# The Doctor and the Doctor’s Wife explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Ernest Hemingway.

## What happens

Dick Boulton, a half-breed Indian, arrives with his son Eddy and Billy Tabeshaw to cut up driftwood logs for Nick's father, the doctor. A confrontation erupts when Dick accuses the doctor of stealing the logs from White and McNally. The doctor, angered, orders them to leave and retreats to his cottage, where his Christian Scientist wife tries to soothe him. He cleans his shotgun, then goes for a walk, finding Nick reading in the woods and agreeing to take him along.

## Themes in this chapter

### Masculinity and Sexual Anxiety

The doctor's anger and need to assert dominance in the confrontation with Dick Boulton, followed by his retreat to clean a shotgun, reflect anxieties about masculine authority and control.

### The Absurdity of Authority and Religion

The doctor's wife's Christian Science platitudes contrast with the raw conflict and the doctor's silent frustration, highlighting the absurdity of relying on religious authority in the face of real-world tensions.

## Character check-ins

### Dick Boulton

Half-breed Indian who accuses the doctor of stealing timber, provoking a confrontation.

### The doctor

Nick's father, who becomes angry when accused of stealing logs and later goes for a walk.

### Billy Tabeshaw

Indian who works with Dick Boulton, remains serious during the argument.

### Nick Adams

Found reading in the woods; joins his father on a walk.

### Mrs. Scripps

The doctor's wife, a Christian Scientist who urges her husband to control his temper.

## Key lines

> Well, Doc, that's a nice lot of timber you've stolen.

Dick Boulton sarcastically accuses the doctor of stealing the logs.

_This accusation triggers the central conflict of the chapter._

> Remember, that he who ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city.

The doctor's wife quotes the Bible to urge her husband to control his temper.

_Reflects her Christian Science beliefs and the theme of authority and religion._

> I know where there's black squirrels, Daddy.

Nick tells his father he knows a place to find black squirrels.

_Shows Nick's desire to join his father and escape the domestic tension._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters/the-doctor-and-the-doctor-s-wife
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_15_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_15_se/chapters