Call Us What We Carry Chapter 40: Letter from a Nurse
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The poem “Letter from a Nurse” is Gorman’s adaptation of an actual letter written by an unnamed nurse on October 17, 1918, during the 1918 influenza pandemic. The letter is addressed to a friend at the Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, a school operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The nurse opens with the blunt acknowledgment that “everybody has to die,” then describes a sense of luck and relief that she and her colleagues are still alive despite constant exposure. She notes that they were present in the crisis and chose to stay, even as they left behind unnamed domestic comforts.
The nurse conveys the shock of the first death they witnessed and the strange horror of sunrise after a night of loss. Nevertheless, they answer the call each day, waiting for work. Physical contact is reduced to a hand grip that feels like a last act. She reflects on how much remains unsaid and doubts they will ever return to a “normal” year. She recalls the widespread closures of schools, churches, theaters, and dance halls—mirroring the public health measures of 1918. A bill in the Senate offers a glimmer of hope, and she punctuates that with a dark laugh. The letter ends with an urgent, fragmented plea to write back, to be, to do—to continue communication—before the address and date are revealed.
Key Events
- The nurse states that everyone must die, but she and her colleagues consider themselves lucky to have survived so far.
- She describes being present in the thick of the emergency and deciding to stay, leaving behind unnamed aspects of home.
- The first death disorients the team, and sunrise becomes a symbol of horror rather than renewal.
- She recounts the daily routine of being called to duty and waiting, and the visceral act of a patient squeezing a hand.
- She laments that there is too much to say, and the group may never get through a full normal year.
- She lists the closures of schools, churches, theaters, and dance halls—all shut during the 1918 pandemic.
- A bill in the Senate provides a small reason for hope, which the nurse greets with a cynical laugh.
- The letter ends with a desperate series of commands: to write, to be, to do, interrupted by a dash.
- A footnote reveals the letter was sent to a friend at Haskell Indian Nations University on October 17, 1918, via the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Character Development
The Nurse: The speaker is a composite figure drawn from historical record. She exhibits exhaustion, dark humor, and a steadfast sense of duty. Her voice shifts from blunt fatalism (“everybody has to die”) to vulnerable admission (“the first that died sure unnerved us”) and then to a weary, almost playful resilience (“Ha! Ha!”). She is defined by her commitment to staying even when it is harrowing, and by her desperate need for connection, expressed in the repeated “Write.”
The Friend (Haskell Indian Nations University recipient): Though not described directly, the friend is the implied silent listener. The act of writing and the request for a reply suggest a bond of trust and mutual reliance. The specific institutional setting—a Native American boarding school—carries historical weight and implies that both nurse and friend are situated within systems of power and care.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Mortality and Luck: The nurse opens with death as an inevitability, yet frames survival as luck. This tension between acceptance and gratitude runs throughout.
- The Horror of Dawn: Sunrise, normally a symbol of hope, becomes “such a horrible thing,” reflecting how the pandemic inverts ordinary comforts.
- Closure as Loss: The list of closed venues—schools, churches, theaters, dance halls—evokes the erasure of communal life. The nurse’s clipped, matter-of-fact tone emphasizes collective grief.
- The Bill in the Senate: Represents distant, bureaucratic hope. The nurse’s laugh (“Ha! Ha!”) suggests skepticism or relief, but not certainty.
- Writing as Lifeline: The final imperative “Write / Write” transforms the letter itself into an act of survival. The interrupted last line (“To—”) implies unfinished business and the need for ongoing correspondence.
- Indigenous History: The footnote anchoring the letter to Haskell Institute, a Native American boarding school, introduces a specific layer of American history. The nurse’s voice speaks from within a system that both institutionalized Indigenous youth and relied on them during crisis.
Why This Chapter Matters
“Letter from a Nurse” bridges the 1918 influenza pandemic and the COVID-19 era, showing that frontline workers face similar emotional landscapes across a century. Gorman’s choice to adapt an actual letter from a nurse at a Native American boarding school recovers a marginalized voice. The poem challenges readers to see the pandemic not as an isolated event but as part of a recurring cycle of crisis and resilience. It also highlights how public health emergencies expose and exacerbate existing inequalities—here, the status of Indigenous communities. The fragmented, breathless style of the letter captures the disorientation of living through emergency, while the nurse’s gallows humor and raw hope remind us that care is both a profession and an act of love.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does the nurse describe sunrise as “such a horrible thing”?
The nurse has likely spent the night tending to the dying or the dead. Dawn brings no relief, only the reality of another day of loss. The inversion of a conventional symbol—sunrise as horror—underscores how the pandemic has reordered the nurse’s perception of time and hope.
2. What is the significance of the line “There is a bill in the Senate”?
The brief mention of legislation suggests that the nurse is aware of political efforts to address the crisis or its aftermath—possibly a bill related to funding, public health, or Native American affairs. The nurse’s tempered hope (“We can’t help but hope.”) and the laugh that follows indicate skepticism about whether such measures will bring real change. It roots the personal trauma in a national political context.
3. Why does the poem end with the footnote about Haskell Indian Nations University and the Bureau of Indian Affairs?
The footnote grounds the poem in a specific historical document and institutional setting, reminding readers that the letter was written from within the U.S. government’s Indian boarding school system. This context complicates the nurse’s voice: she is both a caregiver and a representative of a colonial institution. It also connects the 1918 pandemic to the ongoing story of Indigenous resilience and survival in America.