by Ebey Soman

Created on: June 23, 2007

Franz Kafka: "Ein Landarzt"
For: Mrs. Dehler, English AP 12

An author may use various styles and technique as a way of interesting a reader. Franz Kafka's most evident technique is his hero's tragic flaw when it comes to a choice between satisfaction vs. their professional duty. Kafka's portrayal of his life through his piece can also be considered as a technique that not only personalizes, but also adds realism to his work. Another characteristic of Kafka's work is his utilization of the setting in showing a male orientated society in his works and how the male world dominates the female world. Kafka wires these stories in a stream of consciousness style short story and his exclusive use of repetition and hyperbole and the syntax helps structure a story that takes the reader to an emotional and imaginative dimension making up for its irrational sense. All of these factors combined together with Kafka's intriguing personal life helps to make "The Country Doctor" the best short story.

In many ways Kafka's own characters represent the various entities that make up Kafka's personality. As a critic put it, "He clings to the idea of being a helper, wards off resignation, is ready to sacrifice his private life for his professional ethics, and is forced in the most cruel way to recognize the vanity of his effort" (Hughes 350). This doctor represents Kafka in many ways. In both the doctor's life as well as in Kafka's, their tragic flaw was their love of their professional life that led them to loose out on a lot of things they later came to realize as precious. In his pursuit of a professional career, Kafka stood up his beloved Felicia more than twice at the altar and broke his engagement with her more than twice. Kafka was broken with grief, as Brod relates, after seeing Felice to the train for the last time:
His face was pale, hard, and severe. But suddenly he began to weep. I shall never forget that scene, one of the most terrible I have ever witnessed Kafka had come straight to me in my office, at the busiest time of day, and sat next to my desk in the armchair that stood there for petitioners, pensioners and people under prosecution. And here he wept, asking with sobs: "Isn't it terrible that this sort of thing has to happen?" The tears were running down his cheeks. I have never seen him, except on this occasion, distraught and without composure. The decision has been a deliberate choice: it was either marriage or writing, although the same choice had to be faced

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