In this last section of Black Flies Ollie's character finally comes together to make a delightfully happy ending. Earlier in his career Ollie applied to college for a medical degree and was denied, but this year he tried again. He studied for a very long time and took the test, and passed. Although he was only being a paramedic as a filler until the year when he was accepted to college he was hesitant to say yes. He felt a strange bond to the job that he once dreaded and didn't know if he could stop. I find this very interesting and a huge example of character development. At the beginning Ollie hated the job and wanted to quit, but after seeing the difference that he makes in the world, he really began to enjoy his work. This job opened his eyes to the real world and gave him and life experience that not many people have the chance to experience. This job is disgusting and traumatizing but the way of life that Ollie had to conform to taught him about not only himself but about the society that he was living in. The book ends while Ollie was on a job, attempting to save a girl in a flooding building he was thinking about his future, and then and there he knew that he had to go to medical school. Right after he made this crucial decision he found his patient, the girl. He looked at her and noticed, "Impossibly pale skin, mouth open, eyes staring blankly in the dim, flickering light- she was dead" (180). He knew that he had to act fast to if he wanted the chance to save her, and his partner wasn't responding to him. So he got out the shocker paddles and after multiple tries she finally came back to life, Ollie had finally earned his save badge. His job gives out badges for achievements that the paramedics do. Although earlier in his career he had saved a patient, he needed help from Rutkovsky so it didn't count, but for this girl he saved the twelve-year-old girl all by himself. I was very pleased when Ollie finally succeeded. He has been working extremely hard, putting up with the taunting, and has devoted his life to his work and it was a spectacular ending to have him finally reach his goal. Although many of his coworkers haven't been taunting him in the past couple of months, they didn't fully respect him, until he received his save badge. The final theme of this book is that if you work hard, and have the drive to accomplish something, you can do it. I'm a strong believer in this theme and it was the perfect ending to this gross yet fabulous story.
Burke, Shannon. Black Flies. New York: Soft Skull P, 2008.*Black Flies should be underlined
3 comments:
I think it is sad that being a medic is seen just as a filler job before getting into medical school. This job, while unpleasant, is really important for society. If the people working as medics aren't fully dedicated to the job, society is put at risk. Since Ollie had begun to value the importance of his job by the end of the book, his decision to go to medical school is disappointing. He could have taken a different course in life by dedicating himself to improving the working conditions and morale of medics, do instead of following the more common path of going to medical school.
I also read Black Flies and agree with what you think. I think many people have the idea that being a doctor or surgeon is so much harder than being a medic, but Ollie proves that being a medic requires as much skill, if not more, than being a doctor. It is so much more than keeping a person alive while getting them to a doctor who will, supposedly, do all the "real" work. Ollie and the other medics prove that keeping someone alive is a lot harder than it seems. They have to do all the dirty work so that the doctors can do the finishing touches. This book made me really appreciate medics and the work they do. I was so proud of Ollie for accomplishing his goal of getting into medical school and earning his save.
I think that Ollie makes a very interesting choice in this section of the book. I don't know if would have also decided to go to medical school instead of continuing as a paramedic. I completely agree with Katherine, paramedics are an amazingly important section of our society and they need to be able to fully dedicate themselves to the job without having to worry about things like school and the like.
Post a Comment