Health
Health is one of the main motifs of the novel. A pursuit for health is what drives the plot and what enables Dr. Kellogg to manipulate and take advantage of the feeble minds seeking health. One of the central character, Will Lightbody, is a perfect example of that. He follows his wife into the sanatorium, seeking for help for his health and her approval, and undergoes severe humiliation and violation of his body under the control of Dr. Kellogg. The character of Dr. Kellogg is the character of a predator praying on the weakness, in this instance compromised health, to gain power and control. It is his idea of health that is the only right way, universally applicable to all the humanity with his ridiculous diets and obsession with bowel movements.
George as a symbol
George is Dr. Kellogg’s rebellious son. He is symbolic because he represents everything that goes against the doctor’s doctrine and philosophy. George is a stain on his perfect, white and sanitary life and the source that makes him doubt himself. The reasoning behind George’s refusal to comply to doctor’s orders and his way of life isn’t directly discussed but hinted at-George comments on how Dr. Kellogg adopted his children for free labor, and how he deprived them of his presence and necessary nutrition. It is hinted that his children were compliant because they were afraid of him, a fear that might have come from their need for his approval. Nevertheless, Doctor Kellogg’s hatred for his son George is presented throughout the novel, and that hatred is rooted in George’s rebellious behavior and unsightly appearance.
John Kellogg-a doctor or a cult leader
Throughout the novel, it is clear that doctor Kellogg’s methods are questionable, even dangerous. The line between him as a doctor and him as a person is very thin, any criticism of his healing methods is a criticism of his character. He manipulates and gaslights his patients, he makes them feel small, their ways of life wrong, while making himself the ultimate savior. It all implies to a cult-like behavior. Even the helpless state the patients (Will Lightbody for example) find themselves in, being forced to agree to methods and procedures as to not upset the doctor that hovers above them, confirm that argument.
Money
In a subplot concerning Charles Osinning, the motif of money is present through his character. Charles wants to desperately get rich, and he falls into a deception by the hands of his partner Bender, who manipulates him into giving him the entire money, living in desperate conditions while he enjoys the most luxurious hotel spending the fortune intended for their business. Charles’s subplot is a plot of a desperate hunt for money and frustrating circumstances of a naïve character who falls prey to Bender.
