infinity
of things to work for and to strive for; and that is the main
point.
In this spirit Dr. Stockmann sets to his task. After two years of careful investigation, he finds that the Baths are built on a swamp, full of poisonous germs, and that people who come there for their health will be infected with fever.
Thomas Stockmann is a conscientious physician. He loves his native town, but he loves his fellow-men more. He considers it his duty to communicate his discovery to the highest authority of the town, the Burgomaster, his brother Peter Stockmann.
Dr. Stockmann is indeed an idealist; else he would know
that the man is often lost in the official. Besides, Peter Stockmann is also the president of the board of directors
and one of the heaviest stockholders of the Baths. Sufficient
reason to upbraid his reckless medical brother as a dangerous
man:
Burgomaster. Anyhow, you've an ingrained
propensity for going your own way. And that in a well-ordered
community is almost as dangerous. The individual must submit himself
to the whole community, or, to speak more correctly, bow to the
authority that watches over the welfare of all.
But the Doctor is not disconcerted: Peter is an official; he is not concerned with ideals. But
