Dr Anne Edwards

Anne Edwards is a medical doctor, and as such was required to take the Hippocratic Oath upon completion of her education. Halfway through the oath is this passage:

"Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God."
(http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=20909)

I think Anne is immensely aware of her own frailty; her own sense of insecurity in the 'grand scheme' of Earth or Rakhat is seen when she asks Emilio, 'Why does God get all the credit and none of the blame?' (Russell 198). I think if there was a democratically elected position for God, Anne would be on the ballot. She hates politics, but she'd be a great President-- she's so level-headed and practical, I'm certain she could have ruled the world.

She is the token doubting Thomas of the group, always thinking of things rationally and bringing up the important questions when it comes to faith. I think that without her, there would have been an atheist-shaped hole in the story, and all of Emilio and D.W.'s beliefs would have been less believable. I also think that Anne feels guilty about not believing in God. If she did believe, I think she'd feel more involved in some of the things Emilio and D.W. did. And if she believed in God, how would that have changed her reaction to Alan Pace's death? Since Anne is an atheist, she had no one to blame for Alan's inexplicable death, so she blamed herself. If she'd been a believer, it may not have been any easier to cope with, but I think she would have fallen into the same emotional quagmire as Emilio-- if God loves us and wants us to be happy, why would he allow such suffering to occur? Not just with Alan, but for them all.

By Meaghan Duncan