The Adventures of Roderick Random

The Surgeon’s Refusal

When informed of Rattlin’s condition, Mackshane refuses to visit the patient on deck, instead ordering the boatswain to have men carry the injured sailor to the cockpit while he directs Thompson to prepare dressings. The boatswain refuses to spare a man from deck, anticipating the mast may soon go overboard. Despite these difficulties, the narrator and Morgan manage to get Rattlin to the lower deck, where Mackshane eventually ventures to examine him. Accompanied by Thompson carrying dressings and his own servant with surgical instruments, the doctor examines the fracture. Observing a livid color extending up the limb, he concludes mortification will ensue and resolves to amputate the leg immediately.

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.