The Measure Of Our Days Character Analysis

The role of doctors in both the treatment of cancer patients and their families plays a critical role in helping both the patient and their family deal with the stress, burden, and, in some cases, grief during and after treatment. This is evident in Jerome Groopman’s novel, The Measure of Our Days, especially in the story of Matt. Throughout this story, Groopman demonstrates this role, as both he and Dr. Samuels give Billy hope during Matt’s cancer treatments, and aid him in accepting Matt’s inevitable death.
Throughout Matt’s first treatment, Groopman and Samuels provide a source of comfort and hope, allowing Billy to combine both his faith in God and his faith in the doctors, and their ability to help Matt heal, as when he first hears Matt’s diagnosis, where he “pressed his hands together in a powerful upward arc …show more content…
As the reality of Matt’s prognosis begins to set in, Billy shrinks further away from it. His denial and refusal to recofnize the reality of the situation provides for an opportunity for intervention on the part of Groopman. Groopman knows the reality of the situation, and takes Billy as his “patient” as well as Matt, because he knows that it will be easier for Billy in the long run to acknowledge Matt’s death before it happens, stating “we feared that if… his denial continued to the end, he would be shattered by the… blow death strikes in its finality” (Groopman 107). Groopman uses this fear as a factor in his motivation for aiding Billy in his acceptance. This practice of “treating” family members of cancer patients is not a practice which solely Groopman usess— terminal illnesses take a huge toll on both the patient and their family, requiring constant support and consultation from the doctors. The role of the doctor in this situation becomes one of both a source of comfort and a reality check, especially in terminal pediatric patients’ cases, like Matt. In the end, Groopman’s role for Billy transitions from that of a doctor to