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Tom Willard
A doctor who claims that he no longer wants patients. Parcival has a disheveled, off-putting appearance and lives in a tiny, filthy room above a local diner. He seeks out George Willard and tells him the long (and likely embellished) story of his life. Parcival tells George about his difficult upbringing and chaotic family life, even insinuating that he may have had a criminal past. Before becoming a doctor, he worked as a newspaper reporter and trained to be a minister. The older man hopes to inspire George not to make the same foolish mistakes he did. Parcival’s dark past has left him with a resentful, self-victimized attitude to the point that he refuses to help the other doctors in town when a little girl is killed in a buggy accident.
Doctor Parcival Quotes in Winesburg, Ohio
The Winesburg, Ohio quotes below are all either spoken by Doctor Parcival or refer to Doctor Parcival. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
5. The Philosopher
Quotes
“If something happens perhaps you will be able to write the book that I may never get written. The idea is very simple, so simple that if you are not careful you will forget it. It is this—that everyone in the world is Christ and they are all crucified. That’s what I want to say. Don’t you forget that. Whatever happens, don’t you dare let yourself forget.”
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11. A Man of Ideas
Quotes
“Let’s take decay. Now what is decay? It’s fire. It burns up wood and other things…This sidewalk here and this feed store, the trees down the street there—they’re all on fire. They’re burning up. Decay you see is always going on…The world is on fire. Start your pieces in the paper that way. Just say in big letters ‘The World is On Fire.’ That will make ‘em look up.”
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Doctor Parcival Quotes in Winesburg, Ohio
The Winesburg, Ohio quotes below are all either spoken by Doctor Parcival or refer to Doctor Parcival. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
5. The Philosopher
Quotes
“If something happens perhaps you will be able to write the book that I may never get written. The idea is very simple, so simple that if you are not careful you will forget it. It is this—that everyone in the world is Christ and they are all crucified. That’s what I want to say. Don’t you forget that. Whatever happens, don’t you dare let yourself forget.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
11. A Man of Ideas
Quotes
“Let’s take decay. Now what is decay? It’s fire. It burns up wood and other things…This sidewalk here and this feed store, the trees down the street there—they’re all on fire. They’re burning up. Decay you see is always going on…The world is on fire. Start your pieces in the paper that way. Just say in big letters ‘The World is On Fire.’ That will make ‘em look up.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
