Aging , Empathy, Health and Identity
of “Homage to Isaac Bashevis Singer’ and “What Remains”
Remember when you were just a child and felt as if the world was your playground? From then we live close to normal and healthy lives but of course as we get older our view, feelings, and even body changes as time goes on. As we age the components that make us who we are begin to age to the point that our health is no longer what it used to be. For some of us maybe that is the least of our worries at the moment but for others it is a cold reality that has already hit. The cold reality being that we will all eventually die one day. The Health Care system is supposed to keep this reality from …show more content…
Klopstock who appears to be sick with a fever. She gets a visit from a doctor who then insist that she go to the hospital despite her remarks and sentiments on the situation. This is the first of many red flags we see throughout the story. From this, one can already infer that the doctor’s opinion holds the most weight when it comes to medical treatment even if it goes against the feelings of the patient. When the woman, finally goes to the hospital she does not feel comfortable whatsoever especially after she sees how inhumane a nurse treats a terminally ill patient. The treatment does not get any better unfortunately, as Mrs. Klopstock’s visit extends longer and longer . After the first patient, the elderly woman gets a series of roommates all which have witnessed the mistreatment of fellow patients and malpractice as some standard procedures like changing the IV tubes are being ignored. The protagonist sick, lonely, and feeling closer to death with every passing day creates a small obsession with watching the I.V. bottles and creates a bond with her roommates in place of feeling alone with no one to come visit her or treat her like a human being. Six weeks go by that the protagonist is still in the hospital and everyone seem to die around her. On one occasion she says “ I see ….the angel of death in long white robes and he’s hovering over your head .”(Schaeffer 72) When …show more content…
Not once was there a professional that was deemed genuinely caring for Queenie the way that Florence did and still does. The reader can see this time and time again whenever the nurses interact with Queenie. There is one point in the story where it says “All this week Queenie’s been having delusions. She sits up in bed,...Finally today I figured out what she’s doing. She thinks she’s carving her lion, all over again.”(Donoghue 215) Here the nurses just see Queenie as a patient losing her mind and think her actions are for no reason. They tell her to stop so she does not stress herself not taking the time to understand that her actions actually mean something more. This poor woman was reenacting herself creating her famous Lion Sculpture that she made so long ago, an act that Florence recognized where the others did not. This lion was made to commemorate the visit of the King and Queen and stood so that it would guard the entrance to the new Queen Elizabeth Way near Toronto. Florence then describes how hard of a job it took to create it because the odds seem to be against them at the moment. This detail is what makes this sculpture much more significant than the rest. What makes this piece even more significant than the rest is that instead of having someone cut the stone to make this magnificent
of “Homage to Isaac Bashevis Singer’ and “What Remains”
Remember when you were just a child and felt as if the world was your playground? From then we live close to normal and healthy lives but of course as we get older our view, feelings, and even body changes as time goes on. As we age the components that make us who we are begin to age to the point that our health is no longer what it used to be. For some of us maybe that is the least of our worries at the moment but for others it is a cold reality that has already hit. The cold reality being that we will all eventually die one day. The Health Care system is supposed to keep this reality from …show more content…
Klopstock who appears to be sick with a fever. She gets a visit from a doctor who then insist that she go to the hospital despite her remarks and sentiments on the situation. This is the first of many red flags we see throughout the story. From this, one can already infer that the doctor’s opinion holds the most weight when it comes to medical treatment even if it goes against the feelings of the patient. When the woman, finally goes to the hospital she does not feel comfortable whatsoever especially after she sees how inhumane a nurse treats a terminally ill patient. The treatment does not get any better unfortunately, as Mrs. Klopstock’s visit extends longer and longer . After the first patient, the elderly woman gets a series of roommates all which have witnessed the mistreatment of fellow patients and malpractice as some standard procedures like changing the IV tubes are being ignored. The protagonist sick, lonely, and feeling closer to death with every passing day creates a small obsession with watching the I.V. bottles and creates a bond with her roommates in place of feeling alone with no one to come visit her or treat her like a human being. Six weeks go by that the protagonist is still in the hospital and everyone seem to die around her. On one occasion she says “ I see ….the angel of death in long white robes and he’s hovering over your head .”(Schaeffer 72) When …show more content…
Not once was there a professional that was deemed genuinely caring for Queenie the way that Florence did and still does. The reader can see this time and time again whenever the nurses interact with Queenie. There is one point in the story where it says “All this week Queenie’s been having delusions. She sits up in bed,...Finally today I figured out what she’s doing. She thinks she’s carving her lion, all over again.”(Donoghue 215) Here the nurses just see Queenie as a patient losing her mind and think her actions are for no reason. They tell her to stop so she does not stress herself not taking the time to understand that her actions actually mean something more. This poor woman was reenacting herself creating her famous Lion Sculpture that she made so long ago, an act that Florence recognized where the others did not. This lion was made to commemorate the visit of the King and Queen and stood so that it would guard the entrance to the new Queen Elizabeth Way near Toronto. Florence then describes how hard of a job it took to create it because the odds seem to be against them at the moment. This detail is what makes this sculpture much more significant than the rest. What makes this piece even more significant than the rest is that instead of having someone cut the stone to make this magnificent