“The Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams

Theme Formula & Multiple Readings

Who is this statement sympathetic to? How is the statement limited?

• When a Depression era doctor comes in conflict with a dangerously ill little girl from an immigrant family in a situation in which a prognosis must be obtained the results may be that the doctor uses extreme but necessary measures to protect the child from herself and others from her, as she is not capable of understanding what is best for herself, thus portraying the sometimes non-glamorous and even unpleasant aspects of being a house call doctor during the Depression era.

How does this statement differ from the first? Is it a fuller reading or just different? Is it textually defensible?

• When a Depression era doctor comes in conflict with a dangerously ill little girl from an immigrant family in a situation in which a battle of wills occurs over a medical evaluation, the results may be that the doctor loses control of his emotions, abandoning his bedside manner and professionalism in his quest to diagnose the child, traumatizing her in the process and exposing not only human nature, but more pointedly the fallibility of doctors and their vulnerability to ego driven behavior.

Better or just different?

•When a little girl from an immigrant family comes in conflict with a Depression era doctor in a situation in which she refuses to cooperate with his evaluation of a potentially serious, but easily diagnosed illness, the results may be that the child is physically broken in a heated battle that leaves her momentarily wounded, but ultimately better off because of the doctor’s perseverance to achieve a diagnosis, thus justifying the use of force by one human being on another in a given set of circumstances.

Again, better or just different?

•When a little girl from an immigrant family comes in conflict with a Depression era doctor in a situation in which she refuses to cooperate with his evaluation of a potentially serious, but easily diagnosed illness, the results may be that the girl is mishandled, abused, and traumatized by the egocentric physician who goes beyond the necessary use of force to achieve a diagnosis that he may just as well assume is valid based on other evidence, the attack thus representing a young woman’s first encounter with oppressive male forces in American culture.