Themes of Existentialism in Kafka's Four Short Stories 'A Country Doctor, Josephine The Singer, or The Mouse Folk, A Hunger Artist, and A Report To Academy'.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE... i

TABLE OF CONTENTS... ii

ABSTRACT ...iii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ... 1

Background of the Study... 1

Statement of the Problem ... 4

Purpose of the Study ... 4

Method of Research ... 4

Organization of the Thesis ... 5

CHAPTER TWO: ANALISIS OF THEMES IN KAFKA’S FOUR SHORT STORIES ... 6

CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION... 20

BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 24

APPENDICES: ... 25

Synopsis of Kafka’s Short Stories ... 25

Biography of the Author ... 27

ABSTRACT

Empat cerita pendek yang dibahas dalam tesis ini adalah A Country Doctor, Josephine the Singer, Or the Mouse Folk, A Hunger Artist, dan A Report to Academy, yang ditulis oleh Franz Kafka. Kafka dalam empat cerita pendek ini bermaksud menyampaikan tema mengenai manusia bersama dengan ketetapan hatinya dalam memilih suatu pekerjaan, dan menjalaninya dengan sungguh-sungguh. Tema dalam keempat cerita pendek ini berkaitan dengan teori Eksistensialisme.

Eksistensialisme adalah teori mengenai keberadaan manusia yang ditentukan oleh setiap pilihan dalam hidupnya. Dalam pilihan tersebut manusia dapat menemukan makna hidupnya di dunia ini. Eksistensialisme juga menekankan bahwa setiap manusia memiliki kebebasan untuk menentukan pilihan apapun dalam menjalani hidupnya.

Dalam keempat cerita pendek ini teori eksistensialisme dapat terlihat dengan jelas melalui pilihan hidup yang diputuskan oleh setiap protagonis dalam setiap cerita. Teori eksistensialisme yang menonjol dalam keempat cerita pendek ini adalah teori Jean-Paul Sartre yang menyatakan bahwa manusia lahir tanpa terikat oleh nasib atau takdir. Dan manusia memiliki hak untuk tidak menyesuaikan setiap keputusan yang diambil berdasarkan keadaan lingkungannya.

Semua protagonis dalam keempat cerita ini mengalami suatu kondisi ketika masyarakat menginginkan mereka memilih setiap hal dalam hidup mereka sesuai dengan standar mereka. Walaupun begitu setiap protagonis dalam keempat cerita ini memiliki ketetapan hati untuk bersikukuh dalam setiap keputusan yang diambilnya dan menjalankannya secara profesional. Tema dalam keempat cerita ini sangat jelas manggambarkan kesungguhan setiap protagonis dalam memilih suatu hal dalam hidup dan menjalaninya dengan sikap profesional mereka masing-masing.

APPENDICES

Summary of Four Kafka’s Short Stories

A Country Doctor

It tells about a doctor in a small country who receives an emergency call at night to cure the injured boy. That day the weather is not good and the distance is so far to get to the patient’s house. When the doctor arrives, the entire family of the boy and the villagers are already waiting for him, they put their hope on the doctor for the boy’s recovery. Then the doctor examines the boy, he finds the wound is infected by worms, and he cannot cure the boy because it is too late. As a result the doctor is humiliated and blamed by the villagers because he fails to cure the boy. In the end he runs away from the patients’ house then goes home, he feels his effort is meaningless.

Josephine the Singer or the Mouse Folk

It tells about Josephine whose work is singing among a community whose people are hard workers. First, people like her singing and think she is special, then people think that she becomes boring and people think that she is lazy. On the contrary, at the same time people think she is a gift to the community. One day she injures herself accidentally, as a result of which she cannot sing well anymore, no one tolerates her carelessness, eventually she is missing, and no body could find her.

A Hunger Artist

In the story people like to observe the artist as he fasts. Some of them watch carefully to prevent the artist from secretly snacking. In those times 40 days was the limit of fasting. On the 40th day, the artist's cage will be decorated with flowers as he emerges to the aid of doctors and the crowd's applause. But then the public has lost interest. The artist leaves his impresario and hires himself out to a circus where his cage is placed near the cages of animals. He is worried about the reaction of the visitors at that time, some of whom would stop to watch him, but others rush right past him to see the animals. Finally, the keeper finds the hunger artist among the straw when he enters the cage. He dies and is replaced by a panther.

A Report to an Academy

The story tells about an undercover soldier who presents his report to a meeting of the scientific Academy. Less than five years ago, he is captured by primitive people in the jungles of West Africa. For the primitive people the soldier appearance looks different from their society. The soldier is being prisoned and he is trapped within the foreign custom in the primitive society. Then he plans a way out from that society by following the primitive society’s customs. He follows all the custom, until the society thinks that he is the same as them. Finally he can go back to England.

Biography of Franz Kafka

Franz Kafka was born in Prague in 1883 of Jewish parents. He was the oldest of six children – two boys died in infancy, and three girls were murdered by the Nazis in the early 1940s. His father, Hermann, was a successful businessman who had no time for his son’s intellectual and literary interests, and insisted on his studying law at university. Kafka completes his studies in 1906, and two years later took up an appointment with an insurance company in Prague. Although he worked in insurance, he always resented the time it took away from his writing. He usually wrote at night, sometimes through the night, thus working himself into a state of exhaustion that must have contributed to his early death.

In 1917 he was diagnosed for tuberculosis and spent the final stages of his illness in a nursing home at Kierling, and died on 3rd June 1924, aged forty. He published little in his lifetime and gave instructions in his will that all his writings should be destroyed. Fortunately for posterity, this directive was ignored by his friends and executor Max Brod, who immediately after Kafka’s death prepared both the trial and the castle for publication, in 1925 and 1926. Kafka himself only published a few shorter works in his lifetime: Metamorphosis (1915), The Sentence (1916), A Country Doctor (1919), and In the Penal Colony (1919).

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

I. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Questions on the meaning of life, existence and whether a human has a freedom to choose, have become debatable questions for centuries. Existentialism, as one of the philosophical thinkings, deals with human existence in the world which emphasizes individual existence, freedom, and choice. Existentialism also examines the determination of choice and personal responsibility which is based on his/her experience, beliefs, and biases. Those questions above and existentialist theory make me interested in analyzing literary works based on existentialism.

In this thesis I choose Franz Kafka, who is one of existentialist thinkers that expresses loneliness, frustration, and despair of an individual threatened by invisible power behind his ability. Kafka’s characters usually feel a sensation of anxiety and shame; he sets his major character in a state of loneliness and frustration. He also makes his work painful or tragic.

I choose four of Kafka’s short stories entitled A Country Doctor, Josephine the Singer, Or the Mouse Folk, A Hunger Artist, and A Report to Academy. I choose to analyze the themes of existentialism.

In these four Kafka’s short stories, all the protagonists struggle to determine

what they want in their life regardless of the opinion of the society. All of the protagonists face the obstacles in achieving their own freedom.

Existentialism is a philosophical thought that learns about a human and his/her existence which appears in the middle of the 20th century. This philosophical thinking refers to humans as individuals who try to find the purpose of their life, to live their life. Humans as individuals have a choice and freedom to show their existence.

Existentialism emphasizes free will, choice and personal responsibility. People make their choice based on their belief, experience, and their assumption. In existentialism, it is explained that a human’s choice is subjective, because individuals finally must make their own choices without the help from external standards as laws, ethical rules, or traditions. As a result, individuals are free to determine their own choice, despite this fact; they are completely responsible for their choices. The existentialists criticize the fight of freedom and responsibility into self-deception. They insist that individuals should accept full responsibility for their behavior, no matter how difficult it is. If an individual is to live meaningfully and faithfully, he/she must become fully aware of the true character of the human situation and bravely accept it.

Jean-Paul Sartre, a famous philosophical thinker in the 20th century, is famous for the slogan of existence precedes essence. It means that, individuals have no predetermined nature or essence that controls what they are, what they do, or what is valuable for them. They are totally free to act independently of determination by outside influences. An individual creates his/her own human nature which means that the individual comes into his/her existence without predetermined nature but then the individual creates his/her nature or essence through his/her actions in free choices. The individual must create his/her own essence. This means he/she is living in the

world, suffering there, struggling there, that he/she gradually defines himself/herself, and the individual will create his/her values through these choices.

Existentialism has a strong relation with the society. In existentialism, society acts as judges who assess the individual’s choice in doing his/her task. Everything that the individual does is judged by the society; sometimes the society cannot accept the weakness of the individual. There is no perfect individual, sometimes he/she cannot do what should he/she do because of something beyond his/her power, and this is his/her weakness. If the individual has a weakness in doing his/her task the society will reject him/her. And it makes the individual lose his/her freedom of choice. The weaknesses also make the individual’s choice to be meaningless and hopeless which is followed by rejection and dissatisfaction. As a conclusion the society restricts the individual to act freely, and makes one’s lose freedom to choose. Despite this fact the individual must not conform to society what ever the situation and condition are, the individual must choose wisely what he/she wants to do in his/her life to get a value of it.

II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1. What is the theme of Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor, Josephine the Singer, Or the Mouse Folk, A Hunger Artist and A Report to Academy?

2. How is the theme revealed through the protagonists?

III. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

1. To show the theme of Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor, Josephine the Singer or the Mouse Folk, A Hunger Artist and A Report to Academy.

2. To show how the theme is revealed through the protagonists.

IV. METHOD OF RESEARCH

In writing this thesis, I use both library and internet research. First I read and analyze the primary book that has been chosen. Then I proceed to read supporting reading on the theory related to the chosen approach that will be used and applied to the analysis of the thesis. Furthermore readings on related subjects related to both the primary reading and applying theory are done through internet sites research and readings. Afterwards, I use all the information for the analysis of the topics I choose for my thesis.

V. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

I organize my thesis as follows

Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of The Thesis. Chapter Two is the Analysis of the Theme through the Protagonist. Chapter Three is the Conclusion, which is about the similarity of the themes in each of the short stories of Kafka’s. Then I arrange every book and website that I have read into the Bibliography, I write the Summary of four Kafka’s short stories, and end with Franz Kafka’s Biography.

CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION

After I analyze the four themes of Kafka short stories, I conclude that there is a similarity of professionalism determination in each protagonist in the four short stories. The similarity is the protagonists have professionalism determination to choose what they want to do. These are the themes of each story and how the protagonists reveal the theme.

The first short story is Josephine the Singer, Or the Mouse Folk The theme is professional determination is independent of public sentiment. The protagonist whose name is Josephine determines to sing for her career and her singing is subject to public sentiment. After she gains respect from the public, she gets an accident that makes her limp and she cannot do her job professionally. Josephine’s fans want her to keep singing but she decides to resign from her job because she can no longer do it professionally. Josephine’s decision to stop singing once again makes her to be a subject to public sentiment. Josephine has independence to decide whatever she wants. Nevertheless, she chooses to go against her fans’ thought and she stops singing in order not to disappoint them.

The second short story is A Country Doctor, the theme of which is professional determination is of individual conscience. It is revealed from the protagonist, a doctor, who has his own conscience in doing his job professionally, and suffers from the society’s judgment; because he chooses not to cure the boy because his conscience says that the boy comes too late to be cured.

The doctor faces a dilemma; it means everything that happens will be considered wrong. When he determines not to cure the boy, he is humiliated by the family for the consequence of his action. And the doctor has the right to choose what ever he wants to respond the consequence which is given by the family. He does not accept the consequence and run away for safety.

Then the third short story is A Hunger Artist, the theme of which is professional determination is not only about money but also for satisfaction. It reveals from the story that the protagonist who is an artist feels alienated from the society. The society ignores him because the artist chooses fasting as his job and the society thinks the artist’s job is too old fashion. In spite of the fact, the artist determines to keep on fasting; when he fasts professionally he gets his own satisfactions. No matter where the place is to fast, the artist will fell satisfied if he can fast professionally, even if it does not bring him money.

The last story that I analyze is A Report to Academy and the theme is professional determination is not only for money but also for survival. The undercover soldier is captured by primitive people on his way back to the academy. He determines to imitate to the society to flee from the primitive people. He does not have difficulty to imitate the primitive people, because he is a professional imitator. And his professionalism determination of job does not

always bring him money but it can also save his life. So the soldier’s determination in choosing the way to survive by imitating the behaviors of the primitive people, looks like conforming to the society, but actually it is only a part of his professional job as an imitator, which has saved his life.

From the analysis above I conclude that Kafka makes certain that such stories are to show that one’s existence is made by one’s own professional determination on choice. Relating to Sartre’s existentialism theory which emphasizes on individual, who has no predetermined nature, it means that everyone can create his/her own essence by choosing his/her choice freely; he/she has free will, and has to run it professionally.

These four short stories of Kafka reflect the anxiety of life in every different society. Kafka emphasizes that every person has freedom to choose what he/she wants for his/her life and the personal professional determination in doing his/her profession will create a value to life. And through these short stories Kafka has successfully revealed the themes of existentialism through the protagonists’ freedom of choice in determining to be professional in their jobs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

References

Soll, Ivan, Ph.D. World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. World Book, Inc. 2001 Sartre, Jean-Paul. Eksistentialism and Human Emotions. New York: Kesington

Publishing Corp. 1987

Warburton, Nigel. Philosophy the Classics. New york: Routledge. 1998

Primary text

Kafka, Franz. The Complete Short Stories. Trans. John Updike. New York: Schocken Books, Inc, 1995

Internet reference

http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/westspingfieldhs/academic/english/1project/99exist/sartre.ht m/

http://www.gnooks.com/discussion/albert+camus.html/ http://www.littlebluelight.com/blphpl/crit.php?key=3/ http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/exist.htm/

http://www.thecry.com/existentialism/

world, suffering there, struggling there, that he/she gradually defines himself/herself, and the individual will create his/her values through these choices.

Existentialism has a strong relation with the society. In existentialism, society acts as judges who assess the individual’s choice in doing his/her task. Everything that the individual does is judged by the society; sometimes the society cannot accept the weakness of the individual. There is no perfect individual, sometimes he/she cannot do what should he/she do because of something beyond his/her power, and this is his/her weakness. If the individual has a weakness in doing his/her task the society will reject him/her. And it makes the individual lose his/her freedom of choice. The weaknesses also make the individual’s choice to be meaningless and hopeless which is followed by rejection and dissatisfaction. As a conclusion the society restricts the individual to act freely, and makes one’s lose freedom to choose. Despite this fact the individual must not conform to society what ever the situation and condition are, the individual must choose wisely what he/she wants to do in his/her life to get a value of it.

II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1. What is the theme of Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor, Josephine the Singer, Or the Mouse Folk, A Hunger Artist and A Report to Academy?

2. How is the theme revealed through the protagonists?

III. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

1. To show the theme of Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor, Josephine the Singer or the Mouse Folk, A Hunger Artist and A Report to Academy.

IV. METHOD OF RESEARCH

In writing this thesis, I use both library and internet research. First I read and analyze the primary book that has been chosen. Then I proceed to read supporting reading on the theory related to the chosen approach that will be used and applied to the analysis of the thesis. Furthermore readings on related subjects related to both the primary reading and applying theory are done through internet sites research and readings. Afterwards, I use all the information for the analysis of the topics I choose for my thesis.

V. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

I organize my thesis as follows

Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of The Thesis. Chapter Two is the Analysis of the Theme through the Protagonist. Chapter Three is the Conclusion, which is about the similarity of the themes in each of the short stories of Kafka’s. Then I arrange every book and website that I have read into the Bibliography, I write the Summary of four Kafka’s short stories, and end with Franz Kafka’s Biography.

CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION

After I analyze the four themes of Kafka short stories, I conclude that there is a similarity of professionalism determination in each protagonist in the four short stories. The similarity is the protagonists have professionalism determination to choose what they want to do. These are the themes of each story and how the protagonists reveal the theme.

The first short story is Josephine the Singer, Or the Mouse Folk The theme is professional determination is independent of public sentiment. The protagonist whose name is Josephine determines to sing for her career and her singing is subject to public sentiment. After she gains respect from the public, she gets an accident that makes her limp and she cannot do her job professionally. Josephine’s fans want her to keep singing but she decides to resign from her job because she can no longer do it professionally. Josephine’s decision to stop singing once again makes her to be a subject to public sentiment. Josephine has independence to decide whatever she wants. Nevertheless, she chooses to go against her fans’ thought and she stops singing in order not to disappoint them.

The second short story is A Country Doctor, the theme of which is professional determination is of individual conscience. It is revealed from the protagonist, a doctor, who has his own conscience in doing his job professionally, and suffers from the society’s judgment; because he chooses not to cure the boy because his conscience says that the boy comes too late to be cured.

The doctor faces a dilemma; it means everything that happens will be considered wrong. When he determines not to cure the boy, he is humiliated by the family for the consequence of his action. And the doctor has the right to choose what ever he wants to respond the consequence which is given by the family. He does not accept the consequence and run away for safety.

Then the third short story is A Hunger Artist, the theme of which is professional determination is not only about money but also for satisfaction. It reveals from the story that the protagonist who is an artist feels alienated from the society. The society ignores him because the artist chooses fasting as his job and the society thinks the artist’s job is too old fashion. In spite of the fact, the artist determines to keep on fasting; when he fasts professionally he gets his own satisfactions. No matter where the place is to fast, the artist will fell satisfied if he can fast professionally, even if it does not bring him money.

The last story that I analyze is A Report to Academy and the theme is professional determination is not only for money but also for survival. The undercover soldier is captured by primitive people on his way back to the academy. He determines to imitate to the society to flee from the primitive

always bring him money but it can also save his life. So the soldier’s determination in choosing the way to survive by imitating the behaviors of the primitive people, looks like conforming to the society, but actually it is only a part of his professional job as an imitator, which has saved his life.

From the analysis above I conclude that Kafka makes certain that such stories are to show that one’s existence is made by one’s own professional determination on choice. Relating to Sartre’s existentialism theory which emphasizes on individual, who has no predetermined nature, it means that everyone can create his/her own essence by choosing his/her choice freely; he/she has free will, and has to run it professionally.

These four short stories of Kafka reflect the anxiety of life in every different society. Kafka emphasizes that every person has freedom to choose what he/she wants for his/her life and the personal professional determination in doing his/her profession will create a value to life. And through these short stories Kafka has successfully revealed the themes of existentialism through the protagonists’ freedom of choice in determining to be professional in their jobs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

References

Soll, Ivan, Ph.D. World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia. World Book, Inc. 2001 Sartre, Jean-Paul. Eksistentialism and Human Emotions. New York: Kesington

Publishing Corp. 1987

Warburton, Nigel. Philosophy the Classics. New york: Routledge. 1998

Primary text

Kafka, Franz. The Complete Short Stories. Trans. John Updike. New York: Schocken Books, Inc, 1995

Internet reference

http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/westspingfieldhs/academic/english/1project/99exist/sartre.ht m/

http://www.gnooks.com/discussion/albert+camus.html/ http://www.littlebluelight.com/blphpl/crit.php?key=3/ http://www.tameri.com/csw/exist/exist.htm/