How did the doctor feel

"In Another Country" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway about wounded soldiers undergoing treatment at an Italian hospital during World War I. It is somewhat autobiographical because Hemingway was treated at an Italian hospital after a wound he received as an ambulance driver for the Italian Army. The doctor in the story is enthusiastic about the hospital's new therapeutic machines and feels they will work well to help his patients recover strength and flexibility. He promises the narrator, "You will be able to play football again better than ever."
The doctor is symbolic of the rapid advancement of technology during the twentieth century and the optimistic feeling that new gadgets would lead the world to a better place. Unfortunately, some of the new technology proved instrumental in making World War I the bloodiest war in the history of the world. The Italian major is a symbol of the resistance to this new world and its "machines." He scoffs at the doctor and frankly admits that he has no confidence the new procedures will heal his injured hand.