The Hunter Gracchus:A Franz Kafka Story of Death’s Dehumanization

• 作者: Gabriella D’Angiolella Luciana Caenazzo Pamela Tozzo
• 来源期刊: 哲学研究:英文版
• 学科: 文学
• 关键词: DEHUMANIZATION of DYING NARRATIVE medicine illness narratives REFLECTION HUNTER Gracchus
• 年，卷（期）: 2019,（6）
• 页码范围: 355-361
• 页数: 7页
• 分类号: H31

摘要

A key benefit of publishing illness narratives is giving voice to sick or dying people,in order to promote a deepened understanding of patients’experiences of illness.Reading this kind of stories can also help healthcare providers to reflect about facing the difficult concept of“a good death”(a good way to die).Following considerations arise from a close reading of Franz Kafka’s incomplete short story entitled“The Hunter Gracchus”(1917)and,in particular,from the condition in which he puts the protagonist,the Hunter Gracchus.Kafka creates a completely surrealistic story concerning the artificial extension of persistently compromised vital functions of a person affected by an irreversible pathology.The protagonist,who seems to be aware of his poor condition,is really distressed by living the dying process spread over a long time and so diluted.Realistic connotations of this short story were not clear at Kafka’s time,but,nowadays,because of advances in medicine,with the availability of medications or invasive interventions developed to prolong life,many patients can experience a condition similar to hunter Gracchus’s one.We believe,therefore,that could be important reading and then reflecting on this story,especially assuming the hunter’s point of view,for the purpose of developing a new approach to the current problem of the“dehumanization”of dying.To make the reflection process as free as possible,we thought that it would have been better to give the voice to the Poet,and for this reason,we tried to avoid adding words of“wisdom”to support one thesis or another.In our opinion,reflecting upon the specific experience of a person who is practically dead but still not allowed to die could encourage health-care providers to consider meaning and consequences of serious illnesses,exploring their feelings about life-sustaining treatments and death.