“The Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams Essay

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Updated: Jan 3rd, 2024

Introduction

William Carlos Williams was a well-known American poet whose poems and stories were appreciated around the world. One of his stories that received a lot of attention in the literature field is “The Use of Force” because of the way it illustrates the use of force over powerless individuals. William’s story gives a detailed account of how human mind can be influenced by the pressure of attaining a particular goal or objective.

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He uses a doctor, who is the main character in the story, to show what doctors go through when treating patients and hard choices they have to make. Although the goal of the doctor is to ensure that patients are healed, in the story, he ends up hurting the kid. The following paper analyzes William Carlos Williams’s story “The Use of Force” to understand the plot and meaning of the narrative to prove that the use of force by the doctor was justifiable.

Plot and Meaning of the Story

The story portrays a doctor who does his best to save the child’s life by use of force. Although the doctor tries to reason with the kid, the child fails to open her mouth for medical examination. For example, the doctor says, “…Mathilda, open your mouth, and let’s take a look at your throat”; however, the patient refuses to cooperate. The doctor’s professional ethics guilds him to first interact with the kid and try to reason with her on the need for treatment, but the child is unwilling to cooperate.

In some situations, people are compelled to make choices that will hurt others for them to achieve the desired objective. The result intended directs an individual action and not the means to use when attaining the goal; this is illustrated when the doctor dominates the kid during treatment by forcing her to open her mouth. Williams’s story questions if the use of force can be justified by the result intended by the aggressor.

Due to the extreme energy used by the doctor, the kid’s tongue started to bleed, making her cry. The use of force may hurt others, but later, they will enjoy the result intended by the oppressor. For instance, after the doctor forces the kid to open her mouth, he discovers the illness affecting the child, which will make treatment easy, and the child will regain her health. The need to treat the child overpowers the doctor’s gentleness and compassion.

Goals intended by an individual may motivate him or her to use means, which society does not approve, such as the use of force. Professional roles sometimes conflict with the personal attributes of an individual. For instance, in the story, the doctor has an obligation of ensuring that he treats his patients in a gentle manner. However, he is agitated by the child and decides to use force to handle her. When means of achieving a particular objective are difficult, or impossible people tend to search for alternative ways.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the doctor justifies his actions by claiming that the goal was more important than the means used to attain it. The need to achieve a particular objective motivates an individual to use unconventional means to accomplish his or her aim. The story gives an insight into what happens in people’s daily life as they try to achieve different objectives.

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IvyPanda. (2024) '"The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams'. 3 January.

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IvyPanda. 2024. ""The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams." January 3, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-use-of-force-by-william-carlos-williams/.

1. IvyPanda. ""The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams." January 3, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-use-of-force-by-william-carlos-williams/.


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IvyPanda. ""The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams." January 3, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-use-of-force-by-william-carlos-williams/.

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