NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Chapter 7 – Birth — A.J. Cronin
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Reading with Insight:
Q. “I have done something; oh, God! I’ve done something real at last.” Why does Andrew say this? What does it mean?
Ans. Andrew, the protagonist of the story ‘Birth’, utters these words as he is able to bring a still born child back to life which seemed impossible in the beginning. The child is born lifeless to the wife of Joe Morgan. The child is the first child of the couple who had been married for nearly twenty years. Both, the child and the mother are in critical condition requiring urgent attention. The nurse dumps the child thinking it to be lifeless.
Andrew takes care of the mother first and seeing her on the recovery path turns his attention to the child. Andrew pulls the child out. It is a perfectly formed boy. Its limp white body is white and soft. Its head is hanging loosely on the thin neck. Andrew at once understands that it is a case of asphyxia pallida. He orders the nurse to get him cold water and hot water and basins. He lays the child upon a blanket and begins the special method of respiration. Fifteen minutes pass but no breath comes from the body of the child. In sheer desperation, he rubs the child with a towel, crushes and relaxes the chest with both hands. Then a miracle happens. The little chest gives a short, convulsive heave and then another. Andrew redoubles his effort. The child starts to gasp, deeper and still deeper. Then comes the child’s cry. He hands over the child to the nurse and climbs down the stairs with deep satisfaction on achieving the seemingly impossible task.
Andrew has been able to do something wonderful. He has been able to apply whatever he learnt in the medical textbooks and even beyond that. It is really a great achievement for Andrew. A doctor is a medium through which God or Almighty grants life to the patients. The miracle happened by the grace of the Almighty. Andrew acknowledges this fact in the quoted words given in the question. These words bring home the fact that saving the life of a patient is the most cherished achievement of a doctor.
Q. There lies a great difference between text book medicine and the world of a practising physician. Discuss.
Ans. There lies a great difference between textbook medicine and the world of a practising physician. Textbooks provide a doctor information regarding the symptoms of an ailment and the specific medicines for the treatment to be administered. However, the reality is stranger than fiction. A practising physician has to deal with all kinds of situations. Sometimes, the textbook medicine and treatments don’t click. Every doctor has to decide each case on merit. While practising, a doctorhas to bring in several innovations keeping in view the complexity of the case. This is exactly what happens with Andrew Manson. He does not act strictly according to the textbooks but acts instinctively. The results are wonderful. Here, Andrew rightly diagnosed the symptoms that the child was suffering from— asphyxia pallida. It was a case of suffocation or unconsciousness caused by the lack of oxygen and excess of carbon dioxide in the blood, accompanied by paleness of the skin, weak pulse, and loss of reflexes. He knew the treatment and gave it to the child, but the child did not respond. Then Andrew used an innovation of rubbing the child with a rough towel crushing and releasing the little chest trying to get breath into the limp body and bring the child to life. Hence, a practising physician has to use his brain along with his experience and knowledge of textbook medicine
Q. Do you know any incident when someone has been brought back to life from the brink of death through medical help. Discuss medical procedures such as organ transplant and organ regeneration that are used to save human life.
Ans. Do it yourself.
