Violence In Walter Van Tillbury Clark's The Portable Phonograph

Oftentimes, man faces conflict and attempts to solve it with brutality; however, when the line of violence is crossed, a greater dispute is often formed. The idea of the effects of violence is illustrated in Walter Van Tillbury Clark’s “The Portable Phonograph”. Dr. Jenkins’ achievements become worthless if he resorts to savagery to solve conflict; the effects of evil outweigh the effects of good. Education and brilliance becomes corrupt when used for evil. In Dr. Jenkins’ case, he “[is] like a prehistoric priest” (128) as he performs the ritualistic process of wrapping and unwrapping the literature: he is revered, exemplified by the other men--brilliance is required to be called “doctor”. Dr. Jenkins is a man of education however he abuses

Jenkins’ literature and music; nevertheless, such beauty is reduced to mere materialistic desires when fought over. Literature possesses “the soul of what is good in [mankind]” (128) and the doctor treats the art as mere possessions. Hypocrisy is revealed when Dr. Jenkins believes the next generation will use the literature and music to “not fall behind when they become clever” (128); however, Dr. Jenkins falls behind when he treats the art with greed. Healing the scars of evil requires more effort than tarnishing an image of good. The nuclear war that occurs prior to the beginning of the story left “scars of gigantic bombs” (127) that are “already made a little natural by rain, seed, and time.” (127) The nuclear war is a macrocosm of the conflict that occurs between De. Jenkins and the three other men. The scars of the bombs are akin to the inferred war between the characters. If Dr. Jenkins proceeds to fight the me for the possession of the phonograph, there will be scars that may take years to heal--if healable at all. Dr. Jenkins becomes a man of evil when he becomes consumed with greed thus corrupting his pure intelligence--his potential