Brute victim, Sadist surgeon and more of what I don’t understand

Did I handle the discussion I had about this in class correctly? No, I did not. I’ll spare the details but what I realized is that I can get quite passionate about certain topics, racism being one of them.

We read a short story called ‘Brute’ written by Richard Selzer and discussed it. The story is supposed to address the relationship between fatigue and anger and show the importance of self-reflection as a physician. Though I did get that, I also thought it completely missed the mark.

I remember being hesitant to say something first, because of my strong opinion on this subject and its controversial nature. So, I sat and listened uncomfortable, as two students shared their thoughts, which were valid, but failed to mention what in my eyes was the most important part: the way the surgeon described his ‘black patient’.

The first student noticed how the surgeon had done something that he regretted doing, probably because he was so tired and overworked. That something was sowing the patient’s earlobes to the stretcher to ensure his cooperation during the surgery. He then ‘wipes the gelatinous cloths from his eyes so that he can see’, leans over him, and grins. ‘It is the cruelest grin of my life’ the surgeon says. And in the end, he apologizes for his ‘ancient rage’ and admits how sorry he will always be ‘for not being able to make it up to him for that grin’.

To be clear: what he is sorry about many years later, is not devaluing, mistreating, or abusing that man, but losing his temper and showing a cruel grin. No matter how tired or overworked he was, had there been a white patient, I highly doubt he’d sow his ears to the stretcher too. His apology bothered me because he is not at all acknowledging that race played a role in his behavior towards the patient. He is also not apologizing for the violence that poor man had to endure, but instead regrets the impact that interaction had on him. As if to say: even in the presence of a beast should I condone myself.

I don’t understand why the teacher isn’t talking about this.

The second student pointed out that the surgeon made many assumptions about his patient that were hurtful, and I (unsuccessfully) tried arguing that it wasn’t just his assumption, but rather the ideas that were commonly accepted about people of color in that time.

In the story, the surgeon imagines multiple scenarios about the patient and how he must’ve gotten the 15-inch wound on his forehead. What he came up with was either the result of some inherent unfaithfulness or animal like aggression, people of color were believed to possess. He even entertained the idea of the wound bursting open on its own saying ‘here is a brow that might have burst on its own, spilling out its excess of rage’. Though I hadn’t heard that last one before, I was upset to find that the negative assumptions or stereotypes he describes, were only slight variations of basically the same things that are still being assumed or said about people of color today.

The fellow student finally asked me why it was even relevant if the assumptions the surgeon made about his ‘patient’ were his own or if it was meant to resemble that of all the surgeons in that time.

It matters because this is not a story about some sick, twisted, or evil surgeon gone rogue. (At least not by the social standard in that time.) It’s a historically accurate display of the societal belief that the white race is superior. And even surgeons, who are intelligent and bright people that should know better and should be especially empathetic and kind towards a (human) life, since their job consists of dealing with the most vulnerable parts of it, believed that people of color were less than them. It was not an opinion; in their eyes it was a fact.

Richard Selzer described him as ‘a great mystic beast broken loose in the city’ that ‘roars’ and has ‘some beastly wisdom’ in his ‘wild brain’. With a somewhat creepy fascination, he continues to say, ‘his very wildness which suggests less a human than a great and beautiful animal’.

How are we just glossing over this absurd description of a black man? And again: why is the teacher not pointing any of this out?

Many years later this story is still read and applauded, and had it mentioned a different theme, than perhaps I would’ve said something about how beautifully it was written instead. But what’s holding me back from appreciating this in the same way others do, is the idea that the author of and surgeon in this story, probably died without ever grasping the full extent of the horrible behavior he took part in. He was celebrated as a surgeon then and we’re celebrating him as an author now, but do we ever stop to realize that it would’ve been unfathomable for his ‘black patient’ to pursue those same jobs? Richard Selzer’s success was made possible because he lived in a time that highly favored the white skin, and he too took part in suppressing, exploiting, and abusing those without it. We should all be very conscious of the privilege he had and continues to have even after his passing.

His ‘black patient’ was the victim in this story and during that time.

After a while however I decided to bite my tongue and wait for the class to be over. I felt frustrated because I had such strong feelings about this but couldn’t articulate those clearly, and no one really seemed to share my passionate anger anyways. Yet, I was also content and somewhat relieved that I had at least tried to.

Everyone left the classroom but one other, the teacher and me. I asked my friend ‘was I too intense during that discussion?’—and while she took a moment to try to formulate an answer, the teacher looked at me and said with a smile ‘No, it’s always nice to have students that participate actively, and it adds perspective’.

For a moment I felt reassured by her comment and almost like I had gotten a pat on the back from her. But that good feeling dissipated before I even left the classroom, and I realized that I didn’t want her to validate me; I wanted her to validate my arguments and acknowledge how bad it was for people of color—not too many years ago, and for centuries. I wanted the teacher to teach the uncomfortable but important truth; to tell us that this story isn’t really about the anger or tiredness that drove the surgeon to evil behavior. This story is about racism in health care, and we (as health professionals in training) need to be aware of that. What is the point of us reading this story if we can’t even acknowledge that?

But I bit my tongue again, reciprocated her smile politely, and left.