Temperance

Dr. Stockmann faces a series of dilemmas in the play An Enemy of the People. He discovers that the tannery is polluting the baths on which the townspeople have built their hopes. There is little equivocation on his part as to whether or not reveal this, demonstrating that he has little sense of dilemma with respect to this truth. The relevant authorities and indeed the townspeople as a whole disagree with his assessment, since the revelation makes the townspeople the losers instead of what would end up being hapless tourists.

Stockmann's dilemma then shifts towards going along with the will of the masses or facing ostracism. He ultimately chooses the latter, becoming something of a martyr to this cause. Temperance in this situation would have been to back down in the face of the town's resistance to his revelation and proposed solution. Dr. Stockmann, however, finds that he has already chosen the path of temperance only to see it fail. In the face of this failure, he can no longer remain civil about the matter.

The play ends with Dr. Stockmann's statement that "the strongest man in the world is he who stands alone." This clearly illustrates that while there is a time and place for temperance, there is also a time when such concerns must be set aside. In this situation, the townspeople are perfectly willing to sacrifice the health of guests at their baths in order to continue to receive income. Dr. Stockmann will suffer from his proposal as well, which should be apparent to the townspeople. When compared with the situation with Mrs. Kearney in the Dubliners, a clear difference is made with respect to the time and place for temperance. Dr. Stockmann loses his sense of temperance because the suffering will be on others when he feels that the townspeople should be the ones to bear the brunt of the situation they created. He is thus portrayed as righteous; Mrs. Kearney is treated with less sympathy because her lack of temperance is strictly for her own gain, as even her daughter loses. Juxtaposed, these stories illustrate that the rules of temperance can be changeable, a sentiment that Dr. Stockmann himself expresses with regard to rules. Blind adherence to a set of rules will ultimately lead to failure -- each situation must be addressed in accordance with its unique circumstances.