The Use Of Force

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 12th grade February 2008

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The title used by the author is very descriptive to the story. It gives us a clue to what we, as readers should pay attention to when reading the short story. In the Use Of Force we have a member of the health care profession that basically looses control with a patient, a mere child that wants to evade his treatment at any cost. Even if the outcome is death.

This is a very human story and I actually felt close to tears when I finished it. The little girl represents us at times when we may not be in control of a situation. In this case she may be facing death and the first thing she does when the doctor approaches her is to claw his eyes out. She does this so he will not discover the membrane that covers her throat and is indicative of diphtheria. She had to be aware of her classmate's death and perhaps reasoned that if the disease was not discovered it might go away.

I think we can relate to this because most of us postpone visits to the doctor because of the fear of what we may discover. The doctor tells us how "she fought valiantly to keep me from knowing her secret