Literary Analysis Essay on Cutting for Stone

Introduction

Cutting for Stone is a fictional book which was published during 2009 by the author Abraham Verghese. The story which is mainly carried by the Book revolves across several continents as it moves from India up to Ethiopia and a given hospital in Ney York Town. The Book was dated for the last five decades, starting with the missionary post by Sister Mary Joseph to Yemen from India. It was during the Sister Mary's journey on the ship when she saved a life of a particular English doctor who was young. Sister Mary Joseph Praise decided to change her destination to start following Dr. Thomas Stone to Ethiopia after losing her missionary partner who died after enduring typhoid illness on the ship (Verghese, 2012). In seven years later, Sister Praise died when she was delivering Marion and Shiva, her twin boys. The Book further tells how the twins got separated and how they grew up as well as how they betrayed one another and how they reunited later. The primary purpose of this paper is writing a book review of the novel cutting for Stone.

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Purpose of the Book

The novel is fund conveying essential issue concerning life in Ethiopia; it is concerned with race issues and immigration, the books talk about ways in which international doctors help in keeping the United States alive as a result of being offered to undergo the residency programs. The Book focuses on expounding on the medical issues which influence the African continent, especially the issues about women.

Author’s Qualifications and Viewpoint

Abraham Verghese is a doctor dealing with infectious disease, a professor of theory, and practice of medicine working in the department of internal medicine. Dr. Verghese began his medical career when in Ethiopia and completed it in India at the University of Madras because of the Ethiopian civil war. He completed a residency at East Tennessee State University, a college of medicine, and he later pursued a fellowship in the infectious disease at the Boston university medicine school (Durcan, 2009). Being a doctor, Dr. Verghese's viewpoint when writing Cutting for Stone was informing the public regarding significant health problems that are faced in Africa, especially in Ethiopia. Dr. Verghese also made use of this opportunity to compare the medical practices in Ethiopia and the ones of the United States.

Summary and Assessment of the Author's Argument

Verghese's Book is seen as being more concerned about the search by Marion for reconciliation with his past while he attempts to offer to mean to his life, father, deceased mother and brother through telling a story that is old fashioned. The Book contains four significant parts: Sister Mary Praise traveling to Yemen where she finds herself working in Ethiopia, narration of the life of Shiva and Marion raised by two doctors after the death of their mother, telling of political unrest cases and their influence on the health of individuals at Ethiopia, and the last part includes the situation when Marion was forced to leave Ethiopia as a result of the political situation where he moved to the United States.

The Thesis of the Book

The Book, Cutting for Stone is a message dedicated to medical professionals, the people of Ethiopia. The novel tells a story characterized by suffering, love, compassion, betrayal, and abandonment.

Summary of Book's Content

Cutting for Stone has several stories which have been narrated as being one. The novel tells the suffering tale, a story about the suffering faced by Ethiopian people due to illness that they suffered. The story also tells compassion and a love story which entails the two doctors taking care of Marion and Shiva after being abandoned by their father when their mother died. There is also a story of betrayal that involves the twin brothers (Hinton, 2011). The novel portrays a message to the public and medical profession concerning significant health problems faced by Ethiopian residents.

Assess the Credibility of the Argument

Dr. Verghese provided a vital case which is connected to gender inequality. Throughout the novel, women are presented as been the ones who are most affected by significant health problems such as rape, genital mutilation, and birth complication (Gebbie, 2011). Verghese emphasized that it is difficult to break the family bond. Being a medical doctor, Dr. Verghese had an excellent idea concerning all medical conditions that were presented in the Book.

Critical Assessment of the Book

Organization

The Book organized in a clear way; how Verghese began the Book catches the attention of the reader in finding out what will happen at the end. The four sections which the novel is subdivided into have every part with its own story, which makes the Book be better understood.

Style and Presentation

Dr. Verghese used medical terminologies during his writing. The paragraphs are found being concise and short. Although the book contains 670 pages, the information that is presented keeps the readers engaged.

Supporting Materials

Verghese never used any given supporting materials such as index, tables, maps, pictures, charts, or graphs. He explained all the medical terminologies used in every paragraph for the reader to grasp the meaning.

Intended Audience

The intended audience is the youth who are deciding to enter into the medical profession. The novel is both popular history and academic-oriented.

Conclusion

In summary, the Book by Verghese has multiple layers of meaning; it educates the audience regarding some medical problems faced with Ethiopia. The characters used in the novel working at the hospital were Indian immigrants. The message that is carried by the story is informative and can be recommended to a person having plans to practice in a health field.

Reference

Durcan, L. (2009). The plot thickens. Cmaj, 180(6), 648-648.

Gebbie, A. E. (2011). Cutting for Stone. Retrieved from: https://srh.bmj.com/content/familyplanning/37/3/157.full.pdf

Hinton, J. B. (2011). Cutting for Stone. Anesthesiology: The Journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, 115(6), 1393-1394.

Verghese, A. (2012). Cutting for Stone. Random House India.