# The Doctor — Short Fiction character guide

> The Doctor in Short Fiction by O. Henry.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the doctor

**First appearance:** 0000-lord-oakhurst-s-curse

## Snapshot

A physician whose brief appearances anchor the domestic crises and comic entanglements of O. Henry's city stories.

## Who they are

He moves through the margins of households where illness, exhaustion, and reconciliation are the daily currency, summoned when a husband looks pale or a wife dissolves in tears. His presence signals that ordinary life—its fevers, its recoveries—is the ground on which O. Henry's larger schemes play out. He matters because his diagnoses and visits quietly shape the choices characters make when they think no one is watching.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_professional_

The Doctor is a medical professional who interacts with the narrator in a caregiving or advisory capacity.

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_professional_

The Doctor is a medical professional who interacts with the narrator in a caregiving or advisory capacity.

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_professional_

The Doctor is a medical professional who interacts with the narrator in a caregiving or advisory capacity.

## In the story

### [In Mezzotint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/in-mezzotint)

The protagonist, a young, handsome, successful doctor who loses a patient and later finds his wife dead.

### [The Fourth in Salvador](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/the-fourth-in-salvador)

Mentioned as Sterrett, an American who participates in the celebration and later flees with the group.

### [At Arms with Morpheus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/at-arms-with-morpheus)

Doctor Gales, called in to treat Tom; prescribes caffeine and coffee, and supervises the treatment.

### [One Thousand Dollars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/one-thousand-dollars)

Not present in this chapter.

### [The Rathskeller and the Rose](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/the-rathskeller-and-the-rose)

Not present in this chapter.

### [A Ramble in Aphasia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/a-ramble-in-aphasia)

Doctor Volney, the narrator's friend and physician, who diagnoses the aphasia and helps bring him back to his identity.

### [The Making of a New Yorker](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/the-making-of-a-new-yorker)

Not present in this chapter.

### [An Adjustment of Nature](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/an-adjustment-of-nature)

Not present in this chapter.

### [The Last Leaf](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/the-last-leaf)

The physician attending Johnsy; explains her slim chances and the importance of her will to live.

### [The Day Resurgent](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/the-day-resurgent)

Corrigan, the cop, who explains Easter as an annual celebration peculiar to New York.

### [The Handbook of Hymen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/the-handbook-of-hymen)

Not present in this chapter.

### [Calloway's Code](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/calloway-s-code)

Not directly present; the story focuses on the Enterprise staff.

### [Proof of the Pudding](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/proof-of-the-pudding)

Not present in this chapter.

### [No Story](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/no-story)

Not present in this chapter.

### [A Poor Rule](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/a-poor-rule)

Not present in this chapter.

### [A Municipal Report](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/a-municipal-report)

A grave, gray-haired physician summoned by Uncle Caesar to attend to Miss Adair after her collapse.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/characters/the_doctor
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_41_se/characters