Writing this exploratory essay was an engaging and informative process. I learned a lot about psychoanalysis and how other authors unironically applied it to their stories. Learning about the 5 stages of development was an interesting process because you realize how something so long ago applies to people today. When writing the EE essay, I dug deep into Franz Kafka’s short story, “ A Country Doctor”. Exploring this short story made me realize how one word can have multiple meanings. For example, the word Rose was used to connect two different types of pain the narrator was going through. Professor Yankwitt helped a lot with deciphering this passage and understanding condensation, displacement, the latent content, etc.

    Furthermore, completing this essay definitely helped me make some strides in my writing. I believe the assignments Professor Von Uhl assigned helped me understand that you shouldn’t write to complete a checklist. You should write with passion, and know your audience. The process was tedious but I gained a lot of knowledge. Additionally, I realized my weakness in organizing the information in a way so the audience understands my perspective. I don’t want to sound like I’m summarizing and that is one thing I can work on. My word choice overall definitely improved when writing this essay because these concepts arent that simple to explain, It requires time and effort to explain to the audience. 

Lastly, I believe I have room to improve and that this last essay should show that. I read the feedback on my homework, I continuously see how vague I am and need to summarize less. I strive to do that in the next essay and showcase my improvement in writing. With the beam assignments and multiple engagement articles, I believe my writing will get better.

Id–the most primitive/ instinctive part of your desires that contain desires, and hidden and unconscious (chaotic) thoughts. No rationale. For example, Freud declares “We approach the id with analogies: we call it a chaos, a cauldron full of seething excitations.” This shows how the Id has total control(governs) over newborns which is why they receive these types of desires. ” 

**Everything comes back to the libido (sexual instincts). Everyone is born with sexual instincts and the Id

Ego- The ego serves the id, superego, and the external world. The ego is after all only a portion of the id, a portion that has been expediently modified by the proximity of the external world (society) with its threat of danger. Resolves the issues between Id and Superego. Mediates between one wants (Id) and shoulds (superego). Develops after the battle between id and superego.  To further add, the reason we came to this conclusion of what was the definition for the ego was that Freud declared “The relation to the external world has become the decisive factor for the ego”. Freud is declaring that the ego is not only trying to get the id and superego happy but also the exterior world. 
SuperEgo – Conscious part of personality. Derives from the values we see in family and society. Gives a sense of right and wrong, good and bad, guilt and pride. SuperEgo satisfies the id and the ego, balances it out. The ego mediates between what one wants (id) and shoulds(SuperEgo). According to Freud, the superego “applies the strictest moral standard to the helpless ego which is at its mercy; in general, it represents the claims of morality, and we realize all at once that our moral sense of guilt is the expression of the tension between the ego and the super-ego.” This shows the brightness of the superego where a person learns about morality where they know what is good vs bad and are able to distinguish them such as knowing that stealing is a wrong thing to do.

                                                       The Psychological Wound      

    “A Country Doctor” by Franz Kafka is a psychological story seemingly based on Freud’s theories. Readers observed the unnamed doctor’s urgent quest to save a patient and how Freud’s concepts of dreamwork played a role in his estranged quest. Kafka’s purpose was to show the struggle to keep one’s spirit alive and all the challenges one must face in order to succeed. He establishes a confounded tone and grave mood within the text for the audience to grasp the doctor’s failures throughout his journey. Freud’s concepts of dreamwork such as condensation, displacement, and the unconscious are shown in “A Country Doctor” as the readers perceive the doctor’s quest to fulfill his despairing wish to save his maid, Rose, from getting raped by the groom.

    All throughout the doctor’s journey, Kafka demonstrates Freud’s theories of dreamwork,  the concept of unconsciousness was first demonstrated when the doctor encountered the groom to “borrow his horses and the groom appears to make two horses materialize out of nowhere”(Kafka n.pg). The doctor simply wanted to stay with his maid, Rose, because he loved her and wanted to develop this sexual relationship with her but now the groom is harassing his maid making the doctor feel uncomfortable. The doctor says, “Yet hardly was she beside him when the groom clipped hold of her and pushed his face against hers. She screamed and fled back to me; on her cheek stood out in red the marks of two rows of teeth” (Kafka n.pg). The doctor does not want to leave in fear of what will happen to Rose. The doctor says,  “You’re coming with me, I said to the groom, or I won’t go, urgent as my journey is. I’m not thinking of paying for it by handing the girl over to you”(Kafka n.pg). The doctor is demanding he stay because he wants to take care of Rose.  The doctor clearly didn’t want to leave Rose with the groom in fear of him raping his maid but left despite his wishes. According to Freud, he gathered that the “unconscious proceeds to develop one’s actions even though one can be unmindful of these influences”( Freud 2213). We can decipher that the doctors’ unconscious in this dream has overtaken his conscious ability to make decisions, and they do not lead him to Rose, instead, it works against him in obtaining his wish to save his love.

   Furthermore, the doctor’s unconscious decision to go save the patient instead of staying with Rose has caused a new dilemma. He conducted two examinations on the patient and found a huge wound. This wound serves as Freud’s theory of condensation because “it is a symbol with many different ideas”(Freud 2223). The doctor described the wound as, “Rose-red, in many variations of shade, dark in the hollows, lighter at the edges, softly granulated… this blossom in your side was destroying you. ”(Kafka n.pg). As a reader, you think of a wound as a sign of pain and suffering. Kafka used a metaphor so readers can see that this wound is more than just physical pain. This wound also serves as a symbol for the psychological pain Rose inflicts on the doctor. Readers can make the connection when Kafka states  “Rose-red”  and “blossom..destroying you”  hinting at the doctor’s maid, Rose, getting raped by the groom at home. Moreover, the process of the doctor examining the wounded boy fits Freud’s theory of displacement. Displacement is the shift from something important to less important. Rose is what the doctor cares about the most, and the wounded boy is there as a distraction for the doctor. Rose was the doctor’s main priority, but he couldn’t save her, so this wounded boy is his chance to have the feeling of saving someone important, but not as important as Rose. 

    Overall, Franz Kafka had many of Freud’s theories of dreamwork in “ A Country Doctor”. Theories such as condensation, displacement, and unconsciousness were represented throughout the story. The doctor’s journey was quite bewildered and each part had multiple meanings. There were many analogies made with Rose, to show the love the doctor had for her. Readers can interpret the wound on the boy as condensation because it reflected the pain Rose inflicted on the doctor. He failed to save her but the boy served as a displacement, he wished he could save Rose but the boy was the least he had. The doctor’s true desire was to have a sexual relationship with Rose, and his unconscious decisions were demonstrating his affection for her. Kafka’s connections with Freud’s theories of dreamwork bring a whole different interpretation to “A Country Doctor”.

WORKS CITED 

Kafka, Franz. “A Country Doctor”. Selected Short Stories of Franz Kafka, Random House USA Inc, 1994, bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/courses/CTY01_FIQWS_10008_HA8_1219_1/A%20Country%20Doctor.pdf.

Sigmond, Freud. FIVE LECTURES ON PSYCHO-ANALYSIS, Freud, 1909,

https://ia802907.us.archive.org/17/items/SigmundFreud/Sigmund%20Freud%20%5B1909%5D%20Five%20Lectures%20on%20Psych-Aanalysis%20(James%20Strachey%20translation,%201955).pdf