Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Kafka's 'A Country Doctor' Essay

This essay provides a psychoanalytic interpretation of Franz Kafka's 'A Country Doctor,' exploring the story's themes and characters through the lens of Freudian psychology. It delves into the concepts of id, ego, and superego as they manifest in the narrative. The essay analyzes the doctor's interactions, the symbolic representation of the setting, and the overall dreamlike quality of the story. It highlights the conflicts, psychological savagery, and absurdity of life presented in the story and connects them with the theories of Freud. The analysis focuses on the conflicts between characters and the doctor's internal struggles, as well as the themes of isolation, helplessness, and the search for meaning. The essay aims to shed light on the psychological depth and complexity of Kafka's work, providing a deeper understanding of the story's impact on the reader and its relevance to psychological theories.

Running Head: ENGLISH ESSAY
English Essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGLISH ESSAY
Title- Interpretation of Kafka’ “A country doctor” as Psychoanalytic study:
Sometimes, dreams appear so much real that it becomes difficult to distinguish it easily
from the reality. People feel quite disappointed having woke up from one such fascinating dream
to know that the dream has ended. There are some of the literary works where the line between
reality and fancy has been blurred providing scope to ponder on those in a psychological manner.
The current essay will deal with Kafka’ A Country Doctor through applying the psychological
approach. It will also provide certain incidents of the story as per the ‘The interpretation of
Dreams’ of Freud. The three parts of Freudian psychic apparatus such as id, ego and superego
will be discussed connecting it with the characters of the story.
The story is set in a specific forest that is connected with the unconsciousness having
represented a surreal image of a particular place where the passing time is not that tangible and
natural. The doctor is shown as one responsible, rational and moral character who is supposed to
interact with other characters acting brutally, irrationally and ineptly. The character of the doctor
also symbolizes logic in the world of chaos and from the psychological aspect, the interactions
are actually conflicts of the inner self. Kafka has consistently been an expert in the works of
Freud and he could do justice with the themes like parent-child conflicts, the psychological
savagery and absurdity of life.
While visiting the patient, it is found by the doctor that there are no such symptoms but
the patient is saying “ Doctor let me die” (Kafka, 138). The doctor check the patient’ body twice
and points an big wound “ as big as palm of doctor’ hand which is full of worms. The boy is
then seen as whispering while sobbing, “Will you save me?” This is the point from where the
conflict between the villagers and the doctor “Well, as it please them; I have not thrust my
services on them; if they misuse me for sacred ends, I let that happen to me too; what better do I

2ENGLISH ESSAY
want, old country doctor that I am, bereft of my servant girl!”(Kafka, 254) Then the villagers
come and strip the doctor’ clothes off when the school choir starts singing “Strip his clothes off,
then he'll heal us heal us, If he doesn't, kill him dead! Only a doctor, only a doctor “(Kafka, 254).
On a concluding note, it can be said that A Country Doctor is one such psychological
story which is founded on the theories of Freud. The story is narrated in a way of a dream and
induces a feeling of agitation and anxiety among the readers. In A Country Doctor, there
characters are found as having various parts of the Freudian psychic apparatus.

3ENGLISH ESSAY
Reference
Kafka, Franz. "A country doctor." Doctors and Patients-An Anthology. CRC Press, 2018.