The Doctor and the Doctor's Wife

by Ernest Hemingway

Nick Adams' father, Dr. Adams, hires a crew of Native Americans to remove the four large beech logs from the lake's log boom that drifted up on his beach. Dick Boulton, his son Eddy, and Billy Tabeshaw, come through the back gate from the woods, bringing cant hooks, axes and a crosscut saw to cut the logs into cord wood. Boulton compliments Dr. Adams on the timber he is stealing from the logging company; Dr. Adams asserts that the logs are driftwood. Boulton washes a log in the surf, uncovers its mark and tells the doctor it belongs to White and McNally. The doctor becomes uncomfortable, decides not to saw up the logs, but Boulton says it makes no difference to him who the logs are stolen from. The two men engage in a verbal exchange, and when the doctor threatens Boulton with violence, Boulton mocks him. The doctor leaves the beach in anger, walking back to his cottage. He goes to his bedroom, sits on his bed, and stares with anger at a pile of medical journals still in their wrappers. In the adjacent room his wife lies on her bed with a Bible, a copy of Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures , and an issue of the Christian Science Quarterly . She asks whether he is going back to work; he explains that he had an altercation with Boulton. She asks whether he lost his temper and quotes Scripture, while, in the next room, the doctor sits on his bed and cleans his gun, pushing shells in and out of the magazine. When she presses him about the nature of the dispute he tells her Boulton owes for having his wife treated for pneumonia and does not want to have to work for the doctor. She expresses her disbelief of the explanation and the doctor leaves the house. His wife calls after him to send Nick to her. The doctor finds Nick sitting under a tree, reading a book, who tells his father he wants to go with him. Nick suggests they go into the woods to hunt squirrels.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, School

Unknown Binding

About the author

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Best known for an economical, understated style that significantly influenced later 20th-century writers, he is often romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle, and outspoken and blunt public image. Most of Hemingway's works were published between the mid-1920s and mid-1950s, including seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works. His writings have become classics of American literature; he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, while three of his novels, four short-story collections and three nonfiction works were published posthumously.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. He married Hadley Richardson in 1921, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s' "Lost Generation" expatriate community. His debut novel The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926.
He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh Hemingway in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, on July 2, 1961 (a couple weeks before his 62nd birthday), he killed himself using one of his shotguns.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5 stars*

This could have been so much better. Seemed promising but just fizzled out.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another lackluster Hemingway story in which a man tries to reclaim his pride by acting in aggressive and unfriendly ways. Instead of reading this short story, I would recommend reading this article on how we can raise more kind, nurturing men. If anything, Hemingway's story hints at how sad it must feel deep down, for men to have no way to value themselves other than by hunting, arguing with people, and engaging in other "masculine" behaviors.

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars. An okay short story. A couple of interesting themes that are open to interpretation because, like we all know now, Hemingway reveals as little as possible. But still, I wish he would have developed them a bit more.
I am asking H. to write more, yes, I know how that sounds.
Oh, don't judge, we are not in Salem. But even if we were and some villagers had decided to parade me through town with a crowd recreating the possible last scene of The Stranger, I would be still shouting: three stars!



Oct 31, 15
* Also on my blog.

[Darinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read in The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories.

Not entirely about the doctor and his wife. More about the doctor, his integrity, and his attitude.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realize his stories are short and open for interpretation, but I wasn’t anxious to know the end. It was kinda boring.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I included Hemingway's "Chapter 2" with "The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife" here. The troubles of evacuations which of course could be a hell of a lot worse but the whole idea of moving from your home because of war is so apparent in today's news.

"CHAPTER II Minarets stuck up in the rain out of Adrianople across the mud flats. The carts were jammed for thirty miles along the Karagatch road. Water buffalo and cattle were hauling carts through the mud. No end and no beginning. Just carts loaded with everything they owned. The old men and women, soaked through, walked along keeping the cattle moving. The Maritza was running yellow almost up to the bridge. Carts were jammed solid on the bridge with camels bobbing along through them. Greek cavalry herded along the procession. Women and kids were in the carts crouched with mattresses, mirrors, sewing machines, bundles. There was a woman having a kid with a young girl holding a blanket over her and crying. Scared sick looking at it. It rained all through the evacuation."


"The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife" This story is a perfect example how people can be so in the need to disagree especially when the disagreement is something that really makes little difference and tempers can flare if provoked.

❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert ❌❌❌

The wood would never be recovered so when Dick keeps bringing up the idea of stealing is so to provoke some kind of reaction. The doctor leaves so things will not escalate, I suppose he saw that he couldn't change minds.

“Well, Doc,” he said, “that’s a nice lot of timber you’ve stolen.” “Don’t talk that way, Dick,” the doctor said. “It’s driftwood.” Eddy and Billy Tabeshaw had rocked the log out of the wet sand and rolled it toward the water. “Put it right in,” Dick Boulton shouted. “What are you doing that for?” asked the doctor. “Wash it off. Clean off the sand on account of the saw. I want to see who it belongs to,” Dick said.

The log was just awash in the lake. Eddy and Billy Tabeshaw leaned on their cant-hooks sweating in the sun. Dick kneeled down in the sand and looked at the mark of the scaler’s hammer in the wood at the end of the log. “It belongs to White and McNally,” he said, standing up and brushing off his trousers knees. The doctor was very uncomfortable. “You’d better not saw it up then, Dick,” he said, shortly.
“Don’t get huffy, Doc,” said Dick. “Don’t get huffy. I don’t care who you steal from. It’s none of my business.” “If you think the logs are stolen, leave them alone and take your tools back to the camp,” the doctor said. His face was red. “Don’t go off at half cock, Doc,” Dick said. He spat tobacco juice on the log. It slid off, thinning in the water. “You know they’re stolen as well as I do. It don’t make any difference to me.”

“All right. If you think the logs are stolen, take your stuff and get out.” “Now, Doc——” “Take your stuff and get out.” “Listen, Doc.” “If you call me Doc once again, I’ll knock your eye teeth down your throat.” “Oh, no, you won’t, Doc.”

“What was the trouble about, dear?” “Nothing much.” “Tell me, Henry. Please don’t try and keep anything from me. What was the trouble about?” “Well, Dick owes me a lot of money for pulling his squaw through pneumonia and I guess he wanted a row so he wouldn’t have to take it out in work.”

[Brina · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the end of last year I read a short story by Hemingway that was brilliant so I would like to read through more of his canon this year. The only one of his novels I have read is The Old Man and the Sea, perhaps another full length book is in the offering as well. Sadly, The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife falls short. A friend notes that it fizzled out at the end, and I would agree with that statement. Here readers meet Nick Adams, supposedly Hemingway’s alter ego in his books. He is the Doctor’s son and is in awe of his father- I had to read some commentary to find this out. One hundred years ago most children were in awe of their parents. I would have liked for this storyline to continue but the story itself is only four pages long. The gist is that the doctor’s wife who happens to be a Christian scientist talks her husband out of getting into a fight with a half-breed ingenious man who is in his employment. The doctor had treated the man’s squaw (wife) for pneumonia so he is indebted to the doctor; however, they ran into a disagreement on principles. It took a woman’s presence to convince the men, or at least one man, not to fight. While that one scene spoke of the human condition, the story overall fell short. Not every story by every novelist, even the great ones, is going to be an instant classic. Some fall short. The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife is one of those duds although it is with some merits and does little to contribute to Hemingway’s career body of work.

Low 3 stars

[Mahmoud Moftah · Rating 3 out of 5]

مقاربات مختلفة للصراع والجدال مع الأمريكيين الأصليين .. يُظهِر الطبيب موقفًا نموذجيًا للذكور حيثُ يستخدم لغة عدوانيه حين يشعر بأنه محاصر لذا يستمر في الإدعاء بأن جذوع الأشجار هي ملكُه على الرغم من أن الأدلة تظهر خلاف ذلك ويطلب من الرجال ترك ممتلكاته إذا استمروا في الإدعاء بأنها مسُروقه علاوة على ذلك .. وعلي النقيض زوجتهُ المتدينة التي ترىَ الهدوء كوسيلة لحل الخلافات وتنصحه مستشهده بـِ بالمثل السادس عشر من سفر الأمثال في العهد القديم

"من يَتَحكّم في هواه أعظم ممن يفتح مدينة"

[Claire]

Another interesting early Nick Adams story. It gives some important (I think) childhood context to his character.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know, I know iceberg theory and all that. But come on you can at least put a little bit of the conflict on the surface. When you don’t it makes for a pretty dang boring story,

[Nesrine Laraba · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story ended with a question mark, but always interesting !

[Dania Abutaha · Rating 1 out of 5]

تذكر ان الشخص الذي يتحكم بنفسه اعظم من الرجل الذي يحتل مدينه!

[David Highton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another short story from the Indian Camp

[ExeDavid · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

[Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don’t get the point of this.

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dacă mă întrebați pe mine, povestioara e fără cap și fără coadă. Doi cetățeni au un semi-diferend, legat de "originea" mai puțin sănătoasă a unor bușteni. Băieții ridică vocea, dar nimic esențial nu are loc.
După care unul dintre ei se duce în casă și își ia o pușcă. Uau, ați spune!!!

Stați liniștiți, că nu-i cazul. N-ar fi pentru prima oară când distinsul Ernest ne păcălește...

[Desirae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not horrible, but not fully explored either. So many more themes could have been explored. Hemingway is notorious for exploring war and violence, but had the focus been purly "the doctor and his wife" as the title suggests this would have been a lot stronger.

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm trying to see the 80% of the iceberg beneath the surface of Hemingway's stories, but sometimes it takes me a while to get what depth I can. It's subtextual.
Maybe it'll come to me tomorrow.