Dr Thomas Stockman is a practicing

medical doctor, the medical officer of

the town baths, and the brother of the
mayor, who got him the job at the
baths. Stockmann is idealistic and
excitable. For much of his life he was
destitute and lived in the countryside;
now he is happy to be fairly prosperous
and living in a bustling town.There are
lots of good things you can say about
Dr. Stockmann, the protagonist of An
Enemy of the People. He's generous
with his neighbors, which we see
clearly at beginning of the play when
he welcomes a bunch of guests into his
home for roast beef and a hot toddy.
He also truly cares for his fellow man,
and deep down inside he wants
nothing more than to make the world a
better place. Most importantly the
Doctor is a man of principle, willing to
fight for what he believes in no matter
what the cost. His dedication is on
display throughout the play, as he is
steadily stripped of position in society,
his home, and his job for refusing to be
silent about the town's unhealthy,
contaminated Baths.

One of the successful methods of

characterization that Ibsen uses in an
enemy of the people is through
dialogue and characters own word in
describing the character traits of
others.
In page 9, we find Peter Stockmann
saying to his brother Dr. Stockmann:
“You have an ingrained tendency to
take things into your own hands, at
least, and, that is almost equally
undoubtedly inadmissible in a well
ordered community, the individual
ought undoubtedly to subordinate
himself or herself to the community-or
to be more accurate, to the authorities
who have the care of the community’s
welfare.” This brief outburst on peter
stockmann’s part gives us an explicit
picture of what dr. Stockmanns is;
individualistic. He most commonly
behaves with a marked independence,
almost in total disregard to the
community or the people in authority.
Dr.stockmann’s nature of being
individualistic is not just confined to his
past. He briskly moves on through the
play against much protests and strong
opposition to declare that the
strongest man in the world is the man
who stands most alone. It is at this
point in time when he has come to
terms with the traits that he
completely dissociates himself from
the well ordered society and this is
exactly what individualism is.
Idealism is a visionary outlook in life
aimed at achieving the most perfect
conditions. An idealistic person
therefore is one who holds a perfect
conception of the standards that
should be met.
Dr.stockman came up with the idea of
the baths and laid down the plans for
its construction. Alterations to these
plans were made by the authorities
and these fell below his standards.
During the construction, he
vehemently opposed these alterations
and even wrote to the council.
After his discovery Dr. stockmann
describes the baths as the gravest
possible danger to public healthy.
Asked what is proposition are, he
simply puts it. To see the matter put
right, naturally. This is a very high
standard which be achieved which he
stands on regardless of the financial or
technical implication. at one point,
given a compromise solution he asks
his brother –and do you oppose that I
will have anything to do with such a
piece of trickLater, in Act ll (pg 37) he
sees an ideal state where everybody
should share new ideas with other
citizens. The ideal is however not
always achieved.
We find that peter stockman together
with other leading men in the town
prevent him from sharing his ideas. To
them this could be a sign of ill nature
towards the town.
At the time climax of the play Dr.
Stockmann is addressing the public in
captain Horster’s hall, he talks of an
ideal society. In such a society it is the
freethinkers that will govern the
majority. He is therefore proposing a
revolution against the lie that the
majority has the monopoly of truth. Dr.
Thomas Stockmann, is a symbol of a
responsible doctor who believes in his
salient role to keep people posted on
the
dangers of the “polluted baths”.
Ignoring
the fact that the mayor of the city is his
brother, Dr. Stockmann never changes
his
ideas about the danger of the
“polluted
baths”.
A resolute person is one who stands
firm and steadfast to his or her views
and opinions. Such a person does not
waver or get saved from his/her stand.
Throughout the play several attempts
are made to make Dr. stockman
change his stand. For instance peter
stockmann, foreseeing the struggle
that is imminent between them tries to
talk to him. His attempt at logic,
compromise and even threats yield no
results.
Peter stockman, also resolute as his
brother does not give up. he goes
ahead to dislodge Dr. stockman of all
the support he had from the liberal
press and the compact majority. Dr.
Stockmann therefore becomes so
vulnerable but even then, instead of
backing down he says in Act3:
“ It will be made public –as long as I am
a living soul! if I cant hire a hall I shall
hire a drum and march through the
town with it and read it at every street-
corner.”His resolve is formidable and
he would not bend even when
opposition continues to build up
against him.
His resolute nature and determination
leads him to conjure up an ideal to
start his own school.

Such a school has been foreshadowed

by peter in Act one and would be run
on very different lines. It would make
liberal and high-minded men who
would continue the struggle he had
started .these men are according to
him drive out all wolves from the
country.

Of course, there's a lot you could

criticize about the Doctor as well. For
one, he's totally impractical. It never
even occurs to him to take into
account the fact that his proposed
renovations to the Baths will ruin the
town's economy. Also, though it's easy
to admire him for sticking to his
principles, it should be pointed out that
by doing so he places his family in a
pretty terrible position. Stockmann's
daughter, Petra, loses her job, and his
sons are almost mobbed at school. The
Doctor also willingly sacrifices his own
job at the Baths knowing that it will
cause his family to lose their major
source of income. We do see
Stockmann waver when his father-in-
law, Morten Kiil, threatens to take
away Stockmann family's inheritance.
In the end, though, Dr. Stockmann
refuses to give in, plunging his family
into financial ruin.
Dr. Stockmann represents the extreme
idealist who has no concept of the
practical side of life. His idealism blinds
him to the common procedures of
everyday activity.
As an idealist, Dr. Stockmann believes
strongly in individual freedom and the
right of every man to express himself
freely. He cannot become a party to
any dishonest or unethical act. Thus,
he cannot bend in any sense of the
word. He is accurately characterized as
too impetuous. As soon as he finds out
about the bad sanitary conditions at
the baths, he immediately makes the
news public and refuses to listen to any
compromise and demands that the
water pipes be re-laid. He does not try
to convince the people of his view, but
instead, goes directly and blindly at a
demanded improvement. It is,
therefore, his lack of tact and
understanding of the practical issues
which place him in such an awkward
position.

There is, however, a touch of jealous

revenge in Dr. Stockmann's actions. He
was annoyed that the Burgomaster did
not build the pipes according to the
doctor's original specifications, and
thus he is delighted that he is able to
prove the Burgomaster to be wrong.

Furthermore, Dr. Stockmann's idealism

is somewhat muddled. He is not
consistent. At one point he maintains
that the common people have no right
to a voice in the government. But this
is what the Burgomaster had
previously told the doctor and the
doctor had stoutly asserted the right of
every citizen to express his own views.
Likewise, he suggests that the common
people are like curs or impure animals
and can never be educated to take a
significant role in the development of a
society. Yet at the end he is going to
take some "street-curs" and educate
them to run the wolves out of the
government.

Dr. Stockmann is saved as a character

because he puts his principles above
his own desires and gains. He is not
tempted by financial rewards enough
to deny the truth of the condition of
the baths. He is thoroughly disgusted
by the petty and dishonest
interpretations placed on his actions.
And as a man of great personal
integrity, he spurns a large inheritance
in order to maintain an ethical and
moral responsibility to himself and to
his community.