Doc Burton Timeline and Summary

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Doc Burton Timeline and Summary

  • Doc Burton appears at the orchard after Mac has summoned him to help with health and sanitation in the camp at Anderson's farm.
  • Doc takes a team and lays out the camp in the empty field. He basically needs to set things up so that the Health Department won't close them down.
  • In response to Mac's inquiry, Doc tells him that he helps with Party efforts because he likes to see things with his own eyes and draw his own conclusions.
  • Doc tells Mac that he has theories about how group psychology works, and about how "group-man" is totally different from a man on his own. Mac thinks he's nutters.
  • Doc tends to Jim when Jim returns from picketing with a gunshot wound. He tells Jim to chill for a couple of days.
  • Doc tells Mac that he's there helping out because he believes in mankind and feels compelled to help when it's in trouble or when it's ill. It's his purpose in life.
  • Doc shows compassion for Anderson because it's clear that the old man will lose everything. Mac, on the other hand, doesn't seem to care at all, since it's in service to the cause.
  • Doc tells Jim and Mac that old Dan is upset about missing out on Joy's funeral, but that Dan can't possibly be moved with his injury.
  • As the strike wears on, Doc becomes discontented. He tells Jim that the ugliness of the strike is making him lonely. It reminds him of how much men hate themselves.
  • After the fire in Anderson's barn, Mac realizes that Doc has gone missing, for real. The guys presume that he has been kidnapped or killed by the Growers' thugs.