Human Sorrow and Suffering in Why I Like the Hospital:
Question : Describe the scenes of human sorrow and suffering as depicted in the hospital.
Answer : Tony Hoagland’s “Why I Like the Hospital” presents before us many heart rending pictures of human suffering in the hospital in the most plain and humourous way. The poet records many scenes of human suffering on his visit to the hospital.
Firstly, he describes the hesitation of the cancer afflicted mother by saying –
“the mother with cancer deciding how to /
tell her kids”
Here, he presents a cancer afflicted mother, who doesn’t know how to tell her children about it. She struggles hard to reveal her ailment to her children because she is more concerned about their feelings than hers.
Then, the poet observes a young girl as he says –
“the bald girl gazing downward at the /
shunt”
The poet observes that the girl is bald as she has lost her hair, possibly due to the side effect of chemotherapy. One of her breasts has been removed, and in its place is fitted a shunt – a small tube installed after surgery to reverse the blood flow.
Her gazing downward pathetically at the tube above her amputated breast, reveals her despair and sorrow. She is utterly depressed as she has to live without a breast throughout her life. She might be preparing herself to remain strong disregarded the loss she has experienced due to her surgery.
Then, the poet describes an ugly old woman (a crone) who is “walking with an IV pole”. Here, the old woman has accepted her ailment and her vulnerability. She is just trying to live within her life support.
Then, the poet presents some scenes of lack of empathy and carelessness in hospital environment. He says –
“I don’t lie the smell of antiseptic, /
Or the air conditioning set on high all /
night”
The typical smell of antiseptic coming out of every hospital is quite offensive. He also points out at night setting of air – conditioning, all night without bothering about the old and weak patients. There is nobody to think about the trouble of these patients, this is an example of carelessness and lack of empathy.
Then the poet adds another scene of apathetic attitude of the hospital where the “fresh flowers” are “tossed into the wastebasket”.
Here, the fresh flowers are the symbol of hope and new beginning and throwing fresh flowers into the garbage bag carelessly, indicates that the hopes are being crushed by the entire ecosystem. This is also an example of human apathy.
The poet also presents the suffering of the patients through their waiting. He compares the waiting of these patients with “long prairies”.
The lonely patients in the hospital are seen waiting eagerly to meet their loved ones to have some comforting words. They are so isolated and alienated inside the hospital that they are like a lone tree “standing in the middle of a field / like a tree wondering what happened to / the forest”.
Finally, the poet recalls a patient in lime – green gown, bending over in a chair. He was not yelling at the doctors in anger or rage even he was “not pretending to be strong”. But he was the one “sobbing without shame”.
He has accepted the truth that there is no hope for his survival and he is breaking out his emotions from his innermost heart. He has resigned to his fate.
But if you look closely you will find that he is talking to himself holding his own hands. As he has only himself to provide a hand of sympathy and console or comfort himself.
This feeling resembles the feeling of modern men in the society who despite being with people around, feels deeply estranged everywhere.