Franz Kafka 1883--1924

Kafka was born to middle class German-speaking Jewish parents in Prague, Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The house in which he was born, on the Old Town square next to Prague's Church of St. Nicholas, today contains a permanent exhibition devoted to the author. Kafka worked for the Worker’s Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. The job involved investigating personal injury to industrial workers, and assessing compensation.  

Kafka's work—the novels The Trial(1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika(1927), as well as short stories including “The Metamorphosis”(1912) and “In the Penal Colony”(1914)—is now collectively considered to be among the most original bodies of work in modern Western literature. Much of his work, unfinished at the time of his death, was published posthumously.

The writers' name has led to the term “Kafkaesque" being used in the English language. Is Kafka a realist, or a fantasist?

  Kafka shows us a view of mankind that seems alien. Many of his stories seem like they are set in a dreamscape in which a character’s humanity can metamorphose into something else. Kafka shows that human identity can change, or be changed into something alien and monstrous. His stories follow a kind of dream logic. In dreams we are often transformed—dream “reality” is slippery and chameleon like.

Kafka takes the dreamscape and treats it like reality Kafka takes the dreamscape and treats it like reality. How do we read “The Metamorphosis?” Is Gregor’s life an allegory for non-existence, or being trapped in an inhuman cycle of meaningless work that kills the human spirit?

Writing style: Kafka creates a dream-like language that can mediate between the conscious, objective mind and the unconscious, subjective mind.

Existentialism: a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad.

Does the story reflect a kind of existential angst about becoming like an insect? Kafka tells the story in a literal, flat, deadpan way which seems to insist Gregor is really an insect.

Kafka’s style is modernist Kafka’s style is modernist. The early 20th century literary movement called Modernism spotlights the isolated self: the self cut off from all traditional, conventional sources of support, the self that never grows up into conformity and cooperation with the established social order.

The modernist self feels drained of power, helpless, vulnerable, stripped of all the ties that bind an identity together. As the story opens, Gregor’s transformation elicits a strange response. The main thing he is worried about is being late for work.

All of his concerns are mundane; he avoids examining the radical transformation he has undergone. He shows no existential angst about his condition. Think of how Gregor compares to Bartleby. “The Metamorphosis” can be read as a dark comedy, seeing how ridiculous Gregor is as he tries to resume his normal activities while being monstrously transformed.

Gregor’s reactions are transformed Gregor’s reactions are transformed. He loses his human “tastes” and becomes reconciled to his emerging animal reactions and predilections.

Kafka treats his transformation realistically Kafka treats his transformation realistically. Gregor begins to act as an insect would—all his actions are realistic. Through this realism, Kafka is “dismantling” the human and how we think of what is human. Kafka also shows in a radical way that identity is not fixed. Kafka’s characters often exit “the human zone.”

Greta, Gregor’s sister, finally tells her parents “You must get rid of the notion that this is Gregor.” This reinforces how radically he is transformed. This is part of what the story is about—how one “exits” from the human.

The pathos in the story comes from the reader’s point of view The pathos in the story comes from the reader’s point of view. From the reader’s view, Gregor is still human; but his family and the rest of the characters accept his transformation, his flight from humanness. He is presented as monstrous in his own world, but deeply human for the reader.

As the story goes on, all human trappings fall away from him As the story goes on, all human trappings fall away from him. They remove his stuff from his room and begin to treat him as mere vermin. His humanity falls away or is taken away. But there are other transformations in the story.

The father: once retired, he begins to work again and becomes revitalized. The story follows a reverse Oedipal pattern. Instead of the son killing the father and becoming the dominant force, the son’s death or retreat from life revitalizes the father and the mother.

Kafka is drawn to stories about the sacrifice of the son Kafka is drawn to stories about the sacrifice of the son. Critics say he is telling the story of Abraham and Isaac over and over. The sacrifice of the son makes possible the revitalization of the father.

The sister’s music: Gregor is enticed by Greta’s violin playing The sister’s music: Gregor is enticed by Greta’s violin playing. This may suggest the nourishment he need is spiritual. He dies seeking something finer than his life provides him. It seems he yearns for something beyond, but which he cannot find. The lack eventually starves him. The music is a possible analogue for something Gregor needs but cannot find.

Gregor’s “devitalization” engenders the vitalization of the whole family. His “sacrifice” allows the family to live again. Gregor finally dies of starvation—he cannot find what nourishes him. In Kafka, there is an insatiable need for a nourishment that is denied the main character—either it doesn’t exist or it is somehow denied him. The material conditions of life are not enough to feed him.