The Adventures of Roderick Random

Opposition to Amputation

The sentence to lose his leg fills Rattlin with dread. He protests, asking if there is no remedy, if he must be docked, and whether the surgeon cannot splice the limb instead. Morgan immediately opposes the amputation, respectfully suggesting to the surgeon that there is no occasion or necessity to smite off the poor man’s leg. Rattlin blesses the Welshman with heartfelt gratitude, wishing him fair winds and an ultimate anchorage in heaven. Incensed by Morgan’s open disagreement, Mackshane insists he need not give account of his practice to anyone and peremptorily orders the tourniquet applied. Rattlin starts up in protest, refusing to submit until he understands the reason, and appeals to the narrator for help in saving his precious limb, invoking the memory of Lieutenant Bowling who would never allow Jack Rattlin’s leg to be chopped off like old junk. The narrator, moved by this appeal and trusting his own judgment that the discoloration indicates mere inflammation from contusion rather than gangrene, declares his agreement with Morgan. Thompson, however, fearing the surgeon’s enmity or speaking from timidity, sides with Mackshane. The surgeon, determining to shield himself from blame while also revenging himself on those who contradicted him, asks if Morgan and the narrator will undertake to cure the leg at their own peril. Morgan refuses to guarantee an outcome belonging only to God, but agrees to treat the patient if Rattlin will submit to their direction. The narrator concurs, and Rattlin, overjoyed, swears nobody else shall touch him and takes responsibility for the outcome upon himself. Mackshane, anticipating their failure, departs and leaves them to manage the case as they see fit.

The Successful Cure

Morgan and the narrator proceed with the treatment: they saw off the protruding splinter, reduce the fracture, dress the wound, apply the eighteen-tailed bandage, and place the leg in a box secundum artem. Everything succeeds according to their expectations. They not only preserve the poor fellow’s leg but also render Dr. Mackshane contemptible among the ship’s company, all of whom had watched the course of this cure. The successful treatment is completed in six weeks.

CAPÍTULO XXIX.

The chapter recounts a series of hardships endured by the narrator and his shipmates Morgan and Thompson aboard a ship under the tyrannical rule of Captain Oakum and the vengeful Doctor Mackshane. The narrative follows their persecution, imprisonment, and the dire consequences that befall them during a voyage marked by conflict and despair.

The storm subsiding into a brisk gale

After the storm subsides, the ship enters warm latitudes where the weather becomes intolerable and the crew falls gravely ill. The oppressive heat and sickness create a dire atmosphere aboard the vessel, setting the stage for further conflicts and tensions among the crew.

The doctor’s malice and spying behind the canvas

Doctor Mackshane, motivated by malice toward the Welshman Morgan and the narrator, attempts to gather complaints against them by visiting the sick under pretense of concern. When this scheme fails due to the patients’ goodwill toward the two men, the doctor resorts to eavesdropping on their conversations by hiding behind the canvas surrounding their berth. The scheme is discovered when Morgan notices movement outside their hangings, and the narrator hurls a bone at the hidden listener, who tumbles away to his cabin. This retaliation marks the narrator for destruction in the doctor’s eyes.

Imprisonment as a spy on the poop

Approximately a week later, the narrator is taken prisoner while making his rounds among the sick and carried to the poop by the master-at-arms. He is loaded with irons and stapled to the deck on the absurd charge of being a spy and conspiring against the captain’s life. Despite the ridiculousness of this accusation, the narrator suffers extreme rigors for twelve days—exposed to scorching sun by day and unwholesome damps by night—without being brought to trial or examined regarding the charges. His papers are seized, and he learns from Thompson that Doctor Mackshane has informed against him, prompting his arrest.