concept
Castor oil as folk remedy
Castor oil remedy
also: касторка, castor oil
The default purgative of Russian folk and popular medicine in the period, prescribed here reflexively by nearly every visiting character regardless of the actual nature of Shchiptsov's fatal illness.
Reading notes
- An Actor's Doom §30 касторки
Castor oil was the default folk-and-popular-medicine purgative of the era, reached for by nearly every character in the story as reflexive first aid regardless of the actual ailment — a running joke about the uselessness of the amateur remedies offered to Shchiptsov.
- Grisha §32 a spoonful of castor oil
Касторка (castor oil) was the reflexive folk remedy of the period for almost any childhood digestive complaint; Grisha's mother reaches for it as soon as she decides his fever must be from overeating, missing entirely that his agitation is emotional -- the overwhelming sensory flood of his first walk beyond the nursery -- rather than physical.