The title story is a symbolic description of modern man living outside a binding universal order and brought to death by sensuality and the aimlessness of the forces working within him. This volume contains perhaps Kafka's best parable on the nature of absurdity, "The Imperial Message. In both cases, the human need to communicate is frustrated, and the inevitable result is alienation and subsequent death. These stories were written during a time when Kafka, engaged once again to Felice, was finding a measure of stability again.
Although he was determined this time to give up his insurance position and to use his time writing, he soon realized that this effort was an escape, as had been his rejected application to be drafted into the army. Kafka was to remain much like the roving hunter Gracchus, burdened with the knowledge that he could not gain inner poise by drowning the fundamental questions of existence in the comforts of married life.
In Kafka was stricken with tuberculosis, an illness which he was convinced was only the physical manifestation of his disturbed inner condition. For years he had fought hopeless battles for and against marriage he had a son with Grete Bloch, a friend of Felice's, but never knew about him ; during this time, he continually sought to justify his suffering by writing.
Now he gave tip. His suffering was alleviated by the fact that he could spend many months in the country, either in sanatoriums or with his favorite sister, Ottla. These months brought with them a new freedom from his work as a lawyer and, for the second time, from Felice.
Highly autobiographical like all of his works, the hero of "A Hunger Artist" starves himself because he cannot find the spiritual food he requires. The investigations of the chief dog in the story of the same name reflect Kafka's own literary attempts to impart at least a notion of the universal to his readers.
In The Castle , K. All these stories originated in the years and , years when Kafka lived under the strong influence of Milena Jesenska, to whom he owed his renewed strength to write. Although in many respects different from him she was gentile, unhappily married, and much younger , the extremely sensitive Milena could justly claim "to have known his anxiety before having known Kafka himself," as she put it.
Forever afraid of any deeper involvement with Milena, Kafka eventually stopped seeing her. That he gave her his diaries and several manuscripts, however, is proof of his deep commitment to her. Next The Metamorphosis" Die Verwandlung ". Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks? My Preferences My Reading List. Franz Kafka Biography.
Adam Bede has been added to your Reading List! The two were an industrious couple: after working as a traveling salesman, Hermann started a successful fashion retail enterprise. Julie, though better educated than her husband, was dominated by his overbearing nature and worked long hours to contribute to his business.
Franz was the oldest child of six, though his two brothers died before he was seven years old. The remaining three sisters all died in concentration camps during the Holocaust, though Franz himself did not live long enough to mourn them.
Their childhood was notable in its lack of parental presence; both parents worked long hours for the business and the children were mainly raised by governesses and nannies.
In his one foray into autobiography, Kafka expressed in his paged Brief an den Vater Letter to the Father , which he never sent, how he blamed his father for his inability to maintain a sense of security and purpose and to ever adjust to adult life. Indeed, Kafka spent much of his short life living painfully close to his family and, though deeply desperate for intimacy, never married nor was able to sustain relationships with women.
Kafka was an intelligent, obedient, and sensitive child. As a Czech Jew, Kafka was not a part of the German elite; however, as a German speaker in an upwardly mobile family, he was not led to identify strongly with his Jewish heritage until later in life.
It is notable that Kafka is often grouped in with writers from Germany, since they share a native tongue; however, he is more accurately described as Czech, Bohemian, or Austro-Hungarian. After two weeks he switched to law, a move of which his father approved and which also had a longer course of study, allowing him to take more classes in German literature and art.
The two became lifelong best friends and formed a literary group of sorts, reading and discussing texts in French, German, and Czech. Later Brod called their loose group of writer friends the Prague Circle. In , Kafka wrote one of his first stories to be published, Description of a Struggle Beschreibung eines Kampfes.
In Kafka graduated with the degree Doctor of Law. After graduating, Kafka worked at an insurance company. He found the work dissatisfying; the ten-hour shifts left him with little time to devote to his writing. He spent most of his free time writing stories, an occupation that was like a form of prayer for him. In , he saw a Yiddish theatre troupe perform and became captivated with Yiddish language and culture, making room also for an exploration of his own Jewish heritage.
Kafka is thought to have had low- to mid-level schizoid traits, and suffered from intense anxiety that damaged his health. He is known to have had chronically low self-esteem; he believed others found him utterly repulsive.
In reality, he is reported to have been a charming and good-natured employee and friend, though reserved; he was clearly intelligent, worked hard, and, according to Brod, had an excellent sense of humor. However, this fundamental insecurity damaged his relationships and tortured him throughout his life.
For one, his relationship to women was largely fraught. He completed his Matura exams in Admitted to the Charles University of Prague, Kafka first studied chemistry, but switched after two weeks to law. This offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history.
At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, who would become a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of Doctor of Law on June 18, and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
On November 1, , he was hired at the Assicurazioni Generali, an aggressive Italian insurance company, where he worked for nearly a year.
His correspondence, during that period, witnesses that he was unhappy with his working time schedule - from 8 p. On July 15, , he resigned, and two weeks later found more congenial employment with the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. However, he did not show any signs of indifference towards his job, as the several promotions that he received during his career prove that he was a hard working employee.
Still, even while Kafka earned the respect of his teachers, he chafed under their control and the school's control of his life. After high school Kafka enrolled at the Charles Ferdinand University of Prague, where intended to study chemistry but after just two weeks switched to law. The change pleased his father, and also gave Kafka the time to take classes in art and literature.
After completing his apprenticeship, Kafka found work with an Italian insurance agency in late It was a terrible fit from the start, with Kafka forced to work a tiring schedule that left little time for his writing. He lasted at the agency a little less than a year.
After turning in his resignation he quickly found a new job with the Workers' Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia.
As much as any work could, the job and his employers suited Kafka, who worked hard and became his boss's right-hand man. Kafka remained with the company until , when a bout with tuberculosis forced him to take a sick leave and to eventually retire in At work Kafka was a popular employee, easy to socialize with and seen as somebody with a good sense of humor.
But his personal life still raged with complications. His inhibitions and insecurities plagued his relationships. Twice he was engaged to marry his girlfriend, Felice Bauer, before the two finally went their separate ways in Later, Kafka later fell in love with Dora Dymant Diamant , who shared his Jewish roots and a preference for socialism. Amidst Kafka's increasingly dire health, the two fell in love and lived together in Berlin. Their relationship largely centered on Kafka's illnesses.
For many years, even before he contracted tuberculosis, Kafka had not been well. Constantly strained and stressed, he suffered from migraines, boils, depression, anxiety and insomnia.
Kafka and Dora eventually returned to Prague. In an attempt to overcome his tuberculosis, Kafka traveled to Vienna for treatment at a sanatorium.
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