Doctor And Parent Relationship In A Small, Good Thing

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Doctor and Parent Relationship in “A Small, good Thing” In the story “A Small, Good Thing”, author Raymond Carver creates an interesting doctor-parent dynamic. After the character Scotty is located in the hospital with critical conditions, his parents rely on the doctor to help their child awaken from a deep sleep. With the doctors professional education and analyzes of the conditions of the child, both parents try to not lose hope. As the child’s conditions do not show any signs of improvement, the parents develop anxiety and worry for their child’s life. The mother of Scotty questions the doctors analyzes after the doctor seems to become unclear of the actual conditions of the child. This is where the doctor seems to develop an emotional and worried connection towards the parents …show more content…
In this situation the doctor seems to not want to admit to Ann and Howard that their child is in a coma and that he does not actually know when Scotty will wake up. The doctor expresses, “He’s all right…Nothing to shout about, he could be better, I think…Still, I wish he’d wake up… It’s not a coma yet, not exactly… I wouldn’t want to call it coma” (Carver 3). When the doctor uses the words “I think” after he explains Scotty’s situation, it demonstrates that he actually is unsure of what Scotty’s circumstances are. It also proves that Ann and her motherly instincts where correct about the doctors analyzes towards her son. When the doctor expresses “I wish he’d wake up” it demonstrate the emotional connection that he has grown towards Scotty and his parents. The doctor is starting to personally care about his patient’s conditions which can be seen unusual. As the time goes by the doctor, Ann and Howard do not lose hope for Scotty to recover. They all try to understand the situation, when it was not by tests and X-rays it was by observing the projection of Scotty’s