The Battle of the Wooden Spatula

When the words illuminating and essential are used to describe a quotation things like alliteration, parallelism, and imagery come to mind as literary devices that include themselves in a quotation like that. Quite is the contrary in William Carlos Williams’ short story “The Use of Force.” The quotation that I think sums up the majority of the short story is, “Then the battle began.” It’s not much, just four words that give you an idea of what the situation in that tiny kitchen may have been like. It was a battle. The author does not give us any sort of indication of how long the exchange between the doctor, Mathilda, and her parents lasted but, with the use of the word battle, it is safe to say it was grueling regardless. The battle is between a doctor and a sick little girl name Mathilda. For some reason Mathilda has been hiding her sore throat from her parents for three days and the doctor is there to take a look at it. When the doctor mentions that it may be diphtheria the girl refuses to let him see down her throat. She fights back, scratching his glasses off his face, with her mouth clenched shut. That is when the doctor recounts, “Then the battle began.” On one side, the doctor will do anything possible to peer down her throat at an attempt to diagnose her and save her life. On the other hand, Mathilda protests this invasion of privacy motivated by one thing: fear. The quotation shows how, just as in a battle, both sides are not willing to surrender. The battle is not only between doctor and patient. The doctor and Mathilda are both battling the parents as well. Mathilda is being restrained by her father and coaxed by her mother in order to allow the doctor to do his job. Except as soon as they see Mathilda in any sort of pain they relinquish control back to her. She takes advantage of how much they care about her and uses it to her benefit. Because of this fickleness the doctor is extremely upset and annoyed at the parents. The parents help hold Mathilda back until he is just about to see down her throat and then they release her. If only they understood the severity of the situation then maybe they would remain steady and unwavering in their attempt to suppress her fury. The quotation, “Then the battle began,” perfectly summarizes the three conflicts of the story and gives the reader insight into the emotions of each character as they battle, literally, for life and death.

Just a Spoonful of Sugar

I feel as though William Carlos Williams’ short story “The Use of Force” came to an ending that was both sensible and appeasing. The ending of the short story is in no way the ending of the actual story, but completes the scene, open to close, that the actual story presents in a way that satisfied me as a reader. The short story ends with the doctor finally getting the diagnosis of the little girl Mathilda. He is able to get the metal spoon down her throat and see clearly that both tonsils are covered in membrane due to the diphtheria. She had been hiding her sore throat from her parents but she was not able to trump the doctor. The ending satisfied me because of the standpoint I assumed through the story. I assumed the one of two standpoints. The first standpoint, the one I agree with, is that the doctor is doing everything in his power to save this girl’s life from a deadly disease. The measures to which he must go may seem too aggressive however; he cannot let this girl die. The second standpoint is that the doctor is being too invasive and, just like the parents, who, in my opinion, are frustrating and annoying, should give in at any sign of pain from Mathilda. The parents simultaneously want her to feel better but are not willing to go to the necessary means to do so. That is why the ending satisfies me as a believer in the first standpoint. The doctor is able to diagnose the sick girl and hopefully save her life. The ending of the story finishes what the beginning of the short story started. The problem of Mathilda being sick is solved because now the doctor can treat her with the correct medications. However, the ending to the text does not end the entire story. Mathilda still needs to take the medication and do her part to cure herself and with the attitude and ferocity she brought when getting diagnosed I doubt that will be an easy task.

A Little Hero with That Protagonist?

The main character in Neal Stephenson’s epic dystopian cyberpunk fiction novel Snow Crash is Hiro Protagonist, a nerdy programmer/ pizza delivery guy from California. Without having completed the novel I am curious to see how the obvious implications of his name factor into the book’s plot. Besides identifying him as Japanese the name implies that this character is a heroic protagonist. To see exactly what the author may be saying by naming the main character this we need to define the different parts of his name. A hero is someone who despite adversity and struggle is able to show courage and determination for the greater good of a group or humanity. The Japanese name “Hiro” can be interpreted as generous, tolerant, or prosperous, all attributes of a heroic figure. Other than being a main character or prominent figure in a literary work or scenario a protagonist can also mean someone who is a champion or advocate for a cause or idea. Certain things come to mind when I read these definitions. First of all, does Hiro need to live up to a certain standard throughout the book because he has been labeled as someone who will display specific qualities and perform specific actions? I feel as though he does and he will. Hopefully Stephenson has not given away part of his story by naming the heroic protagonist Hiro Protagonist, but because of that I can understand the foreshadowing that it brings about. It is clear that at some time in the story Hiro Protagonist is going to have to act like a heroic protagonist or why give him the name in the first place. From what I read at the beginning of the novel Hiro has a long way to go before becoming the heroic protagonist of his namesake. Maybe, however, his name reflects what we all want to be, not necessarily what he is. We all want to be the center of attention and that is why we relate to stories of heroic figures on epic quests and adventures. That is how authors connect us to the text. Perhaps Stephenson is getting readers hooked because they see the potential in Hiro Protagonist of what they always wanted to be. And maybe even further, they are continuously intrigued because Hiro starts out like they are and becomes what they want to be. Regardless of what Hiro becomes I do hope the foreshadowing in his name is correct and he turns out to be one bad ass nerd hero.

Science Fiction's Newest Sub-Genre

Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash is just the latest book in a long line of books that describe a world in which the contents are not as great as the world that we currently live in. Snow Crash is considered to be an excellent example of the science fiction sub-genre of dystopian fiction, which of late has become increasingly more popular with science fiction writers. The question is however, what makes something a sub-genre? What factors distinguish a work as part of a sub-genre rather than the overall genre? (Keep in mind science fiction is itself a sub-genre of fiction.) A genre is defined as a category of literary fiction determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Sub-genres are designed to more deeply describe the literary technique, tone, content, and length of these genres into more specific parts. Looking at this definition we can examine the relationship between science fiction and dystopian fiction. First, the literary technique, or literary devices, used in science fiction works needs to be more specified. In dystopian fiction flashbacks are occasionally implemented in order for the reader to understand what the world was like previous to the present time or perhaps an important event that led to a major social or economic shift that caused the world to be the way it is. Secondly, the tone of dystopian fiction tends to be centered around the hope of the main character whose ultimate goal is to change whatever terrible things are going on a make everything go back to normal. While dystopian fiction works are not cheery stories there is always an underlying tone of hopefulness that one day all will be righted. Thirdly, the content of dystopian fiction works is what most clearly sets them apart from any other sub-genre of science fiction. While the majority of science fiction focuses on cool, advanced technology and the adventures people have with it dystopian fiction focuses on how that new technology was harnessed by the wrong person, for the wrong reasons. This is dystopian fiction’s strongest evidence in its consideration as a sub-genre. Lastly, the length of these particular works is not really of any importance to how the story develops. What the story is written about is more important than how long it is. Considering these four elements of genre one can make the case that dystopian fiction can be considered its own sub-genre of science fiction.