Surrealism in A Country Doctor: Literature & Language Essay

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Surrealism in A Country Doctor
Kafka’s story builds on fantasy and absurdity, which constitute surrealism. The surrealism in the story revolves around the life of a doctor who is tasked with the obligation to save two people; a dying sick boy in the village, and a vulnerable servant girl, named Rose, in the presence of a wicked groom in the doctor's house. The situations present subsequent doctor’s inner conflicts that make his mind function subconsciously, exposing his weakness and failures to the audience. The dreamlike life of the doctor is full of painful absurdity. This paper is based on the proposition that life's absurdities make it meaningless to people who live in it. Kafka embraces surrealism in the story, A country Doctor, to expose and ridicule human weakness, hidden in the material world.
Kafka succeeds in exploring the surreal and unexplained in the story by using the “I” narrator. Through the use of first-person narration, he succeeds in building an ideal relationship between the protagonist and the audience. For instance, the narrator says at the beginning of the story, “I was in great perplexity” (Kafka p. 1). For that reason, the audience gets first-hand information about the inner conflicts experienced by the doctor, the narrator, and, therefore, can relate the doctor’s experience to theirs. Most importantly, the author’s primary aim is to show that human beings go through challenging experiences, some of which are surreal and unexplained. Usually, it is hard to realize surreal and absurdity in a person's life that appears sober. However, when the human mind is subconscious, like the doctor's case, it becomes easier for a person to critique reality, see surreal, and painfully experience absurdities that life presents. The doctor speaks about his thoughts, anxiety, fear and despair, and understanding of the world around him. Notably, he does so after transiting from the world of reality to that of fantasy.
Kafka uses a series of conflicts in the story to introduce the theme of surrealism gradually. First, the doctor needs to attend a dying boy in a distant village urgently, but his horse "died in the night" (Johnston p. 1). Although the icy winter weather is unfriendly, Rose, the servant girl, has to go around the neighbourhood borrowing a horse. She does so in vain, and the doctor is stranded. He stands forlornly outside his house, and snow gathers upon him as hopelessness and despair befall him. However, the first incidence of surreal and bizarre occurs; the doctor bitterly kicks the pigsty door, and a groom mysteriously shows up. The bizarre groom possesses a group of horses that he is willing to lend the doctor. However, the groom refuses to accompany him but instead offers to stay, a situation that panic-strikes Rose. Rose, as well as the doctor, knows "her fate [is] inescapable" (Johnston p. 1). The doctor is reluctant to journey away, leaving behind Rose with the notorious groom, and this dilemma reveals the unexplained thoughts and desires of the doctor.
The journey of the doctor from his house to the dying boy’s village happens mysteriously. While the d...