Tracy Kidder is very truthful and forthcoming in his attempt to document the work of Paul Farmer. There is no need for him to gloss over the man's character in any way, because the truth speaks loudly enough. He does attempt to show Farmer both symbolically and metaphorically at times as a way to explain what you can't really know without knowing the man personally. He brings us instead a word picture of greatness in the making.

RISING ACTION

The rising action begins when Tracy Kidder meets Paul Farmer while he embedded with American troops in Haiti in 1994 and ends with his final realization that Paul Farmer is a man who has spent his life trying to win over the long defeat.

FALLING ACTION

The reader learns at the end that Farmer is ultimately a clinician who very much loves working with and changing the lives of his individual patients. We see this in his eleven hour trek over the hills of Haiti to see the home life of a child he cured of scrofula. It's more than the curative antibiotics for him. It's all about knowing how his patient lives and preventing further illness. We also see in the falling action the outcomes of several of Farmer's goals presented in an Afterward.

POINT OF VIEW

The point of view is first person, told from Kidder's viewpoint. This allows the reader to personally experience how Kidder himself learns and grows from his experiences with Farmer at the same time documenting the life work of a great man.

OTHER ELEMENTS

FORESHADOWING

There are several literary devices that pop up at various times in the story. One of the most prevalent ones is foreshadowing which frequently presents clues of something that will happen later in the novel. Some examples of foreshadowing include:

1. Farmer and an American sergeant have a somewhat circuitous conversation with Farmer expressing his concern that the American government's plans for fixing Haiti would aid business interests but do nothing to relieve the suffering of the poor. This foreshadows that Farmer's life work is fighting for the poor.

2. The entire opening chapter is foreshadowing the kind of man Kidder is going to tell the reader about - Dr. Paul Farmer, a true humanitarian.

3. After his study of Virchow, Farmer came to have a moral understanding of public health. This foreshadowed where his life would lead him.

4. Ophelia knew Farmer's aims were clear: he had come here to do ethnology - learning about a culture, not though books and artifacts, but from the people who had inherited and were making culture. He was going to specialize in medical ethnology to learn everything he could about morbidity and mortality in the most disease-ridden country in the hemisphere. This foreshadows the remainder of the book for the reader.

5. After someone complains to the authorities of Peru that Farmer claimed that the Peruvian TB program was killing patients, Farmer, at least, feels his protest had been lodged and the higher authorities have noticed. This foreshadows his willingness to take on the highest authorities to protect the poor.

6. The mother of a boy Farmer cures of TB in Peru approaches him and says in Spanish, I want to say many thanks. Then, Farmer, with great humility, replies in Spanish as well, For me, it is a privilege. This foreshadows what Kidder learns about Famer: none of what he does is about him, but rather the people he serves.