Last Assignment

[Julie Tvrdik]

While reading "Cutting for Stone" I developed different ideas of what the title meant. One idea is a reference to the brothers, Marian and Shiva, wanting to be excellent doctors like their vanished father, Dr. Thomas Stone. Even though Hema would never talk of Dr. Stone to the boys, Ghost spoke highly of him instilling in the boys a sense of pride for their father's work. Another idea is Shiva Stone donated part of his liver to Marian Stone therefore, "Cutting for Stone."

 

Cutting for Stone also correlates with the Hippocratic Oath which is from Ancient Greek medical texts. It states, "I will not cut for stone, even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art." This means you should not be performing anything you are not trained in. For example, Thomas Stone failed miserably because he did not complete a cesarean section on Sister Mary Joseph Praise, because he was not a trained gynecologist hence proving he lived by the Hippocratic Oath and "Not cut for stone."