Why do you think Dr. Norton was willing to treat Weybridge? Do you think his motivation was from self-interest or was there more to it?
I think that Dr. Norton treated Weybridge out of self-interest only. His personal losses during the war probably left him bitter and sullen.
I think that Dr. Norton was willing to treat Weybridge only for personally selfish reasons. His alcohol addiction was his only motivator.
I’d like to think that as a physician, he was inclined to help even under the circumstances. The bribe probably didn’t hurt, either.
Norton was motivated by the benefits that came with helping Libby care for Weybridge.
Greed. He wanted access to alcohol for his addiction and medications for his practice.
While he may have primarily helped out of self-interest, I agree with @kim.kovacs that there was a part of him as a physician (even if it was just a small part) that made him inclined to help.
No doubt that Dr. Norton benefitted from the medical supplies that he received in exchange for taking care of Weybridge. He also was not happy about the Civil War because he lost two sons to combat.
I believe it was a combination of both, he was war weary from losing his son, not having the resources to properly treat his patients and the areas soldiers and was self medicating with alcohol, he is also a physician so had taken an oath to do no harm and felt obligated to help a fellow human. People are complicated and can do perplexing things at the same time like defending slavery yet helping a known enemy because they are suffering.
I think Dr. Norton was motivated by both self-interest and his commitment to his profession. He was bitter about the war, having lost 2 sons in battle, and hated the Yankees who were close to defeating the Confederacy. I suspect that he became an alcoholic to cope with this profound grief and anger, but at heart he was still a dedicated physician. He let Jonathan know his feelings about him, the war, and the North, but he could not bear to walk away from a patient who needed his expertise. So, in exchange for medicine to help other patients and alcohol to numb his feelings, he treated Jonathan. Reluctantly, to a degree, but he did the right thing. And kept the secret.
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I felt he was purely motivated by alcohol.
I think that he did hold to the physician’s/Hippocratic oath. Although he was bitter over the loss of 2 sons to the war. However, I also think the incentive of opium and alcohol was a stronger factor in his decision to help Weybridge.
I originally thought that he was only motivated by selfish reasons - primarily the alcohol. After reading the other responses I still believe his motives were primarily selfish, but perhaps there was a little holding to his oath.
I think although he seems to be a bit of a sketchy doc, there is still the oath he took to become a physician. I’m sure he also knew he could get the liquor he so desired.
I would always like to think that a doctors motivation is for the reverence of life, but in this case, I am quite sure that alcohol was the biggest motivator in his cooperation to treat Weybridge.
I go back and forth on this issue. I think the doctor was primarily motivated to help for selfish reasons-the bribery of alcohol and medical supplies. And if the bribes were withheld or totally stopped, I have no doubt that Dr. Norton would stop treatment. Yet there were a few times during his treatment of the Union officer, his observance to the medical oath and preservation of life seemed to take precedence.
Wholeheartedly agree. I was actually surprised that he “managed” to keep the secret.
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