Lindsey Dougherty

Ms. Elizabeth Chappel

Pre-AP English 10

12 May 2013

In Anton Chekhov’s “Ward No. 6”, Dr. Andrey Yefimitch changes from a dedicated, professional psychiatrist to a paranoid, insane patient of his own hospital, all to illustrate how he came to realize the real conditions of his hospital and his patients.

In chapter five, Dr. Andrey starts becoming distant and keeps his thoughts to himself. “Oppressed by such reflections [his curiousity living and death], Andrey Yefimitch relaxed his efforts and gave up visiting the hospital everyday”. He is becoming laid back in his work and is not focused like he used to be. “But he reflected that his will alone was not enough to do this [close down the hospital]”. Andrey knew what the right thing to do was but he was too lazy to even make an effort to close the hospital.

Immediately after this, Yefimitch started noticing all of the terrible things about the hospital, and how people were treated. In chapter six, Chekhov says, “Andrey Yefimitch knew that such surroundings were torture to feverish, consumptive, and impressionable patients.” As he walking through the hallway, he noticed all of the nastiness and poverty in the hospital, and kept it heavy on his mind. Chekhov also explained, “If twelve thousand patients were seen in a year” then it meant “that twelve thousand men were deceived”. This is how Andrey began thinking about the patients; how they were being cheated and treated poorly.

At first, Andrey’s life was about helping patients; but the roles got reversed as he befriended a patient and went crazy. “And for the first time in his life, [he] felt bitterly grieved for medical science.” While Andrey’s friends are testing him for a mental illness, Andrey just proves his friends right by making he go insane for just testing him. During the questionnaire, Andrey responds to a question about a prophet in Ward No. 6,”Yes, he is mentally deranged, but he is an interesting young man.” Andrey did not realize that during the process of becoming Ivan’s friend, he had changed his ways of thinking and all of the thoughts and ideas in his mind caused him to be mentally unstable.

Throughout the story of “Ward No. 6” Dr. Andrey Yefimitch learns that his hospital was a wretched place, through distortion. This includes the befriending of Ivan and coming to know his true identity, through the process of insanity.  

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Cry, The Beloved Country

Throughout Cry, The Beloved Country, Stephen Kumalo is described as a gracious, all around well-liked holy man in his small town in South Africa. At one point, he crusades in an arduous internal conflict with fear; a conflict he is unsure how to handle. While talking to Mimangu late one night, he says, “Here in my heart there is nothing but fear. Fear, fear,fear.” Kumalo is describing his struggling pain searching for his troublesome son, Absalom, who has moved off somewhere and gotten in touch with the wrong crowd while living on his own. The father and son have had no communication with over the past few years. And with no communication with the son, Kumalo is hearing all these rumors about him, not sure of what is true and what is false. The fear he has for, not only his child, but his family also, is at a climax; and he feels he is in this alone and is helpless. Absence causes fear to grow.

Although Kumalo is a healthy, active religious man, he lets fear overcome his life as well as his faith. “There is no prayer left in me. I am dumb here inside". He is allowing the confusion and stress of his recent troubles (Absalom's crimes) to cover over his original life like a blanket; and rather than becoming stronger in faith and certainty, he is becoming weaker. Being the caring and giving priest he is, Kumalo should already know how to handle a situation like this, as he gives advice to his fellow church members on handling tough position similar to Absalom. Unfortunately, he seems to have trouble with coming to the reality. Although, since he is a minister, and a father at that, he automatically has the instinct to want to help his son, no matter the cost. He is not sure on what to do, or how to do it; but his willpower is what adds on to the inspiring character traits Stephen Kumalo has.

It is quite tough and catastrophic for Kumalo to go through this change; and him playing such a big role in this situation, he is spending a great time over-thinking it all. He begins to doubt his parenting and starts feeling as if his teachings and morals have only done bad for Absalom. “It is not permissible for us to go on destroying the family life when we know that we are destroying it.” Kumalo held himself to a higher standard by measuring his success by his son's successes or subsequent failures. Like other parents, he has the guilt that Absalom should have, only because he has that connection that a father has to his son. He is also questioning the unity of his family all together. Has he jeopardized the family's reputation from the way he has handled this?