from McTeague

Question

So he... had opened his "Dental Parlors" on Polk Street, an "accommodation street" of small shops in the residence quarter of the town. Here he had slowly collected a clientèle of butcher boys, shop girls, drug clerks, and car conductors. He made but few acquaintances. Polk Street called him the "Doctor" and spoke of his enormous strength. For McTeague was a young giant, carrying his huge shock of blond hair six feet three inches from the ground; moving his immense limbs, heavy with ropes of muscle, slowly, ponderously. His hands were enormous, red, and covered with a fell of stiff yellow hair, they were hard as wooden mallets, strong as vises, the hands of the old-time car-boy. Often he dispensed with forceps and extracted a refractory tooth with his thumb and finger. His head was square-cut, angular; the jaw salient, like that of the carnivora.

McTeague's mind was as his body, heavy, slow to act, sluggish, yet there was nothing vicious about the man. Altogether he suggested the draught horse, immensely strong, stupid, docile, obedient.

When he opened his "Dental Parlors," he felt that his life was a success, that he could hope for nothing better.

What does this passage most strongly suggest about the field of dentistry in McTeague's time?

1. Dentistry was a manageable livelihood.

2. Dentistry required minimal care and precision.

3. Dentistry was an unpopular form of employment.

4. Dentistry required independence and resourcefulness.

Answer 1

The passage most strongly suggests that:

2. Dentistry required minimal care and precision.

This interpretation is supported by McTeague's physical description and approach to his work. His reliance on brute strength and the fact that he often dispensed with forceps to extract teeth using just his thumb and finger imply a lack of reliance on refined techniques or precision tools typically expected in modern dentistry. The description of his strong, almost clumsy nature aligns with a dental practice that may not prioritize the delicate care and precision that is more common in contemporary dental procedures.