Transcript Document

Franz Kafka
“I think we ought to read only the kind of books that
wound and stab us…We need the books that affect us
like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of
someone we loved more than ourselves, like being
banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide…A
book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside of us.”
-Franz Kafka
About Kafka
• 1883-1924
• Born in Prague (in what is now the Czech Republic)
• Spoke and wrote in German
• Had a doctorate in law, but worked in the insurance
industry
• He considered his work to be his “Brotberuf,” or his
“breadwork.”
• He devoted much of his free time to his writing.
Kafka’s Writings
• Kafka’s writings often deal with loneliness, isolation, and
alienation, all of which are aggravated by the social and
economic systems that structure human relations.
• His style is stark – in spite of the strange subject matter in
many of his works, there is no poetic or metaphoric
language.
• The Metamorphosis (written in 1912, published in 1915)
is probably his most famous work.
• Generically, The Metamorphosis is a novella – a text that
is longer than a short story but not as long as a novel.
Kafka and His Father
• Kafka’s father, Hermann Kafka, was known as a “huge,
selfish, overbearing businessman.”
• Kafka was, throughout his life, frail, sickly, and weak.
• He was profoundly affected by his father’s overbearing
nature, and this came up frequently in his writing.
Kafka and Religion
• Kafka was part of the German-speaking Jewish minority
living in Prague at the time.
• Kafka was not particularly religious but showed a great
interest in Jewish culture.
• Critics argue as to whether or not Judaism influenced his
writing.
• From Kafka himself: "What have I in common with
Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and
should stand very quietly in a corner content that I can
breathe."
• Although Kafka and his parents died beforehand, his
three sisters and their families were killed in the
Holocaust.
The term Kafkaesque
• From Merriam-Webster:
of, relating to, or suggestive of Franz Kafka or his writings;
especially : having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or
illogical quality
See virtually anything Kafka has written.
Metamorphosis and Ovid
• Ovid’s Metamorphoses is a collection of Greek and
Roman myths written in narrative poetic form.
– Each of the stories that Ovid presents contains some sort of
transformation or metamorphosis.
• Probably written between 2 and 8 CE
• The work emphasizes tales of transformation in which a
person or lesser deity is permanently transformed into an
animal or plant.
• Kafka’s story, however, explores the life and destiny of
one person while Ovid only depicts the act of the
metamorphosis itself
A Biological look at metamorphosis
Takes place in distinct stages:
larval stage
then enter an inactive state called pupa or
chrysalis
finally emerge as adults
The protagonist’s transformation in
Metamorphosis parallels this cycle.
Metamorphosis
• Characters
– Gregor Samsa : Protagonist of the story. He is a traveling salesman who is
responsible for caring for his family.
– Greta Samsa: Gregor’s sister. She is young and just starting to become an adult and
figure out her place in the world.
– The father: Gregor’s father never named. A failed businessman who is resentful
– The mother: Gregor’s mother never named. Frail and weak woman who cares for
her son but will be torn by what he becomes
– The charwoman: A widow and the Samsa’s cleaning lady.
– The maid: The Samsa’s orginal maid who is replaced by the charwoman.
– The office manager: Gregor’s boss. He is overbearing and critical of Gregor.
– The boarders: Three people who are temporarily staying at the Samsa’s home.
How is it Existential?
• As a literary style it went away from sentimentality and
romanticism toward realism.
• Kafka’s language is plain and efficient.
• Story told from the third-person point of view but the
perspective is limited to Gregor’s subjective experience.
• All judgments are left to the reader.
Existential Angst
• Describes the internal conflict experienced by every
conscious individual due to the fact that the world is not a
rational place and existence can be maintained only by
constant struggle.
Existential Angst Cont.
• Birth (leaving the safety of the womb for the harsh realities of
the world) is the crucial moment existence is defined.
• Free choice also contributes to this angst since it is seen as one
of the biggest burdens a human has.
• Communication is a prime source of angst since
communication always involves struggle
• The Irrational World - at any moment everything could
change. There are no universal truths. There is only
uncertainty.
Setting the scene …
• Gregor Samsa is the son of middle-class parents in Prague.
• Gregor’s father lost most of his money about five years earlier
causing Gregor to take a job with one of his father's creditors as
a travelling salesman.
• Gregor provides the sole support for his family (father, mother,
and sister), and also found them their current lodgings in
Prague.
• When the story begins, Gregor is spending a night at home
before embarking upon another business trip. And then. . .