Advice for a Young Doctor - Coursework Example

The narrator notices the pain on the face of Neckerchief and asks him about the cause of the pain. Neckerchief tells him that his overgrown toenails are making it impossible for him to walk. The narrator decides quickly to go back to his office and get the toenail cutters. This reveals the compassionate aspect of the narrator’s personality. It also shows that although he vows to be on a break from his medical practice on Wednesdays, he still attends to a person in need of medical help.

From this little glimpse, it seems that the narrator and the nurse do not have a formal professional relationship. There is humour and irony in the tone of the nurse, which shows that they share a candid and informal relationship. The climax of the story is the narrator’s discovery of the underlying cause of pain to Neckerchief. It is at this point of the story that the readers wonder what step the narrator will take. Whether he would ignore it and do nothing about Neckerchief’s pain, or being a doctor he would take some sort of action. Despite being a Wednesday, the narrator responds to a person in need of medical help and decides to cut his toenails.

The theme of the story is that a doctor who regularly takes a break from his medical duties every Wednesday ends up helping elderly persons because it simply gives him a good feeling. Yes. The theme represents a truth in life because there are people in this world like the narrator of this short story that believe in helping others for their satisfaction. The narrator voluntarily helped the elderly persons because he felt empathic and compassionate towards them. This story represents an individual with high moral values who renders his services to elderly people even on a day when he takes a break from his usual medical practice.