Supp. Unit 7 English - FL - Supp. Unit 7

Do you know of any incident when someone has been brought back to life from the brink of death through medical help. Discuss medical procedures such as organ transplants and organ regeneration that are used to save human life.

“There lies a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a practising physician.” Discuss.

“I have done something; oh, God! I’ve done something real at last”. Why does Andrew say this? What does it mean?

What impression do you form of Andrew Manson on the basis of the story ‘Birth’?

Compare and contrast Andrew’s emotional, mental and physical state at the beginning of the story and at the end.

As he gazed at the still form a shiver of horror passed over Andrew. After all that he had promised! His face, heated with his own exertions, chilled suddenly. He hesitated, torn between his desire to attempt to resuscitate the child, and his obligation towards the mother, who was herself in a desperate state. The dilemma was so urgent he did not solve it consciously. Blindly, instinctively, he gave the child to the nurse and turned his attention to Susan Morgan who now lay collapsed, almost pulseless, and not yet out of the ether, upon her side. His haste was desperate, a frantic race against her ebbing strength. It took him only an instant to smash a glass ampule and inject the medicine. Then he flung down the hypodermic syringe and worked unsparingly to restore the flaccid woman. After a few minutes of feverish effort, her heart strengthened; he saw that he might safely leave her. He swung round, in his shirt sleeves, his hair sticking to his damp brow. "
"Where's the child?"
The midwife made a frightened gesture. She had placed it beneath the bed.

Q.1. What dilemma did Andrew face while attending to the mother and child?
Q.2. What was the midwife’s reaction when Andrew asked about the child?
Q.3. What immediate action did Andrew take to save the mother?

His thoughts were heavy, muddled. The episode he had witnessed at Cardiff station still obsessed him morbidly. He thought of Bramwell, foolishly devoted to a woman who deceived him sordidly, of Edward Page, bound to the shrewish Blodwen, of Denny, living unhappily, apart from his wife. His reason told him that all these marriages were dismal failures. It was a conclusion which, in his present state, made him wince. He wished to consider marriage as an idyllic state; yes, he could not otherwise consider it with the image of Christine before him. Her eyes, shining towards him, admitted no other conclusion. It was the conflict between his level, doubting mind and his overflowing heart which left him resentful and confused. He let his chin sink upon his chest, stretched out his legs, stared broodingly into the fire. He remained like this so long, and his thoughts were so filled with Christine, that he started when the old woman opposite suddenly addressed him. Her meditation had pursued a different course.

Q.1. Why does the protagonist feel conflicted about marriage?
Q.2. What does his body language reveal about his state of mind?