The doctor that Murph observes every day in Iraq is a young woman capable of professional efficacy when tending to wounded soldiers, but also of kindness and compassion. She becomes an example of someone who plays a morally admirable part in the war, devoting her energy to saving lives instead of destroying them.
The Doctor Quotes in The Yellow Birds
The The Yellow Birds 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:
).
Chapter 8
Quotes
He wanted to choose. He wanted to want. He wanted to replace the dullness growing inside him with anything else. He wanted to decide what he would gather around his body, to refuse that which fell toward him by accident or chance and stayed in orbit like an accretion disk. He wanted to have one memory he’d made of his own volition to balance out the shattered remnants of everything he hadn’t asked for.
Related Characters:John Bartle (speaker), The Doctor, Daniel “Murph” Murphy
Related Symbols:Murph’s Photograph and Casualty Feeder Card
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
159
Explanation and Analysis:
After discovering that Murph has abandoned the photograph and casualty feeder card he kept preciously in his helmet, Bartle goes to look for him, worried that these objects might signal that Murph has given up on life entirely. Bartle discovers his companion by the medics’ station, watching one of the doctors’ daily routine, and realizes that Murph has isolated himself to try to control at least a small part of his time in Iraq: the memories he chooses to make for himself. Unlike Bartle, who has made a mental shield of indifference, Murph has been consumed by the emotions growing Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore
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The timeline below shows where the character The Doctor appears in The Yellow Birds. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8: October 2004 – Al Tafar, Nineveh Province, Iraq
...he is waiting for a particular event. A helicopter then lands and, when a female doctor comes out, Murph admits that he has been looking at her. The two boys watch...
(full context)
While Bartle tries to soothe Murph, the doctor comes out of the tent, washes her hands, lights a cigarette, and begins to cry....
(full context)
As the doctor walks toward the chapel, Bartle tries to reassure Murph that they can count on each...
(full context)
...heal the local bg merchants. Making his way to the chapel, he sees that the doctor is now dead and that Murph is next to her, silent. While Bartle and another...
(full context)
Chapter 10: October 2004 – Al Tafar, Nineveh Province, Iraq
Bartle recalls the moment Murph disappeared, crying because of the doctor’s death. Although Murph did not attend the ceremony in the woman’s honor, it was not...
(full context)