Textual Analysis of “The Doctor Stories” by William Carlos Williams

“The Doctor Stories” is a collection of Dr. William Carlos Williams poems and short
stories that draw upon his experience as a practicing physician in Rutherford, New Jersey.
The stories present different themes such as suffering, discrimination, compassion, challenges
in life, and connection. Most stories depict a physician’s relationship with patients. The
author’s dedication and passion for medicine is evident through the short stories and poem.
Each narrator’s experience is recounted in interior monologue and showcases doctors as they
strive to maintain a professional front and deal with difficult patients in difficult situations.
The narrators’ own convictions and prejudices affect their relationship with their patients.
Just like other professions, doctors battle with dilemma during their encounters with patients.
Arguably, the most interesting part about The Doctor Stories is the narration of
challenges doctors go through in the profession, as well as the extent to which affliction
affects personal lives of those people caring for the patients. For instance, Hannah’s Sam in
“Wither Thou Goest” has been braindead for a few years and the doctor has to write to Sam’s
wife informing her about the plans to harvest Sam’s organs. When Sam’s heart is donated to
Pope, Hannah develops an obsession to want to get close to the recipient. Hannah sinks into
depression after her husband’s death. The fact that some of Sam’s body parts are alive in
other people worsens her predicament. In “Witness” the young boy is extremely ill and in
excruciating pain that affects his development as a normal young boy of his age.
“The Use of Force” is another interesting story that depicts the issue of ethics in
medical profession especially in a case where the patient fails to comply. The physician in

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this case, has to force am young girl’s mouth open to get a throat culture. Both parents are
afraid of hurting their daughter and the narrator has to abandon the compassionate approach
and use force since it was not bearing fruits. He muses that “the damned little brat must be
protected against her own idiocy, one says to ones self at such times” (Williams). This setting
shows how kind actions are not always the best course of action, especially when someone’s
life is in danger.
In another story, “Jean Beicke”, the author demonstrates an intersection of poverty-
stricken victims and the healthcare sector. The setting of the story is during the Depression
period in a children’s hospital where a doctor struggles to maintain a sense of duty in
extremely hopeless situations. The narrator doctor in this story battles against his fatalism and
cynicism in an environment where he is obligated to act professionally despite the
desperation the children cases impose. This story shows how doctors are also affected by
extreme pressure at work, and that they are human enough to remain dedicated to helping
helpless patients.
Ultimately, “The Doctor Stories” presents numerous themes that depict real life
struggles that physicians go through in their professional duty. In some cases, doctors battle
with ethical dilemma’s and the requirement that they must always deliver hope to patients,
interact with them in the most effective compassionate way, and posses the humanity to
appreciate nurses who take good care of patients to facilitate optimal recovery. Although the
doctor narrators in these series might use disrespectful, unacceptable, and inappropriate
language, they demonstrate the realistic deplorable social conditions that people live in.

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Works Cited

Williams, William Carlos. The Doctor Stories. New Directions Publishing, 2018.