Short Story Analysis: Eli

           How can anyone be trusted in a world where doctors cause pain and police are corrupt? The short story Eli by Vincent Lam exemplifies how unethical decisions can have unpredictable outcomes. Set in a hospital, the story describes the relations between two police officers and a doctor after an injured prisoner, Eli, is brought in to be treated. The author focuses on imagery, conflict and irony to deliver the full impact of his message.

            Imagery is interspersed throughout the story to add a dramatic effect. A foul mood is established immediately as the doctor regards the room as “nauseating to breathe, with the closed-in smell of piss and sweet-sour human stench.” Also with strategic uses of imagery, Eli’s non-life threatening injuries are exaggerated to seem critical and repulsive. The injury is “a straight gash from the hairline to the top of the nose.” To add effect, the author adds that “the blood flowed hot, an anxious stream.” These simple uses of imagery are enough to make a reader’s stomach queasy.

            The story is made suspenseful through several variations of conflict. The most prominent conflict is between the two police officers and the doctor. It is first recognized when the doctor concludes that the police want to “play a modified version of the game.” As the encounter continues the police become increasingly irritable, complaining how “this sure is getting complicated.” Not only does the doctor conflict with the police, he also struggles with an inner conflict. He is aware that the officers most likely injured Eli themselves, and contemplates whether or not his own morals and ethics are in question through his actions. Furthermore, the story is based around Eli’s conflicts with both the police officers and the doctor. First Eli becomes a victim of police brutality, and later suffers abuse from the doctor as well. Eli asserts his rage towards the doctor by “lung[ing] quickly [while] officer 6982 jump[s] back.” The different conflicts within the story lead each character to erratic actions.

            The course of the story is also laced with irony; it is essentially the foundation of the story. The setting is a hospital, often denoted as a place of healing. However, in this context the hospital is the backdrop for abuse, deceit, and unethical actions. Also, within the hospital the “screaming, struggling, calm-down-or-we-tie-you-down room" is ironically named the quiet room. Similarly, doctors are supposed to be those who perform the healing, but instead while treating Eli, the doctor “dart[s] the [tongue depressor] further into his mouth, gagg[ing] him hard… and let him retch, grunting against [it].” Members of the police force and doctors are supposed to be honest and just, but this story takes the opportunity to display contrary personas. The use of imagery, conflict and irony enable the story to be extremely realistic. The short story is so realistic that one might begin to question just how much he can trust all of those around him.