Marrow of Tragedy Part 1

     In the first part of the reading, one of the most intriguing parts was the emphasis on the way that hospitals and women were viewed/used before the war. Humphrey's states that "the principal occupants of public hospitals were the poor" (53). Most people that faced some type of illness felt as if they would be better off in the comforts of their own home. The fact that doctors did not know that much more about healthcare than normal (educated) people made them much less valuable than they are today. Women were a big reason for this desire to stay in the home when feeling ill. Women were experienced in cleanliness, preparing meals and taking care of children. These tasks seem simple, but in this historical era they were not as easy to accomplish as they seem today. In the video interview with Humphrey's, the most interesting part was when she discussed how it never really occurred to men that the wounded men entering the hospital need to put on clean pajamas. She emphasizes that some of these details that seem so minor today were actually big deals in the 19th century.