Cancer Ward The old doctor
Cancer Ward The old doctorCancer Ward: �The Old Doctor�
In this chapter Ludmila goes to visit her former mentor Dr. Oreshchenkov. He lives in a nice home and it is filled with things of the past and who he is. Ludmila has realized that she has cancer. However, she is not willing to except her own intuition and goes to Oreshchenkov to be
sure and even to be told that �it�s nothing serious�. While she is there she has a small sense of release and calm. Later the two of them get in to a discussion over the need for the �family- doctor�. These scenes have deeper meaning than just the literal sense. This chapter can be interpreted by using Dante�s �Four Levels of Interpretation�. The first level of interpretation is
the literal. This level focuses on what literally happened in the story. The second level of interpretation is the allegorical. This level is concerned with the meaning hidden beneath the words in the literal sense. It tells of the nature of man and what we do in certain situations. The third level is the moral level. It is the message behind the story. This level teaches us a lesson that we should use in our lives. The fourth and final level is the anagogical level. This is the level that is the sense beyond. It is not only literally true but shows a truth of greater glory and truth of the spirit. Dante used the example:
�...in the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt,
Judea was made holy and free. [7] For even though
the literal truth of this passage is clear, what it means
spiritually is no less true, that in the departure of the
soul from sin, it is made holy and free.� [8]
The doctor lives in a better-than-average home in a nice neighborhood. It is full of things from his past and is well maintained. He has an old Grand piano and there are many books on the shelves. Some of these books were recently acquired by Oreshchenkov from a fellow doctor. This doctor had just retired and became a bee-keeper. He did not enjoy being a doctor and now he was free of
it. He could now do what he really wanted and was meant to do. In a communistic society the government assigns people their occupation almost at birth on the bases of need of the community and the what they believe the persons strengths will be. This does not allow for individuals to find their proper function. They can not achieve the things they were meant to achieve and feel as if
they have no purpose. This presents a problem; for a person to be virtuous they must find their proper function an preform it well. Those who have had their occupation chosen for them will find it difficult...
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