49 pages • 1 hour read
Louisa May AlcottHospital Sketches
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1863A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Value of Humor in Stressful Times
Content Warning: The section of the guide includes discussion of racism, gender-discrimination, illness, and death.
In her Postscript, Alcott responds to critics who “objected to a tone of levity” (73) in parts of her Sketches by quoting British statesman Thomas More: She believes, “with good Sir Thomas More, that it is wise to ‘be merrie in God’” (73). Alcott thus explores the value of humor in stressful times by illustrating how humor helped her and her patients cope during her hospital service.
In the beginning, the challenge to Alcott’s commitment is her appointment to Hurly-burly House, her quest to secure free passage to Washington, and her long journey from Massachusetts to the hospital. Though these are lower-stakes challenges compared to caring for wounded soldiers, they do test her patience and resolve. Though her frustration is real, her descriptions are witty, such as when she describes herself fighting the bureaucracy as “an energetic fly in a very large cobweb” (5). Alcott’s use of humor as a coping mechanism suggests that good humor helps her maintain her focus and resolve during her journey. By learning to meet those challenges with humor, she also prepares herself emotionally for the larger challenge ahead.
When confronted with the suffering patients at her hospital, humor can at times be harder for her to summon. Several times, she describes herself brought to tears by the severity of the soldiers’ wounds and by their suffering, but their humor fuels her. The soldiers’ moments of humor demonstrate their individuality, with Alcott singling out some of the good-humored soldiers as among the most admirable and memorable for her. She recalls the Irishman’s exaggerated exclamations of relief at having his shoes bathed, and the Sergeant who says he would “rather than laugh than cry” (67), both of whom inspire Alcott to face the situation with humor and resolve. During the night shift, her good humor leaves her “boys in the jolliest state of mind their condition allowed” because they know that she believes “he who laughed most was surest of recovery” (31). Alcott thus suggests that humor aids the soldiers’ physical health by bolstering their emotional health.
Rather than suggesting that she does not take the issues at hand seriously, then, humor for Alcott is a way to uplift the spirit and fuel it with strength for a long fight, whether it is the fight on the battlefield or the fight to recover. Humor is one of the ways that Alcott cares for her own state of mind and that of her patients.
The Dynamics of Care and Compassion
Alcott frames humor as a form of care and an expression of compassion because it is a way that members of a community strive to lift each other up. Alcott also depicts the dynamic of care as reciprocal: The compassion one shows to others is reflected back to the giver, strengthening the whole, whether it is care between members of a family, between nurse and patient, or between white and Black Americans. Whoever has the advantage or privilege has the opportunity to help the one who does not, and all benefit from this exchange.
At the family level, Alcott illustrates the dynamics of care when she is struggling to acquire the documents she needs to travel to Washington for free. Her quest leads her from one dead end to another until she runs into her brother-in-law, Darby Coobiddy. When he learns of her trouble, he immediately springs into action. The information she needs is quickly acquired, and she is able to move forward in her journey. Being a “woman’s rights woman” and believing that she “could do everything as well, if not better” herself (7), she did not want to accept his help, but she acknowledges that his care was both needed and highly effective.
By helping her acquire her free passes, Coobiddy teaches Alcott that it is not always possible to succeed alone. This is a crucial lesson that she will need as a nurse, as her patients will not always know how to ask for help, or want to. Part of her job is to recognize when to step in and support a patient, whether he verbalizes a need or not. This is most evident in her interaction with John in Chapter 4. He never asks for help, but when Alcott notices him struggling and steps in, he is finally able to admit, “this is what I wanted” (40). She then realizes that part of her job is to step in when others cannot advocate for themselves.
Alcott also believes that the dynamics of care and compassion are crucial in confronting the ugly legacy of enslavement. She directly confronts the racist attitudes and words of her colleagues, urging them to treat Black Americans with the same compassion and respect they show to white Americans. When Alcott picks up a Black toddler, a Virginia woman disapproves, saying she never touches him. Alcott responds by saying, “More the shame for you, ma’am” (58), and kisses the baby. Alcott also refers to Black Americans as her “brothers and sisters” (57), saying that white Americans owe them a large debt. She adds that she herself will be “proud to pay” her part of the debt by serving Black soldiers fighting for their freedom. In these ways, Alcott expands the dynamics of care and compassion outwards from her individual experiences as a nurse to embrace the national community at large.
The Physical and Emotional Toll of War
As Alcott repeatedly stresses, her humor is not intended to downplay the profound importance of the Union cause or the price Americans are paying to dismantle enslavement. In her portraits of some of her patients, she spotlights both the physical and emotional toll of war.
Teddy is only 12 years old, but he has suffered a terrible trauma, both physically and emotionally. Physically, in the aftermath of the rout at Fredericksburg, he came down with fever and ague. A soldier named Kit, although gravely wounded himself, wrapped the child in his own blanket and carried him to the ambulances, ensuring that Teddy would be brought to the hospital for treatment. By the time they arrived, Kit had died. Alcott recalls how Teddy wakes up weeping from a dream of Kit, heartbroken to rediscover that Kit is no longer there. Teddy experiences survivor’s guilt because he worries that Kit sacrificed his own chance at recovery in saving Teddy. He mourns Kit as a true friend and regrets that he never got the chance to thank him. In presenting Teddy’s story, Alcott shows how war can leave emotional scars as well as physical ones upon survivors.
Alcott also describes the physical suffering of many of her patients. Her patient John never asks for anything, telling Alcott, “I didn’t like to be a trouble; you seemed so busy, and I could manage to get on alone” (40). Alcott soon learns, however, that John’s injuries are so extensive that they cause him acute pain every waking moment, with both his back and lung severely damaged. The Sergeant has lost a leg and will soon have to lose an arm as well. Alcott also acknowledges how these serious injuries can leave men feeling vulnerable and insecure, describing how one patient worries that his sweetheart will find his injured face unattractive. In detailing such injuries, Alcott emphasizes the visceral, brutal physicality of war, challenging any idealized notions her audience may have about what war really entails.
Alcott herself suffers emotionally and physically during her time at the hospital. Emotionally, she struggles with grief for her patients, frustration at conditions in the hospital, and anger at the injustice that has caused the war. Physically, she experiences deprivations of sleep and food, then contracts typhoid, resulting in her return home. In recounting the physical and emotional suffering she endured alongside her patients, Alcott reveals how war takes a toll on combatants and civilians alike.
Related Titles
By Louisa May Alcott
