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Animal Imagery In William Carlos Williams The Use Of Force

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The use of Animal Imagery within the short story “The Use Of Force” William Carlos Williams’ controversial short story, “The Use Of Force”, is an organized and methodical depiction of the conflict that arises when questioning whether the use of force for a benevolent purpose is ethical or unethical. Written in a concise and factual manner and strewn with images evoking primitive and beastly characteristics, “The Use Of Force” strongly implies that patient of the main character, Mathilda, contrasts the main character in rationality and logical thought processes. This therefore likens Mathilda to nothing but an uncivilized barbarian in the eyes of Olsen(the doctor). Through the use of animal imagery on Mathilda, Williams leads the reader to conclude …show more content…

Throughout the story, Mathilda’s actions reflect the actions of a wild animal in distress, characterized by her cautiousness, her attempts at which to intimidate or scare away Olsen, as well as her ferocity. Williams does this in order to associate an animalistic nature to Mathilda. This is shown when Olsen begins to identify the girl’s actions. Olsen begins noting the fact that Mathilda and her family members are “eyeing me(Olsen) up and down distrustfully (Williams, 865). He also notices Mathilda “eating him up with her cold, steady eyes,...no expression to her face whatsoever,...flushed[,] and...breathing rapidly” (Williams, 865). This reaction is similar to the reaction of a family or tribe of animals when encountering a threat or an unknown. They instinctively become very cautious and viscous in this type of situation because of the fact that they could bring harm to them or even kill them. One could say that the patient is trying to scare, startle, or intimidate the doctor by breathing heavier and staring, based on the fact that animals do the same exact thing in dire situations in order to scare off threats or unknowns. This quote could also suggest that Mathilda was challenging Olsen by staring

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