this quote also pertained to the Arab man when he made the decision to go to the prison. He possibly felt even though he would be in prison for however long his punishment would last, he would rather be in his home country than roaming around with a group of nomads who have no place to call home.

There was a little bit of irony towards the end of the story when the Arab man’s brothers wrote on the chalk board condemning the man who turned him in. It was a little bit unsettling when I first read those words, especially knowing that now Daru will most likely die even though he tried to the right thing by setting the man free. The scene reemphasizes Darus’s aloneness, considering how he has lived alone for such a long time and will now have to face death alone.

Camus used Darus’s surroundings and everyday life to emphasize just how alone the schoolmaster was. He lived on top of a plateau, which was barren and empty due to an 8 month drought. He had been alone for days since the school was closed for the sudden snow. Darus even thinks about how he hardly has any guests, and how he had trouble sleeping because he wasn’t used to sharing a room with another man. One thing I observed was that however much alone Darus was, he didn’t seem lonely. He didn’t even want to consider the companionship that often happens when sharing a room with another man. I believe that Darus was content with his monk-like life.