Enamy_of_the_People

Nechama Silberstein December 28, 2009 English Enemies of the People In the play “An Enemy of the People” Henrick Ibsen writes, “By the votes of everyone except a tipsy man, this meeting of citizen declares Dr. Thomas Stockmann to be an enemy of the people” (66). There is not only one enemy in this play. Each person in this play is more or less an enemy, whether it is be to them self, a group of people, or a specific individual. Each character has his or her input on the situation with the baths and the outcome is a combination of all of the decisions made by each character throughout the play. Dr. Thomas Stockmann is indeed an enemy, only to himself and his family. The doctor fails to realize how in this city “the majority has right on its side” (59). Although at first he has the support of the majority, very soon he realizes that the majority of the towns people withdrawal their support of the doctor’s theory. Also, Dr. Stockmann is an enemy to his brother Peter. In Peter’s eyes the Doctor is out to get him and take over as the head of the community, “It is painful for a man in an official position to have his nearest relative compromising himself time after time” (27). Peter is bothered by his brother Thomas Stockmann arguments against the heads of the community. Dr. Stockmann brings Peter’s fears to life by putting on Peter Stockmann’s hat and robe, which is disrespectful. Peter shows his discontentment at the Doctor because he poses a threat, even though the doctor clearly does not want Peters’ job. Another enemy in this play is Peter Stockmann; he is an enemy to his own brother, and the community. Peter thinks that he is always right and the doctor only has “ideas- yes! My brother has had plenty of ideas-unfortunately. But when it is a question of putting an idea into practical shape, you have to apply to a man of different mettle, Mr. Hovstad” (4). Peter is in power and has the money but still puts the doctor down showing everyone how he is incompetent. All the while Peter is depriving the people of the town a clean water supply and risking their health. The Peoples messenger, a newspaper used to inform the people of the community of all that is going on in the community and surround communities, is lead by two enemies of the people, Hovsted and Billings. Hovsted and Billings have a job to inform the people of the truths in the community although we find that they lie in order to appease those in the community when Hovstad tells Petra, Dr. Stockmann’s daughter, “but an editor cannot always act as he would prefer, He is often obliged to bow to the wishes of the public in unimportant matters…”(39). Showing that even the informants to the community lie in order to keep their jobs and there is no truth behind that which is printed. The worst enemies in this paly, are the people of the town themselves, the Dr. Shows this while saying, Lack of oxygen weakens the conscience. And there must a plentiful lack of oxygen y many houses in this town, I should think, judging from the fact that the whole compact majority can be unconscientious enough to wish to build the town prosperity on a quagmire of falsehood and deceit (63). The people of the town do not even realize that they are conformist rotting their own bodies to save money, which in turn sickens the visitors that come for healing. Each person contributes to a cause; every person in a community plays a part in the way the community is run. Dr. Stockmann’s community has issues due to the fact that, “all the sources of our moral life are poisoned and that the whole frabric of our civic community is founded on the pestiferous soil of falsehood” (56). The members of the community have no backbone to stick up fro themselves, they rather agree with the person of higher rank and more power. They are all enemies to each other and to themselves for not sticking up for what they know is right. Like the Doctor says to Hovstad, “You dared not do otherwise-isn’t that it'” (77). Showing that even Hovstad dares not stand against the crime being done to the Stockmanns’.