Franz Kafka was a German novelist, who is regarded as one of the most significant
figures of twentieth-century literature. He is well-known for his work surrounding a protagonists
who is faced with peculiar and incongruous situations dealing with comprehension of
bureaucratic powers. Kafka explores the philosophy of existentialism motif, accentuating an
individual’s existence, freedom, and choice. Kafka is best known for his works such as Die
Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis), Der Process (The Trial), and Das Schloss (The Castle). His
work rivals that of Camus, Dostoyevsky, and Kierkegaard, and are considered the secondary
Bible of existential thought.
Kafka was born into an upper middle class Jewish family in Prague, Czech Republic
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He was the eldest son of Julie and
Hermann Kafka. Sadly, Kafka’s younger siblings died throughout and after Kafka’s lifetime. His
younger brothers, Georg and Heinrich Kafka died when they were an infant and their deaths had
a profound impact on Kafka at the age six. After his brothers’ death, he was the only son in his
family with three younger sisters who later died in a Polish ghettos or met their untimely demise
in Nazi death camps after Kafka’s passing. His role as the eldest child and son, made Kafka quite
conscious of his role within the family hierarchy.
Kafka’s relationship with his parents was strained. His mother Julie Lowy Kafka was a
dedicated homemaker and lacked any intellectual understand of her son’s dream of being a
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writer. Even though he was not close to his mother, he intensely identified with his maternal
ancestors due to their intellectual peculiarity, spirituality, and to their piousness.
Kafka’s father on the other hand, was the catalyst that dominated Kafka’s life and his
writing legacy. Herman Kafka was a tyrant that possessed an atrocious temper. The elder Kafka
did not appreciate his son’s creativity and was degrading. “Hermann Kafka's
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During his time at Alstädter Staatsgymnasium (a high school for the academic
elite) he received high marks and simultaneously, earned the respect of his teachers. However,
Kafka clandestinely rebelled against authoritarian powers and institutions as he was learning
about dehumanized humanistic curriculum.
After Kafka graduated from Alstädter Staatsgymnasium, Kafka enrolled in Charles
Ferdinand University of Prague where he intended to study chemistry. Kafka’s father was not
thrilled about his son’s chose of academia. Within two weeks, Franz Kafka switched to studying
Law and thus, pleasing his father in the process. Even though satisfying his father was one of the
reasons for Kafka switching his major, Law allowed him to take extra classes in art and
literature.
In 1902, Kafka met Max Brod at the University of Prague and the two became friend.
Max Brod, a minor literacy artist would become Kafka’s literary executor. Brod would give
Kafka encouragement during the course of Kafka’s writing and help combat any thoughts of self-
isolation that Kafka had during his day to day life.
By 1906, Kafka had finished his law degree and acquired a job for a year as an
In “A Hunger”, “The Penal Colony”, and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Kafka succeeded in showing his individuals as obsessed with their profession; however their obsession caused their doom because society asks so much from an individual, only so much can be done. However, regardless of that, these individuals choose their work over themselves, and not even bad health or death can stop them. Because society places immures pressure on Kafka’s work obsessed character, they neglect their well-being and cause their own downfall.
Sokel, Walter H. "Franz Kafka." European Writers. Ed. George Stade. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992. 847-75. Print. European Writers. Ward, Bruce K. "Giving Voice to Isaac: The Sacrificial Victim in Kafka's Trial." Shofar 22.2 (2004): 64+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. .
Many scholarly writers such as Robbie Batson believe that Gregor is an extension of Kafka himself, both having been traveling salesmen, similar family life with an abusive father, a dependent mother, and although Kafka had three sisters he had a close relationship with Ottilla like that of Grete and Samsa. Kafka even is similar to Samsa in spelling, almost like a cryptogram(Barfi, Azizmohammadi, and Kohzadi). As the breadwinner in his house, both Kafka and Gregor had the responsibility of taking care of their family through
Politzer, Heinz. Franz Kafka: Parable and Paradox. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1962, Pp. 37-41.
He was born into a German-speaking family in Prague on July 3rd, 1883. He was the oldest of six children. His father, Harmann Kafka, was a businessman. His mother Julie Kafka was born into a wealthy family. Kafka considered the vast differences in his paternal and maternal relatives as a “split within himself” (Sokel 1).
Gregor’s family and how they treat him reflects the way that Kafka interacted with his family. The similarities between Kafka’s family and Gregor’s family can be seen in their name. Kafka’s friend remarks, “The hero of the story is called Samsa, it sounds like a cryptogram for Kafka” (Kennedy and Gioia 299). Kafka’s family was middle-class, and his father was a businessman. They had servants and maids just like Gregor’s family. Kafka was the eldest out of six children, and was very close to his sisters. This is seen ...
Bernstein, Richard. “A VOYAGE THROUGH KAFKA'S AMBIGUITIES”. New York Times 02 May 1983. : n. pag. ProQuest Platinum.
Sokel, Walter H. “From Marx to Myth: The Structure and Function Of Self-Alienation In Kafka’s Metamorphosis.” Critical Insights: The Metamorphosis (2011): 215-230. Literary Reference Center. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.
From the moment we meet Gregor Samsa's father we are shown how short tempered he is. He "came on, hissing like a wild man" when Gregor first exited his room in his new state as a bug. Gregor's father chased after him with a cane and newspaper making a hissing noise that annoyed Gregor. Just this passage here shows how alike Mr. Samsa and Herrman Kafka are. Kafka was...
Pawel, Ernst. A Nightmare of Reason: A Life of Franz Kafka. 2nd ed. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 1984.
Franz Kafka, b. Prague, Bohemia (then belonging to Austria), July 3, 1883, d. June 3, 1924, has come to be one of the most influential writers of this century. Virtually unknown during his lifetime, the works of Kafka have since been recognized as symbolizing modern man's anxiety-ridden and grotesque alienation in an unintelligible, hostile, or indifferent world. Kafka came from a middle-class Jewish family and grew up in the shadow of his domineering shopkeeper father, who impressed Kafka as an awesome patriarch. The feeling of impotence, even in his rebellion, was a syndrome that became a pervasive theme in his fiction. Kafka did well in the prestigious German high school in Prague and went on to receive a law degree in 1906. This allowed him to secure a livelihood that gave him time for writing, which he regarded as the essence--both blessing and curse--of his life. He soon found a position in the semipublic Workers' Accident Insurance institution, where he remained a loyal and successful employee until--beginning in 1917-- tuberculosis forced him to take repeated sick leaves and finally, in 1922, to retire. Kafka spent half his time after 1917 in sanatoriums and health resorts, his tuberculosis of the lungs finally spreading to the larynx.
This quote is significant to the character Kafka. It is significant because Kafka goes through a lot during the book. This quote introduces Kafka’s adventure, when he escapes from his father and is in search for himself. The quote means that you can’t ever be certain of what is going to happen to you, and you can’t chan...
Franz Kafka always had a strong background in literature and writing. Pursuing a career in law, Kafka put his writing skills to good use, but he always had a knack and passion for writing literature such as short stories, poetry and full novels more than working his actual job. By the age of 27, Kafka attended a play put on by a Yiddish theatre troupe performing in Prague. With the lack of money the troupe had, they became stranded in the town, where Kafka gained his interest in Yiddish theatre (Gray, 301). With the stranding of this troupe, critics believed this to be what led to the influence of most of Kafka’s later writings. This is believed due to the evidence of a journal found after Kafka’s death. These journals kept records of performances he attended, plot synopses, character analysis, descriptions of staging and critiques of the performances (Gray, 301). Kafka also had a journal filled with vignettes about specific productions, along with brief reflections on the theater and the production (Puchner, 177). We first see Kafka showin...
Neumann, Gerhard. "The Judgement, Letter to His Father, and the Bourgeois Family." Trans. Stanley Corngold. Reading Kafka. Ed. Mark Anderson. New York: Schocken, 1989. 215-28.
ii Kafka, F. The Trial. Translated by Willa and Edwin Muir. Introduction by George Steiner. New York, Schocken Books, 1992, 1.