Regeneration

by

Pat Barker

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Regeneration: Chapter 21 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
That afternoon, Rivers sits in a viewing room attached to an empty operating room. Yealland has drawn the blinds, strapped Callan to the chair, and locked the door. The only light in the room is the glow of the battery powering Yealland’s electrode. Yealland powerfully declares that Callan will not leave the room until he is speaking normally, and proceeds to electrocute him with such high voltage that the patient’s body arcs and writhes against the straps. When he still cannot speak, Yealland says, “You must speak, but I shall not listen to anything you have to say.” When Callan runs to the locked door, Yealland restrains him back into the chair, arguing that he is a hero, and thus any part of Callan that does not want to be there with Yealland does not represent his “true self.”
Again, Yealland and his masculine approach to medicine is horrific, no less than torture, and the stoic detachment Yealland proceeds with makes him seem like a psychopath, since any form of empathy and compassion is obviously deeply repressed. Importantly, Yealland’s statement that he does not care what Callan says, only how he says it, mirrors Rivers’s memory of his own father, suggesting that Rivers’s was emotionally wounded by his father’s own domineering masculinity and lack of compassion.
Themes
Masculinity, Expectations, and Psychological Health Theme Icon
Trauma and Mental Illness Theme Icon
Quotes
After hours of this, Callan in desperation, manages first a few sounds and then eventually entire words in a hoarse whisper, still being electrocuted in between. When Callan, exhausted and traumatized, is finally able to put words together weakly, Yealland pronounces him cured. However, Callan gives a half-smile that Yealland does not like, so he sits him back down and holds the electrode to the side of his mouth. As Callan finally leaves the room, Yealland demands that the soldier thank him.
Yealland electrocuting Callan’s mouth, even after he resumes speaking, confirms him as a psychopath. He revels in the power he wields as a doctor. Yealland’s person and conduct are a frightfully damning condemnation of unchecked masculinity, especially in the professions such as medicine, where compassion for the patient is vital.
Themes
Masculinity, Expectations, and Psychological Health Theme Icon
Trauma and Mental Illness Theme Icon