When a wealthy man falls victim to incapacitating attacks of vertigo, a young doctor decides that the problem and solution both reside in the patient’s head.

Capek, Vertigo

Capek, Vertigo (with highlights)

Capek, Vertigo (vocabulary)

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Crossword (nouns and adjectives)

Crossword (verbs and adverbs)

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Hangman (phrases and idioms)

Discussion Questions

• Who is telling this story (the narrator)? Where did he learn this story? Who is he telling? Do you think he is a reliable narrator (i.e. do you trust that he is telling the reader the truth)?
• How does the narrator feel about doctors, in particular psychotherapists? How does he describe them? Does this indicate positive or negative feelings around this area of medicine?
• Why does Dr. Spitz treat only wealthy patients? Why might wealthy patients be the ones with the most repressions, as the narrator attests?
• Why doesn’t Gierke open up to Dr. Spitz? Why doesn’t he tell him why he is experiencing vertigo?
• Do you think the way Dr. Spitz discovered information about Gierke was ethical? At what point does an action become unethical? Does this make a difference if the patient lives or dies in the end?
• What do you think might be the cause of Gierke’s death? Do you trust that he completed suicide, or were there hints of some other reason?
• Do you think Gierke really killed his first wife, as Dr. Spitz claims? What evidence do you see in the text that Gierke did or didn’t kill his first wife?
• What do you make of the description of Gierke’s wife, Irma? How do you feel about the way women and wives have been portrayed in this story or others that we have discussed this semester?
• Why might Gierke have a desire to kill Irma?
• Does “Vertigo” remind you of any other texts you have read, either in this discussion group or outside of the group? What similarities do you see?

Mr. Sweet’s health is failing and he has been at death’s door on a few occasions but there is a way to save him. What is the secret behind his ability to face death?

Walker, To Hell with Dying

Walker, To Hell with Dying (with highlights)

Walker, To Hell with Dying (vocabulary)

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Word Search

Crossword (nouns and adjectives)

Crossword (verbs and adverbs)

Hangman (phrases)

Discussion Questions

• What do you think of Mr. Sweet’s “deaths”? Why might he be on the verge of death constantly, or if he is not, why would he play up these episodes?
• How does Walker portray Mr. Sweet’s mental illness, and eventually his physical illnesses? How does this compare to other portrayals of illness that we’ve read over the course of the semester?
• Why does Mr. Sweet not require a doctor? What do you make of the relative absence of medical professionals in this story, compared with others we’ve read over the semester?
• What do you make of the relationship between Mr. Sweet and the narrator (and the other children in the story)? 
• Why might Mr. Sweet wake up when kissed and tickled by a child?
• What do you think became of Mr. Sweet’s son after Miss Mary died? Why is he mostly absent from the story when Mr. Sweet has such a close relationship with the neighbor children?
• Further, what do you make of his and his wife’s inability to have the same connection with his own son, or at least of their parenting failure, their own son’s inability to thrive, or Mr. Sweet’s disconnect from his own son (who is never mentioned as contributing to his revival)?
• What do you notice about the tone of the story? Does it change at all? If so, how?
• What are some observations you made about the language used in the story (i.e. symbolism, slang, imagery, etc.) What do you think this adds to the story?
• The narrator feels great affection for Mr. Sweet. She wishes she “could have been old enough to be the woman he loved so much” (2) and calls him her “first love” (5). What do you make of this?

A terminally ill patient’s pain is unbearable. Will his doctor assist in his death?

Richard Selzer, Mercy

Richard Selzer, Mercy (with highlights)

Richard Selzer, Mercy (vocabulary)

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Word Scramble

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Hang Man

Crossword

Discussion Questions

1. “Mercy” explores the ethics of euthanasia (ending the life of a patient with terminal illness). Why do you think the patient’s wife and mother push for his death. but the doctor hesitates? Why might this decision be more difficult for the doctor than the patient’s family?
2. Do you think the patient understands that the doctor is offering to end his life, rather than merely ending his pain? What evidence do you see either way?
3. Why does the doctor find it so hard to end the patient’s life, even though it seems that the patient and his family consent?
4. The doctor says “I cannot. It is not in me to do it. Not that way” (119) after the medication has failed to kill the patient and the doctor considers strangling him instead. Why is strangulation so much more difficult for the doctor?
5. Do you see a difference between using a different method to kill a patient, if in the end the outcome is still the same? Why or why not?
6. The patient’s mother tells him to “Go home” (118) and the doctor repeats this later on. What do they mean by this? Where is “home”?
7. Why are there so many mentions of animals in the story? What do these references add to the story, and how do they change your reading of this piece, if at all?
8. What do you think of the doctor pricking himself with the morphine syringe that was supposed to end the patient’s life?
9. At the end of the story, the patient has not died, and the doctor tells his family “He isn’t ready yet” (119). The patient’s mother responds: “He is ready…you ain’t.” What might she mean by this?

A physician is called to attend to his gravely ill friend. Will he tell his friend the truth?

Narayan, The Doctor’s Word

Narayan, The Doctor’s Word (with highlights)

Narayan, The Doctor’s Word (vocabulary)

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Word Search

Crossword (nouns and adjectives)

Crossword (verbs and adverbs)

Word Scramble

Discussion Questions

1. What does the title “The Doctor’s Word” mean to you after reading the story? Can you trust Dr. Raman’s word? Why or why not?
2. What does “The Doctor’s Word” mean to Gopal? What does it mean to Dr. Raman? What about Gopal’s family?
3. Under what circumstance is it best to lie to a patient and their family? Is it justifiable in this case for Dr. Raman to lie if he really believed his lie would save Gopal’s life?
4. Why do you think does Dr. Raman find it so difficult to decide whether or not to tell Gopal the truth?
5. Why doesn’t Dr. Raman want to tell Gopal’s wife the truth? As someone who cares about Gopal, arguably more so than Dr. Raman, why does he feel that she should not know the truth about the seriousness of her husband’s illness?
6. Could Dr. Raman have saved other patients if he had resolved to hide the truth from them, as he did with Gopal?
7. Dr. Raman seems to believe that Gopal will die, but risks Gopal’s family’s inheritance by telling him that he is going to live (22). Do you believe that this is ethical behavior? Is it ever ethical to go against a patient’s wish?
8. Do you believe Dr. Raman’s decision to make Gopal believe he is not in mortal danger contributes to his eventual survival? Why or why not?
9. Does the intent or the outcome of Dr. Raman’s lie matter more? Would the lie have been ethical or acceptable if Gopal had died, rather than if he had lived? Why or why not?

An American-trained Japanese doctor working in Japan during World War II encounters a wounded American sailor. Should he save the POW?

Pearl Buck, “The Enemy” short story

Pearl Buck, “The Enemy” short story (with highlights)

A little girl is brought to a rural hospital by her mother. The doctor recommends tracheotomy, however, he has never before performed the procedure. He has no choice.

Bulgakov, The Steel Windpipe

Bulgakov, The Steel Windpipe (with highlights)

Bulgakov, The Steel Windpipe (vocabulary)

Vocabulary Games

Crossword #1 (Verbs and Adverbs)

Crossword #2 (Adjectives and Nouns)

Word Search

Word Scramble

Discussion Questions

1. The Doctor mentions that he graduated medical school “with distinction” (very high grades/honors), but he believes that “distinction is one thing and hernia is another” (1). Do you feel that the Doctor’s schooling prepared him to perform the tracheotomy on Lidka? Why or why not?
2. In reference to the question above – can theory ever fully prepare us for practice, whether in medicine or otherwise?
3. What do you make of the Doctor’s demeanor? Do you think the patients are convinced that he is calm and prepared to perform an operation?
4. Why does the Doctor insist on performing the operation, even though it terrifies him?
5. Do you think the Doctor did a good job on the operation? Why or why not? How might one perform a surgical operation “well”?
6. When the midwife compliments the doctor and relays that the villagers think he is a hero, he responds that he is not often worried, but then thinks to himself that he is “too tired to even feel ashamed” (6). What do you make of this? Why might he feel ashamed?
7. The Doctor in the story goes out of his way to hide his fear about performing the operation. Do we, as patients, expect too much of doctors? Do we place so much trust in them, that it becomes a burden?
8. Why is the Doctor so hostile towards Lidka’s grandmother?
9. Why does the Doctor describe Lidka with words like “beauty” and “doll-like” (2)?

A doctor is called to the home of a poor, immigrant family to treat their daughter. However, she won’t comply.

Williams, The Use of Force short story

Williams, The User of Force short story (with annotations)

Vocabulary Games

Crossword Puzzle

Word Search

Word Scramble #1

Word Scramble #2

Questions to explore:

• The Doctor describes his battle with Mathilda and her parents as a “social necessity.” Do doctors need to use force sometimes to do what’s best for their patients? Do you think the Doctor handled the situation in the best way?
• Why is the Doctor so resistant to being called “a nice man”?
• Do you think the Doctor is a nice man? Why or why not?
• What do you think about the recurrence of shame in the story (the parents’ shame about Mathilda’s behavior, and the Doctor’s shame that he cannot get her to do what he says)? What does this say about the characters?
• What do you make of the role of gender in this story? How do the male characters act in contrast with and in relation to the female characters?
• What do you think of the Doctor’s interactions with Mathilda?
• Why does the Doctor call Mathilda “unusually attractive” and admit he “had already fallen in love with the savage brat”? What kind of relationship does this imply?