Mountains Beyond Mountains
The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a man who would cure the world
By Tracy Kidder
Character Analysis
The book, Mountains Beyond Mountains is a biography about Dr. Paul Farmer. Farmer is an extremely intelligent man who spent a large portion of his life as a volunteer and doctor. Farmer is described to be "…delicate looking. He had short, black hair and a high waist and long and thin arms, and his nose came almost to a point…. He looked skinny and pale, and for all of that he struck me as bold, indeed downright cocky." Farmer made it his life goal to do something about the terrible conditions and sicknesses in Haiti. Farmer also co-founded Parters in Health which is an organization that provides health care for the less fortunate.
Farmer was a very well liked person. He was admired greatly by his peers and patients alike. "Farmer was very popular in school, especially among the girls. The reason was simple, his mother said. "He listened to them."" (55) When he went to college, nothing had changed. "Old college friends describe a boy who made friers easily, legions of them, at least as many female as male". (59) Farmer's patients in Haiti adored him and were very grateful for the things he had done for them. A young man enters his office and says, "Doktè Paul? I came here and was sick. Now I'm much better. So I would like a picture taken." (26)
Paul Farmer was also a brilliant student and person in general. "He was president of his senior class and went to Duke on a full scholarship." (55) He did very well in college and "after his first semester, Farmer started getting A's." (59) When Farmer left Duke, he graduated summa cum laude, and continued on to Harvard medical school when he was only twenty four years old. All throughout medical school, he would travel back and fourth to Haiti doing volunteer work and helping patients.
Dr. Farmer was an extremely selfless person and did whatever it took to help others. Even though Farmer was rich by no means, he knew that he was much more fortunate than others. He would never put himself first, even if that meant signing his check over to an AIDS patient that was about to be evicted from his home. (95)
Paul Farmer had to be very determined and driven to accomplish the huge goals he had set for himself. The major conflicts shown in this novel are Farmer trying to achieve his goals. With this, he became very hard on himself when something didn't happen how he had planned. As a child, Paul's father, "the Warden" pushed his children to be the best versions of themselves that they could be. Paul was not very athletic, but "craved his father's approval" so he tried to excel, so his father would be proud of him. "In high school, he went out for tennis and track, and would push himself so hard in the races that he'd throw up at the finish lines." (56) Later in life, Paul categorized all unnecessary deaths, as "stupid deaths" and did his best to lower the extremely high number of them. Paul Farmer's sense of determination helped him countless times throughout his life.
Development
Theme: The theme in this book is very important and goes hand and hand with a major character trait of Farmer's. The theme of this novel is determination and believing in yourself. Paul Farmer went through many struggles throughout his life and always managed to have a positive attitude and come out on top. He was always very proactive in setting goals and achieving them, instead of just saying he was going to do things and putting them off. For example, when he was young, he pushed his body to the limit while playing sports to impress his father. Little did he know though, his father was already extremely proud of him. "He wanted to show his father he was an athlete, and his father would be so proud of him now." (56) When "he didn't get straight A's his first semester at college," (55) he worked incredibly hard to achieve his good grades and eventually it came naturally to him. Later on in his life, when overcoming larger challenges, he would do anything in his power to help someone or make something happen. When he couldn't buy the tools and equipment that he needed in Haiti, he managed to "find" one anyway. "The first microscope in Cange was a real one, which he stole form Harvard Medical School." (90) Farmer was so passionate about his cause that he did something that could get him in trouble because he believed in himself. Ophelia Dahl, a co-worker and a woman that Farmer almost married, said about him, "He was so sure about some things.The frustrating thing is that he was usually right." (97) This showed that Farmer always knew what he wanted to do in his life and what was coming next for him.