Body parts (Diagnosis)

As „Diagnosis” is a short story that deals with the vulnerability of the human body, Edith Wharton uses many metaphors and other stylistic tools with body parts to further illustrate this.

The question above all is what kind of cancer Paul Dorrance does or does not have. Based on some hints, one could argue that he has problems with his throat. The following passage could prove this:

“When there was barely time to seize life before the cup that held it was cracked, and gulp it down while you had a throat that could swallow!”[i]

“She knows the hours are numbered, and she can’t bear to lose one,” he thought, a choking in his throat; and as he bent to kiss her he had a vision of what it would have been (…)”.[ii]

“Dorrance’s throat felt dry and his head empty.”[iii]

“Yes; at nine o’clock,” said Dorrance, the dryness returning to his throat.”[iv]

However, the throat can also symbolize that Dorrance is or feels unable to speak in the quotations above.

“Certainly he ought to tell her; but the mere thought let loose a landslide of complications, obligations, explanations…their suffocating descent made him gasp for breath.”[v]

Certainly this gasping for breath might only be meant as an expression of a suddenly higher stress level but with consideration of the throat as a possible cancerous organ it can also be that this dyspnea is another hint for a respiratory disease.

Another indicator for problems with his airway is the chronic fatigue he is suffering from. With the enduring lack of fresh air in his lungs the concentration of oxygen might be too low. This would also indicate his need to take a cure since mountain air helps to regenerate after respiratory ailments.

Another possible type of cancer could be at his elbow:

“He touched the bell at his elbow, and with half-apologetic smile told his servant that…well, yes…the doctors said he ought to eat more (…)”[vi]

“And instead of that, Death was always there, was there now, at the door, in the room, at his elbow…his Death, his own private and particular end-of-everything.”[vii]

Additionally, it must be mentioned, that “at one’s elbow” metaphorically means something is very close to oneself.

The elbows are also mentioned twice more but relating to Eleanor’s person: when she leans on her elbow in her deathbed.[viii]

As mentioned above, several body parts appear in the story:

“He leaned against the desk, closing his eyes.”[ix]

Paul Dorrance is closing his eyes to flee from the life and world he is trapped in. Within this darkness he can experience how it feels to be in a coffin.

“He propped his chin on his locked hands, shut his eyes, and tried to grope his way through the illimitable darkness….”[x]

“It was easier to go on sitting there, in the darkness created by pressing his fists against his lids.” [xi]

Some form of autonomy appears in this situation. Dorrance is angry and hurt that the physicians were lying to him (which is what he thinks in this part of the story).

“He snatched his hands away from his face. They were wet.”[xii]

Paul Dorrance is so stressed by the situation that he does not even realize his body is reacting. Having wet hands is a sign for psychological pressure. Perhaps it is also meant that he is crying.

“But he had kept his head, she had silenced her heart (…)”[xiii]

Dorrance had to keep his head because when his mother died his mother would not have approved of his affair with a married woman or his marriage to a divorced woman. So, after his mother died, he had the freedom to marry Eleanor. Since Eleanor’s former husband Horace Welwood gave her free to divorce, she was able to silence her heart by marrying Dorrance.

“He continued to look at Mrs. Welwood, as if searching her face for something it was essential he should find there. He saw her lips begin to tremble, the tears still on her lashes (…)”[xiv]

Paul Dorrance tries to understand how Eleanor feels by searching her face. The face is the body part where most emotions are immediately visible: the trembling of the lips tends to occur the moment before or while and after a person cries. The eye lashes are of note as well - the lashes show residue of tears.

“Her face looked young and transparent; he watched the blood rise to her lips and cheeks.”[xv]

Blood is the liquid of life. Red lips and red cheeks symbolize vitality and health.

One could argue that the color of the described faces should symbolize death and life - a pale face is dead and without spirit whereas a face described as being in “fruity bloom”[xvi] represents health and vigor.

“Dorrance suddenly remembered another face; that of a girl they had met in Cairo the previous winter. He felt the shock of her young fairness, saw the fruity bloom of her cheeks, the light animal vigor of every movement, he heard her rich beckoning laugh, and met the eyes questioning his under the queer slant of her lids.” [xvii]

The description of the girl from Cairo is very vivid. Her appearance is compared to things found in nature. The “fruity bloom of her cheeks” symbolizes the innocence and spirit of life. The “light animal vigor of every movement” [xviii]stands for the power and easy confidence she seems to have.

Compared to Eleanor Welwood’s face which is described as follows: “[H]ow pale she looked, her eyelids a little swollen (…)”[xix], the Cairo girl’s face seems to symbolize being alive whereas Eleanor’s face is likened to death.

“Dorrance’s throat felt dry and his head empty.”[xx]

The first time that Paul Dorrance hears about the secret is after Eleanor's death. Eleanor knew that the diagnosis was a mistake - this renders Dorrance speechless, as expressed by the “dry throat”. Since he does not know what to think about this new situation, his head is empty and devoid of clear thoughts.

[i] Ibid. p.384.

[ii] Ibid. p.391.

[iii] Ibid. p.402.

[iv] Ibid. p.403.

[v] Ibid. p.382.

[vi] Ibid. p.381.

[vii] Ibid. p.385.

[viii] Ibid. p.399.

[ix] Ibid. p.382.

[x] Ibid. p.384.

[xi] Ibid.

[xii] Ibid. p.385.

[xiii] Ibid. p.387.

[xiv] Ibid. p.387.

[xv] Ibid. p.388.

[xvi] Ibid. p.396.

[xvii] Ibid.

[xviii] Ibid.

[xix] Ibid. p.386.

[xx] Ibid. p.402.