Snapshots

Chapter #7: Birth

- A. J. Cronin

Questions and Answers

Q1. Who was Joe Morgan? Why had he been waiting for Dr. Andrew Manson?
Ans. Joe Morgan was a driller in Blaenelly a mining town. He was a big, strong and heavy middle-aged
person. Joe and his wife Susan, who had been married for nearly twenty years and were expecting their
first child. Joe was waiting for the doctor to help Susan in the delivery of the child.

Q2. What was Andrew’s view of marriage? Why was he resentful and confused.
Ans. As Andrew sat dozing by the kitchen fire his thoughts wandered over the subject of marriage. He
thought of Bramwell who was foolishly devoted to a woman who deceived him meanly. Then he
thought of Edward Page who was married to the ill-natured Blodwen and was now living unhappily,
apart from his wife. This led him to the conclusion that all marriages are dismal failures. Then he
thought of his girlfriend, Christine and wished to consider marriage as a pleasant state.

Q3. Why did Mrs. Morgan’s mother offer to make a cup of tea for the doctor?
Ans. Mrs. Morgan’s mother was a wise, apprehensive and experienced old woman. As the doctor
moved about the room after examining the patient, she realized that there would be a period of waiting.
She feared that he would leave the case, saying he would return later. In order to detain him she offered
to make a cup of tea for him.

Q4. Why was the doctor in dilemma?

Ans. The woman gave birth to a still child. When the doctor looked at the lifeless form, a shiver of
horror passed over him. He was torn between his desire to attempt to resuscitate the child and his
responsibility to the mother, who herself was in a desperate condition and needed immediate attention.
So, he was in a dilemma.

Q5. What was the child suffering from?

Ans. As soon as the doctor saw the child, he knew that it was a case of suffocation, the condition caused
by lack of oxygen and excess of carbon dioxide in the blood. It is accompanied by paleness of the skin,
weak pulse, and loss of reflexes.

Q6. Describe briefly the efforts made by the doctor to revive the child.
Ans. The doctor lay the child on a blanket and began the special method of respiration. Then he
immersed it alternately in cold water and lukewarm water. Fifteen minutes passed, but no breath came
from the body of the child. Then the doctor made one last effort. He rubbed the child with a towel,
crushed and released the chest with both his hands. Thus, he tried to get breath into the limp body. His
efforts bore fruit. The little chest gave a short, convulsive heave. The doctor redoubled his effort. The
child was now gasping.

Q7. What did the elderly midwife think of the young doctor?
Ans. The midwife in the story remains doubtful about the young doctor’s success throughout the story.
She was skeptic about modern medicine and techniques. She was quite experienced and not ready to
accept a change. Her act of placing the stillborn under the cot cements this suspicion about her
character. She was indirectly establishing the failure of modern medicine by doing so. Even when the
doctor was trying to bring back life into the baby, she showed disbelief and discouraged him for making
feverish efforts. Though eventually the cry of the baby made her exclaimed with joy.
Q8. Why was Andrew Manson called? How did he react to the call of duty?
Ans. Andrew Manson had just begun his medical practice in the small Welsh mining town of Blaenelly.
He was called in to attend to Susan Morgan, who was expecting her first child after being married for
nearly twenty years. Her husband, Joe Morgan had been waiting for an hour outside the closed surgery.
It was nearly midnight when Andrew reached there. As Joe acquainted Andrew with his wife’s
condition, Andrew forgot his own affairs. He went inside for his bag and immediately left for the
driller’s place.
Since, the expecting mother did not need his services immediately, he decided to wait downstairs. He re-
examined her after an hour. It was at 3.30 a.m. when the nurse called him. He struggled for an hour
before the child was born. Then he worked feverishly to revive the weak mother and still born child. He
had to use all his knowledge and experience in discharging his duty. He did not pay attention to his own
tensions. Duty stood first in front of him and he responded to it single-handedly.

Q9. Why was Andrew Manson torn between two desires? How did he resolve this dilemma?
Ans. Andrew was a medical practitioner in a small mining town. One night he was attending a woman
who was expecting her first child. After a long wait and an hour-long hard struggle of Andrew, the
woman gave birth to a still child. Andrew was in dilemma. When he gazed at the lifeless child, he
shivered with horror. Then he looked at the mother who was in a desperate state and needed immediate
attention. He was torn between his desire to attempt to bring the child back to life and his obligation
towards the mother. Soon the dilemma was resolved. Instinctively he gave the child to the nurse and
turned his attention to the mother who lay unconscious. She was almost pulseless. Her strength was
ebbing fast. Andrew knew that it was a race against time. He made frantic efforts to restore the flabby
woman. Instantly he smashed a glass ampoule and injected the medicine. After a few minutes her heart
strengthened. Andrew knew that she was now out of danger and he could safely leave her.

Q10. Give a brief account of the efforts made by Andrew to revive the still born baby.
Ans. A shiver of horror passed over Andrew as he gazed the still form of the new born baby. Though it
was a perfectly formed boy, its limp warm body was white. The whiteness meant lack of oxygen.
Andrew only remembered the treatment given to such case in the Samaritan. He gave the child artificial
respiration before he had asked for cold and hot water. Then, he dipped the child alternately in cold and
hot water. Now, the child was quite slippery. He rubbed it with rough towel. Then, he pressed and
released the chest till it heaved up. Andrew doubled his efforts. The child started gasping. A bubble of
mucus came from one tiny nostril. The pale skin turned pink. The limbs were no longer boneless. Its
head did not lie back spinelessly. The child gave a cry. It was alive. His efforts were successful.

Q11. Compare and contrast Andrew’s emotional, mental and physical state at the beginning of the
story and at the end.
Ans. In the beginning of the story, Andrew is physically tired and emotionally upset. He has just
returned from a disappointing evening with Christine, the girl he loved. His thoughts are heavy and
muddled. What he has witnessed at Cardiff station filled his mind with sadness. Though he thought of
marriage a blissful state, he couldn’t help remembering the miserable failure of many marriages.
At the end of the story, he is physically exhausted but emotionally cheerful and mentally alert. His mind
is filled with joy and self-satisfaction. He has performed like a magician. He calls upon God as witness
that he has done something real at last. This sense of achievement helps him overcome physical fatigue.
He has the sense of duty which helps him attend to the patients whole heartedly.

Q12. What impression do you form of Andrew Manson on the basis of the story, ‘Birth’?
Ans. Andrew Manson is a young man who has recently qualified as a doctor and started his medical
practice as an assistant to Dr. Edward Page in the small Welsh mining town of Blaenelly. He is in love
with Christine and thinks of marriage as an idyllic state. He is filled with love. His steady mind and
reason help him see the marriages of many persons as dismal failures.
Andrew is mature enough to keep his private and professional lives apart. Once confronted with his
responsibility, he discharges his obligations to the utmost capacity. He is duty conscious. He believes in
practical approach and is not afraid to try unique methods. He has a tender heart too. He is aware of the
feeling of others. He knows how deeply Susan loved her upcoming baby. He has polite manners and re-
assuring tone. On the whole, Andrew is presented as a dedicated doctor.

Self-Attempt Questions
1. Who all were in the room other than Dr. Manson?
2. What for did Joe Morgan’s mother offer to make a cup of tea for Dr. Manson?
3. What sounds disrupted the silence of the night?
4. Why did Joe Morgan stop short at his own doorstep?
5. After reading the whole story, how do you explain the line, ‘He had no premonition that
this night call would prove unusual?’
6. Why did the doctor decide to stay there until everything was over, though he knew there
would be a period of waiting?