The Use of Forche

The Use of Force

In William Carlos Williams’s short story The Use of Force, it is clear that the doctor enjoyed being able to overpower the little girl throughout the doctors visit. Some believe the doctor was doing his job because all he was trying to do was make sure the health of the girl was okay. Although, some believe he took pleasure in the fact that he could control the child and took the situation to far. The way the doctor handled the situation is very similar to how a man would handle a rape.

When the doctor arrives he instantly notices that the little girl is sick with a high fever but he also notices that she is “an unusually attractive little thing”, with “magnificent blond hair” he also referrers to her as “one of those picture children often reproduce in advertising leaflets”. The doctor could tell that the whole family did not trust him so he tried to regain the little girls trust by smiling “in my best professional manner”. He reassure the little girl we now know as Mathilda that he isn’t going to hurt her but just take a look down her throat. As in rape cases, many women become victims of nice men who they already have met. Women are usually persuaded into believing that they are with an outwardly nice man before becoming there victim. The mother of the little girl attempted to help comfort her by telling her the man was a nice doctor and was not going to hurt her but those suggestions made the doctor angry. The doctor hated being referred to as a “nice man”. From that moment on the doctor decided that he would no longer be a “nice man”.

The mother was ordered to leave the room after Mathilda refused to open her mouth by her husband. The doctor then ordered the father to hold Mathilda still on his lap while he tried to look down her throat. The little girl would not open her mouth so the doctor started to get frustrated but at the same time he seems to take pleasure in the fact that the little girl wouldn’t listen. The doctor says “I had already fallen in love with the little brat” Williams uses another metaphor to show how a rapist’s acts, by the way the doctor acted and how he enjoyed causing the little girl pain as he strained to get the tongue depressor and a silver spoon “down her throat until she gagged.” Even though “the child’s mouth was already bleeding,” he never gave up in his attempt to open her mouth.

“It was a pleasure to attack her. My face was burning with it.” The doctor’s usage of words was those of a stubborn minded human being that took advantage of the fact that his patient was a little girl from an un-wealthy family. The family didn’t know that the doctor should not have used that type of force with their daughter and even if they knew better who would question a doctor’s decision over a third-class family. The doctor loved it when someone was scared of him. The emotional and mental “turn-on” that the doctor experienced while trying to force the tongue depressor down Mathilda’s throat is similar to the satisfaction a rapist seeks out when messing with his victim as they try to escape from all the pain that the rapist is about to unleash. The little girl