William Carlos Williams "The Use of Force"

The use of force is about a little girls defeat, and doctors contradicting feelings about the child. The little girl, who is ill with an unknown condition, has a fever and no resolve. Her parent’s who are desperate for a diagnosis call in a doctor. The doctor who immediately fell in love with the child, depicting her as one of those children you see in the Sunday paper, was very gentle at first when trying to examine her. She denied having a sore throat which had been a major sign of diphtheria, a condition going around school. The girl refused to open her mouth to be examined, and launched at the doctor in his attempt to do so. The doctor who was growing more agitated himself was not only annoyed by the child but also the parents that were in his eyes behaving wrong. The little girl was struggling to keep her secret of the reason of her illness; she did not want to be looked at by the doctor. The girl hurt herself trying to avoid the throat culture, and the doctor even though he knew he could have been gentler or perhaps waited was set on diagnosing her. The doctor himself was beyond reason and was at the point of enjoying the discomfort he was causing her. He finally overpowered her and at the same time it was a release for him. After he found out her secret she attacked the man that had forced himself into her throat. The story in my point of view has many sexual underlying in it. The interaction between the doctor and the little girl, and the struggle for him to get inside her mouth are reminiscent of molestation. The doctors feelings of guilt about his pleasure in causing her pain, and her attack of him afterward all resonate that.