In one scene in the novel, Wilder is continually crying and Jack and his wife, Babette, cannot figure out why. So, they decide to take their son to the doctor’s office to be able to get some answers. However, just …show more content…
For instance, when their daughter, Denise, who reads many academic medical texts, recommends them to give Wilder some medication and send him to bed, Jack and Babette ignore her idea and take the boy to the doctor’s office anyway. In the end, the doctor tells the couple that their daughter was right and that a simple aspirin would calm the boy down. Furthermore, when the physician asks Babette why she ignored her own daughter’s advice, she answered with, “She’s a child, not a doctor- that’s why” (DeLillo, 90). Although, Denise’s advice was rational and Wilder’s problem was simply something minor, Jack and Babette still need to hear the advice from someone with more experience in medicine and, most importantly, someone with more authority before they are able to trust their daughter’s