Dolnak 1

Kyrina Dolnak
Mr. Hackney
English 101: Rhetoric
13 November 2014
Unstable Behavior
William Carlos Williams illuminates the story of a physician on a house call for a poor
Russian family. Originally, the doctor shows up to treat the baby, who has a heart defect, but
ended up caring for the familys fifteen year-old daughter as well. The conflict arises between
the characters and their psychological issues as they deal with problems among family and their
mentality. In the short story, The Girl with a Pimply Face, by William Carlos Williams, the
author demonstrates the instability of the characters and their interactions through
characterization.
The sexual conflict between the doctor and the fifteen year-old girl becomes apparent
throughout the course of the short story. The narrator describes the first interaction between the
two, when the doctor states that his impression of the girl was tough and he further exclaims
how no kidding but I fell for her immediately (Williams, 311). The exchanges between the
doctor and the girl demonstrates his attraction towards the girl and the bond he begins to develop
with her as he begins to pay attention to her and assist her with her own ailments. The short story
describes the interaction between the doctor and his wife as he tells his wife about the family he
helped and the young girl he met. During the evening, the doctor explains to his wife how he
encountered a wonderful girl and that he is crazy about her. To this, the wife then replies
astonishingly what! Another? (318). This conversation shows that the situation is not new to
the wife. The doctor has previously attained feelings for other girls, and the physician has let the

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wife know about these occasions as well. His unusual preference of other girls reveal a mental
instability he has acquired due to conflict between himself and his wife. After the doctor finishes
his conversation with his wife, he leaves the distasteful woman and heads off to see the family
once more (318). The doctors aversion to his wifes presence displays a hidden conflict that the
doctor suppresses in the open. He discusses his day with her and tells her whom he meets but his
thoughts lie elsewhere about her. His thoughts shows that the two have unresolved nuances with
each other which the doctor may want to resolve by seeking interest in the young girls. In
Critical Theory Today, the author states that often, until we find a way to acknowledge
ourselves and the true cause(s) of our repressed wounds, fears, guilty desires, and unresolved
conflicts, we hang on to them in disguised, distorted ways (15). The doctor selects the young
girl and her admirable traits to replace the feelings he would otherwise receive from the
relationship with his wife.
On the other hand, the young girls mother shows unstable characteristics as her
personality becomes distinguished and developed. The mother is characterized as a hysterical,
flustered and desperate woman willing to go through any ends to save her ill baby. She also
seems to be overly concerned with money issues and continuously offers the doctor
compensation for his being at the house. She does so even though she has spent all her money
previously. The doctor seems annoyed by her pursuance of his help and shows his irritation for
the mother when he put her aside and went in to the baby (Williams, 319). The doctors
frustration of the mothers attitude reveals a hidden temperament. The narrator describes a
moment where the mother grabs hold of the doctor, and through tears begins to kiss his hands.
The doctor states, as she did so I realized that she had been drinking (319). The mothers
alcoholism justifies her hysterical and strange behavior. Prior to the baby, the mother may have

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begun drinking to deal with her deprived circumstances, and the excess use of alcohol led to her
babys heart defect. Her alcoholism allows her to deal with the harsh realities of her life. As
stated in Critical Analysis, individuals often use defenses in order to ignore their destructive
behavior and keep the repressed in order to avoid knowing what we feel we cant handle
knowing (Tyson, 18). The mother cannot handle familys poverty or the role she has played in
the babys illness, and she represses her thoughts by drinking so that she does not have to address
her problems outright.
Psychological behaviors are largely present in the short story and are represented through
the depiction of Williamss characters. The author develops the characters personalities in a way
that illuminates their unusual preferences and destructive behaviors and reveals the individual
instabilities of the doctor and the mother. The author successfully depicts the psychological
distinctions of his characters through the characterization of the doctors sexual preferences and
the mothers alcoholism.

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Works Cited
Williams, William Carlos. "The Girl With a Pimply Face." The Oxford Book of
American Short Stories. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates. New York: Oxford UP, 1992. 310-23. Print.
Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today. New York: Garland, 1999. Print.