Kafka�s �A Country Doctor� is a strange story about a doctor who is called out on a stormy day to a very ill man, his horse died the previous night but then he receive two magical horses, he is transported to the village where his patient is in a flash, first he finds the boy is healthy, but on re-examination finds a wound with worms in, the village people then undress him and lay him next to the boy, while children sings that if he does not cure the boy they will kill him. He escapes but in contrast with how fast the horses were on the way to the patient they are now like old men. The story ends with him between his home and the village (Kafka).
The very first challenge the doctor faces is that of finding a horse. He sent his servant girl, Rosa, to the village to ask for a horse but to no avail. This challenge of getting a horse and in turn a way to travel to his patient is made worse by the severe snowstorm. Out of frustration the doctor kicks the cracked door of the pigsty � used many years ago. The answer to his horse problem comes in the form of a man on all fours.
The man then calls on �Brother� and �Sister�, and again out of nowhere two magnificent horses appears. The appearance of the �groom�, although giving an answer to the doctor�s first challenge, creates a new challenge for the doctor. It is clear that the �groom� is interested in Rosa after he kisses her against her will. He tells the doctor to get into the carriage, the doctor comments that the �groom� does not no the way and therefore the doctor should take the reins. The answer from the �groom� is that he is not going with the doctor but staying with Rosa. The doctor clearly state that the �groom� is not allowed to stay with Rosa, and that the doctor will cancel his trip no matter the importance. The �groom� however sent the doctor off on his way with the clap of his hands, leaving Rosa to his advances. This is a tormenting challenge for the doctor, although he wanted to stay to protect Rosa, the ability to do that is taken away from him, sending him to yet another challenge. While at the patient he continually thinks of Rosa and a way to save her. He then, while examining the boy, decides to go back home at that instance. The boy�s family however delayed him form leaving.
The Essay on King Horse Winner
The main themes in The Rocking-Horse Winner are the pursuit of love and luck. Both of the main characters in " The Rocking-Horse Winner", Hester and Paul, are in pursuit of love. First the mother, Hester married for love, and the love faded, she gained children from her marriage, but she could not love them. Nowhere in her life does she find love for anyone but herself. The closest thing to love ...
The third challenge that faces the doctor is saving the boy�s life. At first meeting the boy asked the doctor to let him die. After examining the boy the doctor believed the boy to be in good health, but after re-examining the boy, the doctor found a wound with worms in it and now the boy asks to life. The wound reminds the doctor of a rose because of its color and in turn of Rosa that is probably fighting for her life.
The fourth challenge the doctor face is getting away from the village and the poor family. While examining the boy for a second time, guests arrived at the poor family�s home, outside children was singing that the doctor should be undressed to heal the boy and if he could not, he should be killed for he is only a doctor. Inside the family and guests undressed the doctor and put him in the bed with the boy (on the side of the wound).
Still naked the doctor grabbed his clothes and �escaped�, after the bedroom door was closed and he put the boy at ease that he would live, although the doctor said to himself that there was no hope for the boy. The doctor hoped that the horses would be as swift as earlier, however the horses and carriage dragged through the snow like an old man
�A Country Doctor� can be called a nightmare because of the surrealism in the story. At first the events make sense � a doctor is called out to a patient in a storm, his horse however died and now he needs another one. The short sentences emphasize the doctor�s anxiety over the situation. The appearance of the �groom� and horses and the fast movement of time however start to make it surreal. The events that happen after the �groom� is introduced are unsettling. The groom appear mystically, so does the horses, control over events are taken out of the doctor�s hands, the horses do strange things on their own and people put him into bed with another person and threatens to kill him (Bernardo).
The Essay on A Reaction to Franz Kafka�s Short Story
When it rains, it pours. Or in the case of the doctor in Franz Kafka�s short story, when a snowstorm comes, it comes in full flurry. From start to finish, the doctor encountered numerous challenges on his way to visiting a sick patient. The first of these obstacles involved the loss of his trusted horse, which died the night before. No doubt the doctor needed to reach his destination in a hurry. ...
All these things are creating a dreamlike atmosphere typical of surrealism.
Throughout the story Kafka uses themes and symbolism. Guilt is a theme in the story portrayed through the doctor�s feelings especially his feelings about leaving Rosa at the mercy of the �groom�, this is particularly clear when he asks himself what he is doing and how is he saving her while at the poor family�s home.
The theme of betrayal is shown by the night bell�s falsity at the end of the story as commented by the doctor. The doctor also comments on religion and how people want all sorts of things from a doctor but no longer from a priest. This comment about religion ties in with the era in which Kafka wrote the �The County Doctor� (late 19th century), at that time the world especially Europe was replacing religion with science.
Religion itself and medicine are also themes in this short story. The doctor is compared to God. People always want something on the one hand they want to die on the other they want to live. They expect extraordinary things form Medici, and when it does not happen they are angry and may even sue the doctor, they loose faith and go somewhere else to find what they want and need:
That is how people are in my region. Always demanding the impossible from the doctor. They have lost old faith. The priest sits at home… But the doctor is supposed to achieve everything. (Kafka).
Violence is a theme that comes through very strongly in �A Country Doctor.� The first incident is when the doctor kicks the pigsty�s gate, then the �groom� biting Rosa, the groom breaking down the house door, the injury of the boy and the song the children sing (Paperback writer).
Other symbols and dream images found in �A Country Doctor� that ties in with violence and the decay of human society portrayed by words such as worms, pigsty, breaking door, bloody towel, stripping naked of doctor, night bell, eye scratched out, frosty or unhappy age. All these words refer to injury, death or decay.
The Essay on Comparison Between November Story And November Night, Edinburgh
November Story and November night, Edinburgh November Story and November night, Edinburgh are two poems that differ in several ways but are essentially similarly themed. Both poems are similar in the way that they use personification to emphasise the weather. Both poems use animal imagery and people to emphasise how bad the weather actually is. The poem November story, by Vernon Scanell is from ...
The boy�s wound gets a double meaning when it is compared to a rose, which automatically link his wound to Rosa, the servant girl, which in a way is also being wounded by the �groom�. The comparison represents a fusion of violence and sexuality (Paperback writer).
In conclusion, the doctor in �A Country Doctor� has a few challenges to overcome each one representing more than meets the eye. The challenges in the story signify truths about human beings and how e sometimes let people take over and in that way influence our lives negatively.
Works Cited
Bernardo, Karen. �Franz Kafka’s The Country Doctor�. Storybites. 14 November 2008.
Gray. R. Franz Kafka, �A Country Doctor�. Freud and the Literary Imagination. Lecture notes. 15 October 2008. 14 November 2008.
Kafka, F. Johnston I. �A Country Doctor. Johnstonia�. 14 November 2008.
Paperback Writer. Sex and Violence in Kafka’s “A Country Doctor”. Shvoong. March 292006. 14 November 2008.
