In his 1910 speech, Citizenship in a Republic, Theodore Roosevelt describes “the man in the area”. Antipodal to the man in the arena is the critic. The critic holds power and influence. He points out how the man fails. The critic speaks but does not act. His words are meaningless and non-essential. The man in the arena is passionate and courageous. In the arena he is an unrelenting advocate for his cause. The tasks this man takes on are challenging and he fails. Unlike the critic he can fail because he embodies all who do in this world. The man in the arena faces the might of suffering in this world and decides to act. The man in the arena is essential to this world. Although they may not both identify as men, all three Ward doctors embody the man in the arena. In the face of world pandemic the Ward doctors embrace their title of essential worker. They courageously take on this challenge, poised to conquer the virus haunting citizens globally.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt
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