Explaining a Character's Motivation
             Out of all the options that were given to me, being a) Dr. Ranks leaving his card with the black cross on it, b) Mrs. Linde's proposal to Krogstad, or c) Krogstad's second letter to Helmer, I choose the first. I picked this scenario because it was, to me, the more difficult of the three to give a really good explanation for.
             I recall that to me Dr. Rank was always a mysterious character. He really wasn't what I could call a main character, yet he wasn't a minor character. He appeared in the play regularly but yet always seemed to stay in the background, except for when he told Nora of his love for her.
             I think that not only did his action of leaving the card in the mail as a way of silently telling his close friends the news of his soon death resemble a sense of respect for the emotions of his close friends but it also may be a symbol. I think that it could symbolism the way that Christ died. Silently, no complaining, and none of his close friends around. Now I'm not saying that Rank is a picture of Christ, but I think that with the silence of the news, and the black cross, it could be a possibility that the playwright took that idea for the crucifixion.
             The motivation of Rank is simple. He said it him self. In act two he said "Helmer with his sensitivity has such a sharp distaste for anything ugly. I don't want him near my sickroom." Due to the fact that Dr. Rank respected Helmer's sensitivity to death he didn't want him to be there and become sick due to his close friend, brother like, during his death.
             I think that Dr. Rank, even though I can't remember reading this, was a very very sensitive man. I think that in doing this he showed his respect. He cared about his friends and didn't want his misfortunes to over shadow anything positive that may be happening in their lives. He didn't want Helmer an...