Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1993. [Vol. 1.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 21)

STUDIES - Anna Jakabfi: Regionalism and the Surgeon Figure in Hugh MacLennan's Fiction

Angus Murray's hands were not quite recovered from the war injuries, yet the first thing he does after the explosion in the Halifax harbour is that he sets up a hospital in the Wains' house and operates. "Now there was no chance of turning back. His hand would have to do its work, and if it failed, no one would be able to repair the damage. His forehead was moist with sweat as he anaesthezied and washed out the conjunctival sac. Then he paused for the anaesthetic to take effect and observed that Mrs. Stevens had laid out the instruments in their proper order... ..She handed him the deWecker's scissors and he took them with his right hand and tested the strength and steadiness of his fingers. The movement hurt exceedingly, but the fingers were able to apply pressure and close the blades firmly. It would be a short operation. He had done dozens of prolapsed irises and used to think nothing of them. The trouble was that one had to use several instruments simultaneously. He had done it without help several times in France and he would do it now. He would be able to accomplish most of the preliminary work with his good hand, and that would rest the weak one. There was a faint smile around his mouth as he inserted a speculum into the eye and secured the lids with a pair of fixationforceps."

2 Jerome Martell after having been tortured in Ausswitz by the Nazis, and after having been transported to a Soviet concentration camp, and having lived in Hong Kong after escaping from the camp, upon coming home to Canada, wants to operate again: "My hands

—he held them out and for the first time I (George Stewart) noticed those splayed fingers

—aren't much good for difficult operations. But they can do routine ones, and I'm still able to work."

3 2 Hugh MacLennan, Barometer Rising (Toronto, Montreal: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1958), p. 174. 3 Hugh MacLennan, The Watch That Ends the Night (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1975), p. 368. 49