the use of force

The Use of Force
(William Carlos Williams)



In his short story, “The Use of Force,” William Carlos Williams shows that a child’s innocence can cause them harm. A parent’s love sometimes needs to be put into action for the child’s safety. The story is about a doctor who comes to inspect a patient, a young girl. She seems to have two very loving parents that care about her well being but have no clue what is wrong with her. She struggles with the doctor to protect a lie about her sore throat; that she has been telling her parents for three days. This story makes a good contrast between fear and misunderstanding in times of sickness.

The story begins with the doctor as the narrator. He explains the situation, what he observes of the people, and their facial expressions. He comes into the home and is led to the kitchen, where he discovers a beautiful young girl; “an unusually attractive little thing”(paragraph 3) with “magnificen...