Critique on William Carlos Williams' "The Use of Force"

The Use of Force

By William Carlos Williams

Study

A. Origin

          The author, William Carlos Williams was a pediatrician and a general medical practitioner. He pursued more his writing career but he excelled on both disciplines. The short story w first published in 1938 which evokes with great immediacy important issues about doctoring.

B. Form and Structure

          The short story was written in colloquial English and it used allusions which are often indirect or brief references to well-known characters or events.

C. Theory

          Deconstruction was used in this short story because conflicts were presented for the better understanding of the material.

Interpret

      There were two conflicts found in the short story. First was the child who did not want to follow the request of her parents and the doctor. Next was the doctor's confusion on how to respond to the behavior of the child. Of these two, the second conflict was more significant because this was how the doctor responded to the child's stubbornness. The use of force was done to discover what he needed to discover, for the doctor to achieve what ha needed.

        The author chose a child to be the main character in the story which can be reflected on his background. He was a pediatrician, therefore, he was exposed to children. The setting was of a usual western- country home. It was a one-setting story which added to the significance of the material.

        The plot of the story started from a high-point and still ended up in a high point. A worrying father and mother was the start. Scenes for the fearful and stubborn child followed it and it ended with the child's cry because of the doctor's use of force.

Interpret

         The overall theme of the short story was power and submission. It was manifested when the doctor used force against the child. If we are to discuss the relevance of the story to our own lives, it represents those scenes from police work, dictatorship and war.

          To catch the criminals, policemen sometimes use force. Dictatorship also uses force as in the case of Martial Law in our country. War is the result of the conflicting forces. All of these lead to a destructive or tragic ending; getting people hurt.