The Challenging Life of a Doctor
The theme of the story comments on the difficult life that a doctor leads. He is responsible for making so many immediate judgements and observations that have life and death consequences. He needs to go into homes that are often unfriendly environments; he is not really wanted, he is viewed with suspicion, there is pressure on him to be right. There is the challenge of the symptoms that are presenting - what could be the underlying cause? He needs to administer tests and diagnose a condition and come up with a remedy all whilst in an unfamiliar environment, and he must do this amongst strangers that do not attend a clinic or his offices on a regular basis. The central theme of the story, and of the compilation of stories that it appears with, all emphasize the challenge of this medical life, and the way in which the doctor is able to overcome it.
The Spread of Diseases
An underlying theme of the novel is the spread of diseases that we now of course take for granted as being eradicated. The child is suspected to have diphtheria, a highly communicable disease that could be passed between children and that was actually life-threatening.
Latent Pedophilia
The story becomes disturbing towards the end, as we begin to wonder if as well as reading what Williams has written, we should also be reading in between the lines; the doctor admits to a strange attraction to the little girl, who is a savage but attractive beyond her years. It is her wildness that seems to attract him to her. He is convinced that he has fallen in love with her, which he admits is unlikely and inexplicable, and which is also highly inappropriate. After his admittance we find the increased level of force he is using in order to make a throat examination of the little girl more disturbing and somewhat of a violation of her.
