Children of Hunger
Author | Iagnemma, Karl |
---|---|
Year | 2003 |
First published | 2003 |
Number of pages | 33 |
Keywords | medicine (biomedical research), historical, literary or mainstream |
Abstract
Loosely based on the famous medical experiments carried out on Alexis
St. Martin by Dr. William Beaumont, "Children of Hunger" emphasizes the
role of human emotion in scientific research. The story highlights the
terrible anxiety and cost sometimes associated with discovery. The three
main characters--William, Julia, and Guillaume--are all deeply wounded
individuals and in some ways, incomplete human beings.The title
of the story is interesting since each main character has a unique
"hunger": sexual desire and a vexed appetite (Guillaume), an insatiable
lust for knowledge and discovery (William), and the craving for love and
want of a child (Julia). Dr. William Barber is a fascinating
physician-scientist whose obsession with experimentation requires
sacrifices from the two people he professes to care for the most. (LitMed)