Analysis of “the Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams

Justin Thomas Mrs. J Clark English 1 honors 2nd block 10 April 2013 Analysis of “The Use of Force” by William Carlos Williams In the book there is a doctor who wants to do well for others. He understands what the family is going through because in the story it says, “But I’ve seen two children lying dead the week of diphtheria because of neglect, I was not about to let that happen so it was diagnosed now or never. ” There is also a girl who is sick. She has a sore throat and she won’t talk or open her mouth to anyone.
The girl is very stubborn but she is terrified of the doctor as it says, “don’t call me a nice man. I’m here to look at her throat on the chance that she might have diphtheria and possibly die of it, but that’s nothing, she terrified of me. ” Another character would be the father. He acts as if any father should only wanting the best for his daughter in the passage, “she’s had a fever for a few days and we don’t know where it comes from. ” The mother is very frantic in this situation when she says, “If you don’t do what the doctor says you will have to go to the hospital. The conflict in the story is that this girl has been sick for a few days. Her parents call in a doctor to their house to check her out. You can tell in the story what atmosphere when the father says,” my wife has given her the things you know they do but don’t do no good. ” You can tell that this is taken place in an either uneducated place or where that lingo is part of the culture. The girl in the story is so frightened and struck with fear that the excessive use of force just escalates the situation more.
The doctor only wants to help the little girl. He clearly states that by saying,” But I’ve seen two children lying dead the week of diphtheria because of neglect, I was not about to let that happen so it was diagnosed now or never. ” The girl is just scared to death by all of the commotion and sure that is why she is so resentful to comply. The mother and father both have the same intentions for their daughter but I believe that the mother is more sympathetic and the father just wants to get things over with.

The methods of persuasion and how they got the girl to comply are simply trying to coax with words but unfortunately led to physical aggression. In the story the mom gently says, “come on, please do what his tells you, he won’t hurt you. ” Then later on into the story it leads to the father having to hold down the daughter while the doctor tried to pry open the girls mouth a spoon. The conflict that soon arises out of story is the daughter is that she is unwilling to comply with the doctor.
She won’t open her mouth for anything and no matter the coaxing the doctor or her parents and she just won’t listen. Eventually it leads to the girl getting hurt in the story it says,” the child’s mouth was already was already bleeding. Her tongue was cut and she was screaming hysterically. ” In the end the doctor had to overpower the child and pry her mouth open with a metal spoon. It was rough but it might have been rough but it saved the girls life.