Talk about the relationships between the member of the Barstinse family and Mrs. Barstin's ambitions. An extract from

The"Painted Veil" by S.Maugham

 

To begin with, I must admit that Mrs. Garstin was a hard, cruel, managing, ambitious, parsimonious and stupid woman. So she married Mr. G. just for convenience, because he had seemed a young man of promise and her father said he would go far. But he hadn’t. He was painstaking, industrious, and capable but he hadn’t the will to advance himself. Mrs. Garstin despised him and she treated him without mercy. Mrs. Garstin’s daughters had never looked upon him as anything, but a source of income: it had always seemed perfectly natural that he should lead a dog’s life in order to provide them with board and lodging, clothes, holidays and money for odds and ends.

It never occurred to them to ask themselves what were the feelings of the subdued little man. He was a stranger to them, but because he was their father they took it for granted that he should love and cherish them. Well, it was on her daughters that Mrs. Garstin set her hopes by arranging good marriages for them, she expected to make up for all the disappointments of her life.

 

6. What impressed you in the story "If only they could talk"? Share your own experience of treating a sick animal.

     Speaking about this story I’d like to say that the title itself attracted my attention. You know, the same story happened with my dog 2 years ago. Unfortunately we didn’t have an opportunity to call a vet and couldn’t treat our dog. It wasn’t as old as that one and it wasn’t a matter-of-fact approach. We did have to put him to sleep but it was miserable to imagine that it wouldn’t follow me around the house when I’m doing my little jobs. I couldn’t see when the doctor filled the syringe and gave an overdose of an anesthetic to my dog. By the time the injection has finished, the breathing had stopped. When my dog was out of pain I stood motionless except for clasping and unclasping of my hands. It was a difficult moment for me. There’s nothing more terrible and awful when we lose our best friends, the most honest and true ones.

 

7. Speak about vivisection as a method of medical research (Tape-recording "Vivisection")

     Well, frankly speaking it’s quite difficult to decide on or against carrying out experiments on life animals. On the one hand enormous advances have been made due to vivisection. On the other hand, not always vivisection can be justified because it’s cruel and inhumane. Well, in fact it is not always these experiments that help to conquer some diseases, such as diphtheria, smallpox, etc. It’s largely due to careful scientific observation and because of the improvements in hygiene. No matter how odd it might seen, some drugs as penicillin and aspirin were found by accident. So I suppose people shouldn’t carry out experiments on animals; we should take care of them, not take advance. Because nobody takes any pride in causing suffering. But still, there are some people who consider scientific observation to be not always reliable and they think that new drugs have to be tested on animals to check for side-effects. But the disadvantage is that it is difficult to predict what the effect of a drug will be on human beings. So, my point of view is: careful observation and nothing more.

 

8. Compare the different attitudes to women's employment in medicine in the 19th century and today "A Petter"

To begin with, in the 19^th century to most women the thought of studying medicine was utterly repugnant because they had always despised body as the greatest hindrance to all that they most valued. Some women couldn’t at all trace the source whence they derived this contempt for the body, but still there was the spirit of asceticism and deep rooted opposition to the conditions of human existence. In spite of this fact, actually, there were some women trying to subdue their body and those who accepted the idea of surgical intervention and wanted to become a physician. On the whole it was thought that a thoroughly qualified woman physician would be a great boom to society, but at the same time all equally agreed that it was impossible for a woman to become an equally educated physician and that it would be foolish and even improper to pursue a course to became a physician. Today the picture is quite different and “a woman –physician” doesn’t sound strange at all.

 

 

9. What do you know about different methods of combating infectious diseases in the past and present? "Smallpox - Epitaph for a killer"

"AIDS Hysteria"

To start with, there have always been such diseases which are as dreaded as plague or cholera. What is more, suspicion, fear and hostility often thwart attempts to control and combat against such diseases. If we look back in history we can make sure that the laws were believed to cope with earlier epidemics such as smallpox and plague.

     For instance, affected children were forcibly removed from their parents and placed in isolation; and also fires were used to make plague barriers and purify public places. But I would say that sometimes such measures and such laws were just an excuse to attack persecute immigrants. In addition, over the centuries, spying, imprisonment and taking away civil rights have been introduced to legal means to prevent disease spreading.

     In this age of computer science and biotechnology we should realize that laws will only be effective if they are build upon good information concerning infectious diseases and how they are transmitted. Besides, laws shouldn’t focus on individuals or groups in society, as it can be unjust, unfair and discriminating. That’s why a policy of quarantine has been quite rightly described as a cruel and unrealistic method to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. To crown the picture I must admit that bringing in laws about infectious diseases may make some people feel better, but such laws will make very little difference in controlling epidemics. At this point of view control of these diseases must depend on education. This is where the solution must lie, in educating communities, risk groups and every individual.

 

 

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