"tell the fool [he meant his replacement] that the work at the orphanage is all the Lord's work-everything you do, you do for the orphans, you deliver them" (71).
Many people do not agree with what Dr. Larch does. They do not like that he does work besides delivering babies, they consider some of what he does the Devil's work. They do not see the good in what Dr. Larch is doing. The only see it bad.
What this quote is referring to is the idea of many doctors disagreeing with giving women abortions. They do not think that women should be allowed to be given abortions. Many times woman have to pay lots of money and end up dying because of the ways that many people illegally do abortions. Dr. Larch is trying to help these women by giving them safe and free abortions and in a way helping orphans as well.
These people are referring to Dr. Larch's work as devilish. This can be seen as a symbol of the book. The work that Dr. Larch completes is not evil, and many times is necessary for the women he performs them on But, it is consider the work of the devil. When the devil is used in literature, there is a context of evil, and deceit behind it. But, what Dr. Larch is doing is honest work, trying to help these women and prevent them from going to someone who will preform the abortion and hurt them. The idea of an abortion being the devil's work in the case of the way "Off Harrison", is true, many times with the women dying after what is done to them. Yet, it is ironic that many call Dr. Larch's work evil. He does the abortions in the safest way possible, making his work very far from the work of the devil.
This quote also contains the idea that Dr. Larch believes what he does is actually the Lord's work. He believes that what he does is a good thing. And in a way it is. It helps the women who truly want an abortion, for whatever reason, keeping them from doing it in a harmful way. But, he is also delivering many babies as well. He is allowing for many children to live, and go to homes that a good for them. He is running an orphanage, having many children adopted, showing how good he is. Dr. Larch is not doing work that is harmful, but rather necessary and many times considerable good work.
It is also ironic that the person saying the quote is one of the nurses. With Dr. Larch gone for so long, and having the influence of other doctors, it is surprising that the nurses still agree with the work that Dr. Larch does. People are often influences by the people around them, but the nurses stay true to what they know, and still believe that the abortions are helping the women just as much as the deliveries are. There are some women who are willing to carry their babies they do not want to full term, while other women will not, and it is necessary to help all of them. The nurses still believe what Dr. Larch believes and they will continue to follow him in whatever he decides to do.
This quote then leads into when they will tell Homer about what they do. They are not sure how to tell him that they are not only delivering babies but aborting them. Dr. Larch thinks that he will have to learn about it, and he will have to learn what happens in the right way. Dr. Larch knows that he will eventually want to help, and he knows he will have to show him exactly what they do and why they do it. He wants him to understand that what he does is only helpful, not harmful.
No comments:
Post a Comment