Analysis of A Country Doctor Novel by Franz Kafka - Book Report/Review Example

A Country Doctor Franz Kafka’s ‘A Country Doctor’ is an interesting narrative that is filled with existentialism expressed through alienation, absurdity, death, and choice. The story is written in first person thus exhibiting an exciting degree of immediacy to the story. According to Stone (2013), Kafka’s Country Doctor is an intriguing story full of adversity and obstacles; the dreamlike description of the story creates a nightmarish feel, the story attempts to explain to the audience that understanding the irrational behavior of human beings is difficult and hence it is often easy to blame others for one’s own mistakes. The false call at night is the trigger of all events that escalated throughout the story; the story is like a hallucination that catapults the chain of uneventful happenings Gray (2009). The two reviews wholly established that Kafka’s tale is an interesting story that nightmarish in nature, the events are not real and the main character is like somebody who is in a deep dream. Kafka’s ‘A Country Doctor’ is a story full of existentialism that is exhibited through various instances; this paper reviews existentialism as expressed in ‘A Country Doctor.’ Kafka’s ‘A Country Doctor’ is a narrative that displays a lot of alienation and despair. “My flourishing practice is lost. A successor is robbing me, but to no avail, for he cannot replace me. In my house the disgusting groom is wreaking havoc. Rosa is his victim (Kafka, 2009).” Throughout the work, Franz Kafka’s doctor is tormented by the events seemingly out of his control (Stone, 2009). The Country Doctor as the narrator of the story constantly places blame for his failure on others: lack of horses, the groom, the villagers and the patient (Gray, 2009). He is the only doctor in the village whom the villagers have invested their expectation that he cannot fulfill. The villagers also don’t understand his desire to return home. These events make the country doctor to be in despair and a lone (Hamalian, 1974). Absurdity is everywhere in the story; for instance the doctor randomly loses his horse, two horses emerge from the pigsty, on their knees like camels, he is forced to climb into bed naked with the patient for unknown reasons and hence the audience is not sure if the story has any reality or it is just a dream. ““Hey, Brother, hey Sister,” the groom cried out, and two horses, powerful animals with strong flanks, shoved their way one behind the other, legs close to the bodies, lowering their well-formed heads like camels, and getting through the door space, which they completely filled, only through the powerful movements of their rumps (Kafka, 2009).” Pieces of the story strain credulity, indicating a dream-like quality: two "long legged" horses would not crawl through a pigsty door, horses would not peer through the windows of sick rooms, and villagers would not require a doctor to remove his clothes, among other less than plausible occurrences (Stone, 2009). According to Gray (2009), the doctor acts passively; he is carried away by the horses against his will; he lets himself be undressed despite the fact that he has resolved to leave; the patient’s family must clue him to the boy’s wound; he is carried to the boy’s bed, and he submits to this without resistance; his inability to control the horses as indicative of his failure to rescue Rose (Hamalian, 1974). The story is absurd not making any tangible meaning, the explained events are impossible so to say and hence it is like a dream, hallucination, and a nightmare. Death is another eminent theme that is clearly revealed in the narrative; the sick patient who wholly relies on the doctor is dying and not receiving any treatment; the villagers believe that the doctor is worthless and if he does not save the boy, then he deserves to die. “Take his clothes off, then he’ll heal, and if he doesn’t cure, then kill him. It’s only a doctor; it’s only a doctor (Kafka, 2009).” The final challenge that confronts the doctor is helping his patient. The doctor eventually concludes that the patient is mortally wounded and that there is no helping him (Stone, 2009). An ugly, gaping, worm-infested wound confronted the doctor. Despite the heroic efforts to reach the patient in time, there is nothing the doctor could do to help him (Gwendolyn, 2013). From this perspective, the story displays different instances that threaten the lives of the doctor, the patient. Consequently, at the beginning of the tale, the death of the horse is vividly explained to the audience. Throughout this work there is lack of choice that brings about the escalation of numerous challenges that the doctor encounter; for instance, the severe storm, the mysterious groom, the dying patient, the torment he feels for Rosa, and ultimately, he is spurred on by the groom to leave Rosa, unable to leave the patient to return, and he cannot stop the groom from raping Rosa. The doctor is always in dilemma throughout the story. “My fur coat hangs behind the wagon, but I cannot reach it, and no one from the nimble rabble of patients lifts a finger.” Stone (2009) analysis reveals that doctor was faced with a moral dilemma: a choice between saving his “seriously ill” patient, required in his duties as a doctor, or, protecting Rosa from the malicious intentions of the groom. Gwendolyn (2013) on the other hand establishes that the doctor is forced to make a choice between two people who urgently need his help: one, physically ill and the other who he exposes to great peril. This puts the doctor in the midst of moral dilemma. From the views of these credible analysts, it is strongly evident that the doctor in various instances is a dilemma of choosing between two or more critical acts. For instance, should he treat the patient or go back home and protect Rosa? The narrative is nightmarish, ‘A Country Doctor’ portrays a situation of the man who is ready and willing to help but cannot; one who is fighting against ignorance, selfishness and superstition. ““Will you save me?” whispers the young man, sobbing, quite blinded by the life inside his wound. That’s how people are in my region. Always demanding the impossible from the doctor (Kafka, 2009).” Gwendolyn (2013) explains that the lecherous groom appears out of nowhere from the pigsty. This description gives him a surreal-like presence which lends a nightmarish feel to the story. Suffice to say, the doctor’s nightmare real when the groom appears (Gwendolyn, 2013). The onslaught of challenges and accompanying frustrations throughout ‘A Country Doctor’ is just one reason the story might be classified as a nightmare (Hamalian, 1974). From the onset, Kafka’s tale exhibits a lot of unrealistic occurrences; the story is a hallucination that has no basis. Images portrayed in the story do not share any form of logical association with each other ends in the last sentence of the story “A false alarm on the night bell once answered, it cannot be good, not ever.” The doctor is frustrated throughout the ‘A Country Doctor,’ he is anxious and impatient; in fact he acknowledges that he couldn’t what to do in as he struggles to figure out how to get to his patient ten miles away. “Of course, who is now going to lend his horse for such a journey? I walked once again across the courtyard. I couldn’t see what to do. Distracted and tormented, I kicked my foot against the cracked door of the pig sty which had not been used for years (Kafka, 2009).” According to Stone (2009), the doctor describes himself as tormented twice thus evidently displaying his fear, anxiety and frustration. Gwendolyn (2013) alludes that at the start of the story, the narration is short and tight which probably shows the anxiety the doctor was feeling. The fearful atmosphere is eminent in the story; for instance, when the groom and the horses crawl out of the pigsty, horses neighing through the window of the patients bedroom, and when the family of the patient and the villagers strips the doctor naked and forcing him to lay beside the sickly patient. The doctor’s decision to visit his patient results into uncontrollable frustrations. ‘A Country Doctor’ is a story that exhibits various themes: alienation, nightmares, frustrations, death, lack of choice and absurdity. The doctor is the only doctor in the entire village and villagers have vested their faith in him as the only person who can treat and heal them. They have no faith in religion; thus they display an aspect of alienation. ‘A Country Doctor’ shows a condition of the person who is ready and willing to help but cannot; one who is fighting against ignorance, selfishness and superstition; he is experiences are nightmarish. He is also unable to make a decisive decision and when he eventually makes a decision, he blames himself. This research fully relied on secondary materials and thus has a limited scope; the various analysis used have a biased position that might not explain what the author’s feelings and the way he wished his audience to understand his story. The original story was written in German which implies that the translation does not fully display and explain the German culture. In order to have a comprehensive analysis, further study is recommended, for instance, interviewing the translator of the story would give an inherent understanding. References Gray, R. (2009) Freud and the Literary Imagination. University of Washington. Retrieved on 25/06/2013, from; http://courses.washington.edu/freudlit/Doctor.Notes.html. Gwendolyn, C. (2013), Review of Franz Kafka’s a Country Doctor. Retrieved on 25/06/2013, from; http://philosophy.knoji.com/review-of-franz-kafkas-a-country-doctor/ Hamalian, L. (1974) Franz Kafka: A Collection of Criticism. New York: McGraw-Hill. Kafka, F. (2009), A Country Doctor. Vancouver Island University. Retrieved on 25/06/2013, from; https://records.viu.ca/~Johnstoi/kafka/countrydoctor.htm Stone, J. (2009), Literary Reaction to “A Country Doctor” by Franz Kafka. Retrieved on 25/06/2013, from; http://voices.yahoo.com/literary-reaction-country-doctor-franz-kafka-3488301.html?cat=10 Read More