This story is one of the stories published in Richard Selzer’s collection of stories known as Doctor Stories. The story begins with a graphic scene that takes the reader by surprise (or perhaps shock) and compels him or her to read further—a naked woman attempting to reach inside her body through an opening in her stomach. The doctor who catches her in the act is faced with the dilemma of dealing with a psychologically unwell patient, who is making a bizarre effort to relieve herself of the pain she is going through after surgery. In an effort to locate the centre of her pain, she tears through the surgical incision on her abdomen. Her idea of easing her pain in this manner is startling, and the doctor is left with the emotional turmoil of saving the patient from her physical pain as well as attempting to understand and explicate to his patient the logical explanation of the physical pain the human body goes through.
While the first thoughts that run through the reader’s mind are sympathy and empathy for the patient’s innocent efforts and pain and the doctor’s plight, soon the contemplative mind turns towards the thought that this is not a simple case of a mentally-ill patient. Perhaps, she only possesses a mental wavelength that is very different from many others. The reason for her being this different is that she has suffered considerable pain, and this pain has altered her manner of thinking. Perhaps, she is only impenetrable, and not psychologically ill. Thus, the reader begins to understand the depth of the challenge faced by a doctor attempting to heal a patient in this condition in a humane and compassionate manner.
Review: Chatterbox by Selzer, Richard
One of the best stories in Selzer’s collection of short stories known as Letters to a Young Doctor is called Chatterbox. This story is thus part of a book that not only attempts to proffer counsel to the new doctor, who lacks adequate experience in the profession, but also provides beautifully portrayed personal reflections regarding the experiences of a doctor who spend a life time working as healer of human ails. The story in question is a tribute to the wandering, but compassionate thoughts of human beings. The thoughts here are of a lonesome woman, Catherine Goodhouse, whose in interest in conversation is so great that she seeks to work at a place where she can be constantly surrounded by listeners. She has offered her skills to a nursing home, and in a strange moment of revelation, her thoughts lead her to understand the world in context to where she stands. She then writes a letter that is unmarred by any attempts at literary idealism, yet with a charming and touching simplicity.
The letter, which forms most of the story, takes the reader to higher plane of thoughts despite the fact that the narration is a simple tale of a woman’s experiences as she works in a hospital. There is no intention of using propinquity, speediness, or suspense in order to gain the interest of the reader in the Chatterbox. Thus, the author’s independence from bookish superfluities and the usage of a writing technique that is unsullied and pure are reflected in this letter, and this successfully penetrates the reader’s mind and heart. Like all Selzer’s stories, this story also contemplates about human suffering. Likewise, it also discusses the subject of the mental trauma that a healer undergoes, and the mental agility he or she needs to posses to deal with such sufferings.
Review: An Ordinary Death by Blake, William
This refers to one of William Blake’s esoteric works known as Milton. In this account, Blake describes his imaginary meeting with John Milton, the blind author of the famous Paradise Lost. Far more complicated than any of Blake’s works, its interpretation is extremely challenging. Blake states that Milton has revisited the human world as a comet and thrives inside his foot. The purpose of his visit is to save the world by joining the battle against art and the spirit of humanity, that is, poetry. Therefore, subsequently, the world transforms into a shoe that Blake wears and walks around, thus enabling Milton to conduct his battle. The poet, that is, Milton emerges from in his physical form from inside Blake’s foot when a twelve-year-old girl seeks him. This results in the transformation of the ordinary world.
The poetry is indeed allegorical, with all the characters, including Milton serving as allegories to the central theme of the poetry. Blake rejects the idea that all human beings must eventually die because of their sins, and condemns the appalling nature of the idea. He is probably refereeing to a confusing and startling imaginative experience he has had in this work. It is apparent he somewhat troubled by this experience. Nonetheless, he is sure that the experience will bring about a deep-seated revolution in the world, one that would reinstate the appreciation for spiritual and artistic splendour among the people. Thus, in Milton, Blake is attempting to emphasize on the need for being aware of artistic and spiritual beauty and the need to keep the doors of the mind ajar, so that radical changes can take place in the mind and thus in the world.
Review: A Form of Motherhood by Woolf, Virginia
Woolf’s stream of consciousness style was most prominent in the bold and innovative book, The Waves. A Form of Motherhood is written as a journal entry in 1987) in The Waves. The entire book deals with the different phases in the life of six friends. Woolf’s modern account of the maternal form is, unpredictably evocative of the previous centuries’ notion that motherhood is a hostile relationship between a mother and her child; it is a relationship based on authority and control. Woolf’s idea is also based in the fact that the notion of motherhood was once very male-centred; it was an age-old belief that that children begot through the body are not as important as the children begotten through the mind.
Susan is the maternal figure in The Waves, where each character stands for a certain trait. Her motherhood is a part of her character. She has become a mother much before she has physically conceived a child. She is a strong mother who accepts motherhood with a combination of love and hatred. She struggles to maintain and preserve life, but fails in the face of death. It is impressive to note that Susan’s maternal instincts are not influenced by the children borne by her. She has constantly been the mother to all her friends and her surroundings. Woolf perhaps attempts to portray a persona of her own self through this character. By presenting the idea of a woman who is the symbol of virginal purity while being a mother and the impossibility of separating sexuality from motherhood, Woolf is maintaining the ironical virgin-mother superlative. This form of existence eventually ruins the evolvement of complete motherhood in Susan.
