Man from the South

If the young American soldier lost this strange old man’s bet and had to sacrifice his pinky finger, he wouldn’t have the forceful power anymore that he’d always had. Our ring fingers, along with our pinky fingers, work together to produce extra force that the thumb, index, and middle finger cannot alone exert. Major examples of the times we need this extra force is when we swing a tennis racket, golf club, baseball bat, or really any time we grip something to propel it forward. Daily examples of this would be brushing a bad tangle in our hair out or sweeping the patio. More specifically for the soldier, he probably would not be able to shoot a gun as well as he once did. The soldier would not have this extra guiding force anymore – his ring finger would have to take up all the slack; therefore, the soldier just simply wouldn’t have near as strong hand/grip strength. In addition, we have pinky fingers for a reason – they oppose the thumb. This only exists in humans and only some other primates and animals. Having opposable thumbs that work together with the pinky finger allow us to firmly grip things, such as a softball or vacuum handle. The young soldier would definitely have to work to strength train his ring finger to pick up the pinky’s slack, possibly by going to a hand therapist and maybe working with tough clay, for example.  

When it comes to the wife of the crazy man, she honestly doesn’t have much hope. Unfortunately, the “Man from the South” excerpt does not tell us which specific three fingers she had lost. However, it does say she only has a thumb and one other finger, so one can assume it’s her index finger that she still has. The only movements that the wife can still have with just a thumb and an index finger include tip pinching and lateral pinching; she can hold an ink pen with just these fingers, and she can still unlock and lock her car with her car keys. Since a power grip requires more than 2 fingers, she will never be able to have a firm grip on a pot handle or door handle ever again. Just like the soldier, the wife will need to see a hand therapist in order to strengthen these two fingers. In addition, the wife may learn how to use her forearm to produce force, just like someone does with an arm amputation. Sadly, the wife will never be able to write with a pen/pencil well and without pain. She can still “tip pinch” a pencil or pen, but it is very difficult to write that way (I just tried it myself).