Dr Fisher of Geneva or the Bomb Party

By Graham Greene
Chapters 14-15

Answer the following questions

Chapter 14
1. Explain the following sentence: ‘It was not the
hay fever season so that I could expect no
tears…’ (97)
2. Why is Anna-Luise buried in Saint-Martin’s
cemetery? (97)
3. How does Dr Fischer intrude once again on the
narrator’s privacy?
4. What effect has the call on him? (100)

Chapter 15

5. Death is suggested many times on pages 102-103. Give examples.

6. What does Dr Fischer mean when he mentions the garbage man? (104)
7. Why is Dr Fischer’s reasoning faulty?
8. Why does Dr Fischer despise the Toads? (105)
9. What is it Dr Fischer can’t forgive his wife? (107)
10.Does the narrator agree that « They (= people) don’t die for love except in
novels »? (107)
11.Why does the narrator surprise Dr Fischer? What does it show?
12.On page 108, Dr Fischer tells the narrator: « They (= the Toads) have to
explain you away (= justify). » Why? Give an example.
13.When Dr Fischer mentions his next party, we don’t know what he wants
and expects (109-110). But the biblical allusion made by the narrator can
give us a clue. Which one?
14.How do you interpret the narrator’s dream? (110)
15.What decision does the narrator make at the end of the chapter?
 Dr Fisher of Geneva or the Bomb Party
By Graham Greene
Chapters 14-15

Suggested answers

Answer the following questions

Chapter 14
1. Explain the following sentence: ‘It was not the hay fever season so that I
could expect no tears…’ (97)
This is a reference to Anna-Luise’s mother’s funeral: when talking
about whether Dr Fischer cried at his wife’s funeral, Anna Louise
said that if he did, it was because he was suffering from hay fever,
and not because he was affected emotionally (page 75). Here the
narrator is being cynical, saying that he doesn’t expect Dr Fischer to
be crying for his dead daughter.
2. Why is Anna-Luise buried in Saint-Martin’s cemetery? (97)
It is an Anglican cemetery, which seems the most appropriate to the
narrator as he doesn’t really know anything about Anna-Luise’s
faith. The Anglican religion therefore seems to him to be the best as it
is, according to him, a composite of the Catholic and the Protestant
religions.
3. How does Dr Fischer intrude once again on the narrator’s privacy?
The narrator is back in his flat, alone with his grief and memories of
his happy time with Anna-Luise; he is contemplating committing
suicide when the telephone rings, thus invading his privacy: it is Mrs
Montgomery calling on Dr Fischer’s behalf.
4. What effect has the call on him? (100)
It makes him act: he drinks the glass which is supposed to kill him.
However, it doesn’t. Then, the narrator gets angry at Dr Fischer for
not going to his daughter’s funeral but contacting the narrator for
money matters (Anna-Luise’s trust from her mother). He calls Dr
Fischer ‘King Toad’ to show how despicable he believes the man is.
Finally, the drink makes him fall asleep.

Chapter 15

5. Death is suggested many times on pages 102-103. Give examples.

 The fact that Anna-Luise is dead colours everything the narrator
feels and sees:
 The glass is compared to an empty weapon (meaning that it
failed to kill him)
 The narrator almost has an accident en route Dr Fischer:
another way to die, although the narrator worries he might
have only been disabled, not killed if such an accident had
taken place
 The all-red sweater: the symbol of Anna-Luise’s death
 Dr Fischer’s house is likened to a ‘Pharaoh’s tomb’: the simile
suggests the dead spirit of the man living inside.
 Albert is wearing black, a sign of mourning
6. What does Dr Fischer mean when he mentions the garbage man? (104)
He suggests that, given time, Anna-Luise would have cheated on the
narrator in the same way his wife did with Steiner. Dr Fischer’s
description of her putative lover as a garbage man is meant to
humiliate the narrator in the same way Dr Fischer felt humiliated for
being cheated on by someone he believes was his social inferior
(Steiner).
7. Why is Dr Fischer’s reasoning faulty?
The narrator doesn’t care about social classes the way Dr Fischer
does, so that attempt at humiliation falls flat. It therefore shows that
Dr Fischer lives his life as if all human relations were based on some
kind of transaction (having to do with social standing and wealth) and
that he can’t, as a result, understand relations that are not based on
this, such as his wife and Steiner (shared love of music) or the
narrator and Anna-Luise (recognising oneself in the other).
8. Why does Dr Fischer despise the Toads? (105)
They have disappointed him by showing their weakness (ready to be
humiliated for more wealth), which makes them inferior to him and
therefore despicable.
9. What is it Dr Fischer can’t forgive his wife? (107)
He can’t forgive her for having preferred the company of another
man he believes is his social inferior. Once again, this shows Dr
Fischer’s outlook on life, where everything can be bought for the
right amount of money. Relations that escape this are insufferable to
him because he can’t control them.
10.Does the narrator agree that « They (= people) don’t die for love except in
novels »? (107)
He doesn’t, at first, as he has just tried to do so, but then wonders if
his suicide attempt may have had more to do with himself (not
wanting to be lonely and, therefore, a selfish reason) than with his
love for Anna-Luise.
11.Why does the narrator surprise Dr Fischer? What does it show?
He tells Dr Fischer that Anna-Luise and he didn’t spend any of her
trust money while she was alive. Dr Fischer, who still hasn’t quite
understood that the narrator has a very different set of values from
him, is surprised that he didn’t take advantage of that money. Again,
this shows the fundamental difference between the two men and their
relation to others: Dr Fischer only sees people as greedy paws in a
game he controls when the narrator believes that human relations are
based on our common humanity.
12.On page 108, Dr Fischer tells the narrator: « They (= the Toads) have to
explain you away (= justify). » Why? Give an example.
If the Toads can find a ‘technical’ explanation for the narrator not
eating the porridge (for instance, here, the Divisionnaire says that
Jones had an upset stomach and that’s the reason why he didn’t eat
it), then his refusal to eat cannot be attributed to a moral stance,
which would imply, as a consequence, that the Toads lack such moral
backbone. They need such a justification in order not to be ashamed
of their own behaviour during the party.
13.When Dr Fischer mentions his next party, we don’t know what he wants
and expects (109). But the biblical allusion made by the narrator can give
us a clue. Which one?
This will be the ultimate test of the total greed of the Toads; the use
here of the biblical image of the moment of the Eucharist during
Mass seems to suggest, as Dr Fischer is here cast in the role of a
warped/negative priest, God or Messiah, that he will himself perform
an ultimate sacrifice to show humanity the depth of its corruption.
14.How do you interpret the narrator’s dream? (110)
Dr Fischer is cast as a laughable but demonic God-like figure who
holds the future of humanity in his hands and who decides to end it
all.
15.What decision does the narrator make at the end of the chapter?
To find a way of killing himself after Dr Fischer’s last party; he is
thinking about trying starvation first, and, if it doesn’t work, using
the exhaust fumes of his car.