Analysis

Doctor in the house by R. Gordon

Richard Gordon or Gordon Stanley Benton was born on 15 September 1921,

was an English surgeon and anaesthetist. He wrote numerous novels, screenplays for film
and television and accounts of popular history, mostly dealing with the practice of
medicine. He was best known for a long series of comic novels on a medical
theme beginning with Doctor in the House.
Gordon studied at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and worked as an anaesthetist at St.
Bartholomew's Hospital (where he had been a medical student) and later as a ship's surgeon
and as assistant editor of the British Medical Journal.
He left medical practice in 1952, and took up writing full-time. The
early Doctor novels, set in the fictitious St. Swithin's, a teaching hospital in London, were
autobiographical.
“Doctor in the House” is noted for witty description of a medical student’s years of
professional training. The film adaptation of Doctor in the House (1954) was released two
years after the book's publication.
The text I’ve analyzed is taken from “Doctor in the house” and has no title. But I
would call it like “unpleasant inevitability” or “a little death”. The author introduces the
reader to a situation of tension and hopelessness from the first words. However, the general
mood is very ironic despite the tense atmosphere. The situation and feelings are definitely
exaggerated, but it allows us to feel the approaching death at least.
The story is presented as first-person narration with piece of description. The
author tells about process of student’s preparing and examination and describes student’s
feelings. Gordon uses a lot of synonyms for the word “student” (candidates, fighters,
examinees) to highlight that examination is an inevitability for any students.
The text can be divided into 3 parts:
Exposition: The author doesn’t tell directly about the place and time of action, but
we can draw a conclusion from indirect evidence (at the Old Bailey, at Cambridge, St.
Swithin’s, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, morning’s Times) that the actions happens in
London, at Cambridge University in 20th century.
 At the beginning, the author shows the significance of the exam for medical students
and their hard emotional state. Gordon uses similes “the final examinations are something
like death”, “examinations are a straight contest, he goes at them like a prize-fighter”, also
he calls it “investigation of man’s knowledge” to shows true student’s condition and their
attitude toward this process. The author uses epithet “frank cheating” to underline the
futility of preparing by studying the technical details of the exam.
As the complication Gordon tells about his own experience of preparing using
simile “we attended all his ward rounds, standing at the front and gazing at him like
impressionable music enthusiasts at the solo violinist” and metaphor “well-trodden paths
of medicine”. Then he describes the process of passing the exam in details using epithets
“flagrant cheating”, “poor victims”, “with an awkward expression of self-consciousness”
and oxymoron “frustrated brilliance”. By this way the author underlines with irony the
attempts of negligent students to impress examiners.
The author emphasizes the sacrificial position of students using the verb “allow” in a
statement “three hours were allowed for the paper” in the passive voice, highlighting that
students have no choice. The author builds up the tension, creates an image of the court,
using vocabulary of low sphere (flank the dock, invigilator, engagement, prejudiced) as
well as the image of the battle, using military vocabulary (poor victims, uniformed porters.)

The author shows the importance of the second part of the exam – viva, using similes
(mistakes and omissions, like those of life, can be made without the threat of immediate
punishment; his interrogation struggling like a cow in a bog), allusion Judgment Day
referring viva to the Bible’s Judgment day, and extended metaphor the god’s brow
threatens like imminent thunderstorm.

The author introduces us to candidates in the waiting room, representing four main
types of temperament. Firstly, Nonchalant is sanguine, lolling back on the rear legs of his
chair with his feet on the table. Sanguine people have good control over their feelings and
actions. Next to him, Frankly Worried, choleric. Choleric people are characterized by
impulsivity, restlessness, and poor self-control. He was tearing little bits off his invitation
card and jumping irritatingly every time the door opened. The Crammer who was fondling
the pages of his battered textbook in a desperate farewell embrace, represents melancholic
and his opposite the Old Stager represented a real Phlegmatic looking upon the viva simply
as another engagement to be fitted into his day.
When describing the last waiting candidate - a woman student, the author uses the
antithesis and parallel constructions “Her suit was neat but not smart; her hair tidy but not
striking” show that she knew the way, how to prepare for exam in order not to make the
examiner feel uncomfortable.
The most stressful period is after the viva. The author says “The days after the viva
were black ones. It was like having a severe accident”, but after the supporting of his
friends,” Little shreds of success collected together and weaved themselves into a triumphal
garland”. Gordon uses extended metaphor to show the size of his hope for the exam.

The climax begins with description process of waiting for results. The author shows
that the atmosphere was very tense and pressured, using alliteration “silence and stillness”,
simile “like an unexploding bomb”. The author creates the most stressful moment with the
help of parallel constructions “The world stood still. The traffic stopped, the plants ceased
growing, men were paralyzed, the clouds hung in the air, the winds dropped, the tides
disappeared, the sun halted in the sky”.
Denouement starts with word “pass”. This creates the effect of surprise. Gordon uses
simile and PUN (like a man just hit by a blackjack) to describe his condition of relief,
disbelief, happiness.
Now I realize why the author compares the exam to death. After all, there is also a
God - examiner, an Archangel - Secretary, who decides whether you go to heaven or hell.
And the main problem of the text is the pressure that students are subjected to during
preparation and passing. This is a very urgent problem, because not all students can pass
through this stage without psychological losses. But unfortunately, people haven't come up
with something less stressful yet.
The text seemed to me very interesting and intense, the author brilliantly conveyed
the atmosphere of the exam, I felt as if I was there myself. I can't say it's a pleasant feeling.
But I admire the author's talent. My favorite hero was Grimsdyke, he advised to take the
exam easier, that there are no failed exam, there are only those who are unlucky. I try to
take it the same way, but so far I haven't been able to.