The Best We Could Do

The Best We Could Do

by

Thi Bui

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Best We Could Do makes teaching easy.

The Doctor Character Analysis

The OB/GYN who treats Thi Bui as Bui goes through labor and gives birth to her son. Although she is matter-of-fact and nonthreatening, she also does not empathize with Bui’s fear about childbirth and inner conflict over whether or not to take anesthesia. She also refuses to promise that she will not give Bui an episiotomy, which further contributes to Bui’s sense of alienation and lack of agency during childbirth.

The Doctor Quotes in The Best We Could Do

The The Best We Could Do quotes below are all either spoken by The Doctor or refer to The Doctor . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family, Inheritance, and Parenthood Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

But if I surrender, I’m afraid I’ll want a full retreat—
to go all the way back. To be the baby and not the mother.

Related Characters: Thi Bui (speaker), , Thi and Travis’s Son , The Doctor
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Best We Could Do LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Best We Could Do PDF

The Doctor Quotes in The Best We Could Do

The The Best We Could Do quotes below are all either spoken by The Doctor or refer to The Doctor . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family, Inheritance, and Parenthood Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

But if I surrender, I’m afraid I’ll want a full retreat—
to go all the way back. To be the baby and not the mother.

Related Characters: Thi Bui (speaker), , Thi and Travis’s Son , The Doctor
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis: