The Country Doctor (Symbol, Allegory)
Because of the absurdism within the story, it lends itself to a number of different interpretations. In a broad sense, the country doctor himself symbolizes a passive servant to the people who is eventually manipulated and doomed to die due to his lack of agency. Many have also argued that the country doctor is an allegory for the psychoanalytic phenomenon of sublimation – that is, the doctor represses his erotic desire for Rosa through his work, only to come face to face with that desire in the form of the predatory groom.
The Groom (Symbol)
The groom who appears from the pigsty symbolizes an animalistic erotic drive. The groom comes out of the pigsty on all fours, mirroring the animals that surround him. Furthermore, the groom assaults Rosa and follows her into the house. The groom is a central antagonist to the story, but could represent the doctor's own sense of desire for his servant girl that he represses through his commitment to his work.
Manipulation (Motif)
One motif that recurs throughout the story is the doctor's tendency to be manipulated by other people – first the groom, who sends him away on the horses so he can assault Rosa, and then the patient's family, who strips the doctor naked. This motif is emblematic of the doctor's passivity and powerlessness, attributes that point toward an existential reading of the story in which one is rendered helpless in the face of an absurd world.
