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Why does the narrator feel that he would be an interesting medical case in "Three Men in a Boat"?

This reference appears in the opening pages of “Three Men in a Boat.” The narrator recalls a time when he went to the British Museum to discover a treatment for hay fever. He searched through a medical book for the answer, and then began to turn pages at random to read up on other ailments. To his horror he found that he had the symptoms of almost every disease or malady that was listed. At first he thought this status would make him a perfect example for medical study, since he suffered from everything.



“What an acquisition I should be to a class! Students would have no need to ‘walk the hospitals,’ if they had me. I was a hospital in myself.”



Then he began to worry about himself and his real health. Savvy readers should realize that the narrator is prone to exaggeration and tends to react disproportionately to many situations. He is setting the tone for the rest of the action in the book.

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