The Beauty in Breaking

Harper summarizes her brief foray into the online dating scene, which she describes as being “jury-rigged by any virtual algorithm, no matter how inventive Silicon Valley considers its calculations” (73). After going on several dates, Harper was left feeling that this method of meeting someone might not ultimately prove effective for her.

She then pivots to the story of patient Erik Samuels, whose notes indicated a history of violent behavior. Harper clicked on the details and read that Erik grabbed a doctor’s breast while she was performing an incision on him. Harper took a deep breath, mentally preparing to treat him, and got to work. She provides an inside glimpse into her thoughts: “While he certainly deserved to pay for his past violent behavior, it wasn’t for me to decide when or how” (90).

As she examined Erik for a painful swelling extending from his groin to his scrotum, Harper realized that this was a surgical emergency. No matter how loathsome a person he may be, in that moment he was a patient, a human needing pain relief. Ironically, all three doctors that treated Erik were women. Harper writes, “Fate had delivered this man into the care of three female doctors that evening, each of whom had calmly gazed at his excruciatingly swollen genitals.