Another Paper!

ATTN: I am Nikki Hansen. This is MY blog. This is MY work. I post these AFTER I turn them in! Thanks :)

Nikki Hansen

Dr. Dan
10.12.09
ENGL 3001w.004
Nikki.m.hansen@gmail.com


“The Good Doctor”: The Fight between Carnival and Lent


“The Good Doctor” by Adam Haslett is similar in structure to a Russian nesting doll; there’s always something more. As a Russian nesting doll is taken apart, its pieces become smaller and smaller, yet the artistic details remain bold and significant. As “The Good Doctor” unfolds, multiple stories are uncovered until we are introduced to its final and seemingly least important piece: a painting titled The Fight between Carnival and Lent. This painting depicts a town square filled with “all manner of people” busying themselves with various activities from eating to praying, to vulgarity, resulting in a chaos that cannot be organized or undone. This painting is not only a symbol of the life of Mrs. Buckholdt, who combats poverty, illness, addiction and trauma, it also acts as a symbol of the story itself: bits and pieces of chaos that cannot be controlled.
The use of The Fight between Carnival and Lent in the story can first be compared to the lives of the characters within “The Good Doctor.” Doctor Frank Briggs, for example, is trying to solve and organize his own disorderly life: he has lost funding for his job, he hates his location, he is combating homesickness, and he has a hangover. At one moment in the story Doctor Briggs has an epiphany, he realizes why "he'd become a doctor: to organize his involuntary proximity to human pain." This “human pain” does not only emanate from his patients; to some length he is trying to organize his involuntary proximity to his own pain. Unfortunately, the only way he knows how to “treat” himself is by treating others. If he cannot diagnose, organize and treat Mrs. Buckholdt’s pain, then he will not be able to treat his own. At the end of the story Mrs. Buckholdt refuses Doctor Frank Brigg’s offer to help; she turns him down. At this moment, chaos is eminent yet again: “Frank’s stomach tightened, the panic beginning before his mind could form the though: he didn’t want to lose her, he didn’t want the telling to end.” But, for Frank, the stories have ended and this is not something that he can fix or control.
The story of Mrs. Buckholdt’s life is broken down into a tragic sequence of events that seem to come together in The Fight between Carnival and Lent. As she relays her story to Doctor Frank, she refers to the painting several times, reflecting on the way it makes her feel, and how she has changed her view of the painting so that she can like it. This reflects how she is forced to accept her current way of life. She makes the connection that her existence, like the painting, isn’t overtly lush, but she “see[s] how much there is, how much life” and is driven to continue living. At one point Mrs. Buckholdt says, “Brueghel was a moralizer, his paintings full of parables.” Mrs. Buckholdt’s life is included in this painting; her chaotic, tragic story is a parable just the same. And, while Mrs. Buckholdt appreciates what medication does for her on the days she needs them, she also states that she can “manage without them.” When Doctor Briggs pushes his treatment plan for her again, suggesting extensive therapy, Mrs. Buckholdt replies, “ Dr. Briggs… didn’t you hear what I said?” Her refusal of treatment from Doctor Briggs brings her life and the painting together one more time by suggesting that her life, full of tragedies, wonder, questions and heartache, poverty, addiction and trauma all contributing to an outrageously chaotic life cannot be undone or fixed by pills and talking, just as The Fight between Carnival and Lent, a painting full of the chaos of every day people living their lives, cannot be undone after it has already happened.
“The Good Doctor” is not a story about a good doctor at all. It is a story about how life is not fixed or controllable and how nothing can change the events that construct ones existence. It is a story, in a story, in a story, a parable in a parable that is hidden in a non-impressive, but nonetheless realistic painting. The Fight between Carnival and Lent encompasses all human life, from peasant to priest and from doctors to depressed mothers. While Doctor Briggs’ may not be aware, his life correlates to The Fight between Carnival and Lent in that he cannot undo the events in his life. He cannot bring funding to his program. He cannot leave desolate Nebraska. He cannot take back the phone call to his ex girlfriend. On the other hand, Mrs. Buckholdt is fully aware of her situation and is just trying to do the best she can on a day-to-day basis. Both of these characters are prime examples of how the chaos of everyday life cannot be re-written, no matter what you attempt. Together, these characters and this painting show us that these bits and pieces of chaos are the things are real and that as agonizing as living can be, there is no way to escape the things that have already been done.