This paper
explains that the increased emotional impact of "Intensive Care" was a result of the better developed characters,
the informal and engaging tone, the conflict with a realistic ending, and the powerful theme. The author points out that Malamud does not provide the same
background to the relationship that Smith did, which prevents the story from involving one emotionally to the same degree as "Intensive Care." The paper
explains that the conflicts of the two stories are interesting because they are both very similar, while having very different outcomes.