This Is How It Always Is: Part III: Bonesetters Summary & Analysis

Plenty of “unforeseen things” are bothering Rosie, too. She is told that Claude is doing great at the school, but she can’t see this, so she worries about it. She asks Claude if he hates it in Thailand, and he says he hates it everywhere. She asks if he wants to go home, but he, surprisingly, says no. They can’t go home, Claude says, and this, to Rosie, is also “unforeseen.” Luckily, dealing with the unforeseen is one of Rosie’s specialties. She can make amazing dinners with few ingredients, and she can doctor with hardly any supplies.

Rosie makes an inhaler out of a plastic bottle, and she prescribes drugs in ways that she never even considered before. It is two weeks before Rosie’s first broken bone, which is surprising, since broken bones are common everywhere. The patient is pregnant, and she fell off a water buffalo, breaking her ankle. Rosie looks to K, who is also her nurse, as well as her social worker, physical therapist, and the clinic’s security officer. Rosie asks if they have access to X-ray, but K says no. Before long, K moves on to the next patient, leaving Rosie alone with the woman and her husband, neither of whom speak English.

Broken bones have been dealt with for centuries, Rosie knows, but she also knows that blacksmiths and barbers often set broken bones throughout history because there is little anyone can do without technology. Since doctors couldn’t do much, they considered broken bones beneath them, passing the work to other services. Rosie also knows that the people in Thailand are great at substituting what they don’t even know they are missing. They use honey like antibiotic ointment, and they kill intestinal worms with dried papaya seeds. Rosie is good at making something from nothing and dealing with the unforeseen, so she is up for the challenge. 

Rosie also knows that helping Claude is way beyond honey or papaya seeds. But there must be some choice other than surgery and side effects or a life full of misery and alienation. Rosie must find way to help Claude and Poppy find their place in the world, and while she doesn’t yet know what that is, she is getting a lot of practice dealing with the unforeseen.