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Experts are few and far between in Hallowell, making Martha and Doctor’s medical knowledge all the more important, and making Doctor Page’s poor advice especially dangerous. Would you have acted differently in Martha’s place to warn the townspeople about Page?
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The mothers and mothers-in-law are too in awe of a Harvard educated doctor in their town, accepting his incompetence for real medicine. So, I do not believe that any amount of warning would have changed their minds. I think the best warning was Mrs. Hendricks, Grace Sewell’s mother. A Boston matron with “high ideals and a sour expression.” She enlists Martha to deliver Dr. Page’s wife’s baby because Mrs. Henricks will be leaving soon and if his wife dies, her daughter will have nothing, having lost that friendship. She has also come to respect Martha. Mrs. Hendricks intimidates Dr. Page, even grabbing his ear and twisting it hard, asks Melody if she wants their help and then dismisses Dr. Page. Because of Mrs. Hendricks’ motivation and Martha successfully delivering the baby, Martha is able to demand as payment that Dr. Page never attend a woman in childbirth ever again.
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I agree. Thank goodness Mrs. Hendricks does the right thing and her confrontation with Dr. Page was a great scene in the book.
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Martha fought a lot of battles simply because she was a woman. Her strength, courage and conviction about her role in caring for others impressed me. I am confident that Martha struggled greatly over whether to publicly challenge Dr. Page’s medical practices. I tend to think given the misogynistic thinking of the times it would have been futile for her to go about town denouncing Dr. Page. I’m afraid if she had done that more people would have turned away from her and suffered the consequences of their choice to do so. It’s a sad truth that often people have to learn the hard way whether a person’s credentials are a true testament of their practical knowledge. It’s heartbreaking that it takes the loss of life to see the light. In the end many who initially turned away from Martha came back to her when they realized that she was the one with whom to trust their lives and the lives of their babies. Not the Harvard graduate.
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Given the divisive attitudes swirling around Hallowell because of the Rebecca/North case, I think it would be a challenge for Martha to get her message across. Perhaps Martha could have been more strategic and tactful in revealing to people that Dr. Page had botched both Grace and Clarrissa’s births. Perhaps she could have gotten Coleman’s help in spreading the word since he was the source of much of the town’s gossip and a friend. But I don’t know if anything would have been effective given Dr. Page beat her to the punch by lying about his role with the laudlam and Grace. Additionally, people were too impressed by Page’s credentials. But it’s also not in Martha’s nature to be manipulative and sadly, her sharp tongue and honesty sometimes worked against her and in the case of several of the expectant mothers ended up having unintended consequences.
Certainly, her calling out the cruelty of Clarrisa and Peggy towards Sarah in Coleman’s store results in both women opting to use Dr. Page. I thought this was a tragic part of the story that Clarrisa got called out for her poor behaviour and decided against using Martha. And then Peggy still chose to use Page even after knowing what happened to Clarrisa’s baby! Definitely instances where these women’s pride worked against what was best for them and their babies. Thank goodness Rachel didn’t follow suit. But it also showed that Martha sometimes lacked a certain diplomacy or foresight that ended up creating more conflict with people than perhaps was necessary (I’m thinking also of Lidia North).
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Of all the book’s violence Dr. Page’s ineptitude was the most horrific to me and he’s a fictional villain I’ll remember for a long time. I’m not sure that Martha did as much as she could to warn others, although I do think that if one takes too strong of a stance on an issue that it can be off putting and have the opposite effect desired. And I agree with Libby on this point too that the misogyny of the times would have made any efforts seem impossible. So what could she do? It’s difficult to know just when, where and how much one should stick out their neck, even when the cause is critically important. She seemed to have a solid reputation and with her history and track record, I would’ve hoped that she would have more influence and authority.
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When Martha says, “I can count on my hand the number of men I have ever truly hated in my entire life. But Benjamin Page is near the top of the list.” I was right alongside her. I’m not sure Martha could do much to counter Page’s lies and poor practice because the townspeople were blinded by his degree and ignoring Martha’s proven track record. Putting a man’s education above a woman’s experience says a lot about the people, especially since several of the women continue to use him after Grace Sewell’s terrible experience. I think there are several social factors at play that Lawhon subtly writes. One is women are socialized to please, so the women pick the choice their husbands (or parents) prefer (which is Dr. Page) without questioning if it’s the right choice. The other is people are often persuaded and taken in by diplomas and resumes, only to learn later they’ve been fooled by a charlatan. This happens often in real life. Sadly, the charlatans continue to work because the people who have been duped don’t like to reveal that they’ve been duped, which means the charlatans continue to get away with their bad behavior. Thankfully in FR, as Nancy pointed out, Mrs. Henricks puts her shame aside for everyone’s benefit. Ariel Lawhon does a good job juggling all these aspects – the women “social climbers,” the husbands who trust a male doctor over Martha, etc. And I agree with Libby that sadly, many people have to learn the hard way.
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I agree with everyone’s perspective so far. Had Martha spoken out, she would likely have been ignored by many and her efforts might even have been counter-productive. There was likely little privacy or anonymity in Hallowell. Women knew about the outcomes of other women’s pregnancies and who attended them. Actually, there was likely little anonymity about anything.
In our contemporary context, I think I would view Martha as having a duty to disclose. There are more than enough examples of colleagues and subordinates covering or ignoring incompetence with harm to patients, especially women. If she were practicing today, I am pretty confident Martha would speak out regardless of the consequences.
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I agree with the general consensus here— that given the era involved, there would have been little else that Martha could do in this situation. As I read this book, it was sometimes hard for me to separate that society versus our present day, especially when there were so many similar issues that still exist. In my head, I expected Martha and many of the characters to behave in a “modern” manner, but then tried to put it in a more realistic perspective. Since this is a work of fiction, it’s impossible to know the real truth, but one can speculate, and I like to see Martha as a remarkably capable, intelligent woman who did her best to work within the circumstances with which she was presented. By offending the three young ladies when she defended Sarah, she did indeed set the scene for them to avoid using her, and having the option of using Dr. Page for their deliveries must have been a triumph for them, to basically spit in Martha’s eye. The community was small; people are human, no matter what era; hurt feelings lead to breaks in relationships, gossip, and petty desire for revenge. Given the times and their youth and inexperience, the women probably believed that they’d found the perfect solution in using Dr. Page. If Martha had run about town telling everyone that he was a quack, I imagine she would have been censured and disbelieved for being jealous. And there was no real structure for reporting medical malfeasance, from what I can see, so it’s not like anybody was going to rush there to investigate Dr. Page’s practice. The best thing she could do was let her work speak for itself; to not give up caring, and for continuing to deliver competent care to whoever needed it, regardless of past disagreements.
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Oh, good point, Susan. Petty grudges, hurt feelings and all the emotions play such an important part in decisions. It seems well reasoned for Martha to have not be too outspoken about another professional’s competency.
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