Doctor+Meyers+(Jose)

"Doctor Meyers" Read by Jose Photo by Ross's New York "Images Without" media type="custom" key="11316538"  No matter how good a man can be he can still commit acts that seem wrong even if he believes he is doing good. No matter how great a man he is, can still be still be shunned by society for acts that seem evil. Dr. Meyers commits a crime that ruins his life and reputation despite his kind and well-meaning intentions and his sense of justice. This is the point in which Dr. Meyers’ life changes forever.  Dr. Meyers is not a man who exploits those who are desperate for help; he is a kind man who knows the power of his gift to cure.

 No other man, unless it was Doc Hill,  did more for the people in this town than I.  And all the weak, the halt, the improvident  and those who could not pay flocked to me (Masters “Doctor Meyers” lines 1-4) Dr. Meyers knows that most people had a hard time affording his treatment and becasue he is a kind man he helps many people in need. He has absolutely nothing in his life to complain about.

 I was good hearted, easy Doctor Meyers.  I was healthy, happy, in comfortable fortune,  Blest with a congenial mate my children raised,  All wedded, doing well in the world (Masters “Doctor Meyers” lines 5-7). Dr. Meyers sense of justice ultimately leads him to right the wrong that is done on Minerva Jones, but also leads to his collapse. What Dr. Meyers sees in his eyes was that there is this woman who has been done a great wrong and is now asking for his help. “And the one night, Minerva, the poetess, came to me in her trouble, crying. I tried to help her out - she died-” (Masters “Doctor Meyers” lines 9-11). What had happened was that Minerva was captured by “Butch” Weldy and needed an abortion. He performs the operation but sadly he accidentally kills her in the process. Since in those times the operation is illegal and the technique was not overlooks much, the outcome of the procedure is death.  Dr. Meyer’s crime ruins his life and reputation into something he could never recover from. The reason itself is not evil at all, but well-meaning and a favor. The true evil is in the act and its consequences. Since such things are illegal in the time he lived, a good act has caused a kind man to seem evil. In the epitaph of his wife it is said that he has broken the law human and divine.  Poor soul so sunk in sin he could not see  That even trying to help her as he called it,  He had broken the law human and divine. (Masters “Mrs. Meyers” lines 5-8) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> This meant that he commits a crime in the law of man and a sin in the religious view. The toll that this has taken on doctor Meyers is obviously great and permanent. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> In the end the good doctor is punished for attempting to do the right action. Sadly it only counts if the final result is a good one, however the result is death. Doctor Meyers crime destroys his life despite his sense of justice and kind and well-meaning intentions. “They indicted me, the newspapers disgraced me,”(Masters “Doctor Meyers” line 12). “He protested all his life long The newspapers lied about him villainously. That he was not at fault for Minerva’s fall,”(Masters “Mrs. Meyers” lines 2-3). The fall of his reputation, life and career is obviously permanent. No matter how well-meaning the cause is, the effect matters most.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Work cited <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Masters, Edgar Lee “Doctor Meyers” The Spoon River Anthology. New York, Macmillan, 1946. 19. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Masters, Edgar Lee “Doctor Meyers” The Spoon River Anthology. New York, Macmillan, 1946. 19.