Franz Kafka: The Predicament of the Modern Man

1
Franz KafkaThe Predicament of the Modern Man

• I am separated from all things by a hollow
  space, and I do not even reach to its
  boundaries.

2
Childhood

• I enclose a picture of myself when I was
  perhaps five years old. At that time, that angry
  face was just for fun, but now, I think of it as
  the secret truth.

• Born in Prague, July 3, 1883.
• Father was an overbearing man who was never able
  to appreciate his sons special talents.
• This led to a lifetime of guilt, anxiety, and
  lack of self-confidence.

3
College and Beyond

• Studied law in college to please his father,
  although interested in literature.
• 1906, after graduation, began working in a
  government workers insurance office while living
  with his parents
• Wrote The Metamorphosis in 1912.

4
Broken Engagements

• Engaged to Felice Bauer in 1914. Broke it off
  three months later due to self-doubts. Several
  months later, became engaged again, only to break
  it off again in 1917 after being diagnosed with
  tuberculosis.
• Engaged to Julie Wohrzek in 1918, but broke this
  off as well.
• Rest of his short life was a series of
  unsuccessful relationships and worsening health.
• Died at age 41 in 1924.

5
Kafkas Success
Kafka felt that The Metamorphosis was one of
his more successful achievements. When he was
ill with tuberculosis, he asked his good friend
Max Brod to destroy all unpublished writings
after his death. Max did not and Kakfa survives
as one of the most admired writers of the
twentieth century.
Monument to Kafka in Prague.
6
The Metamorphosis

• The novella features
• a neutral tone to keep it from seeming
  cartoonish.
• humor as a response to emotional pain.
• symbolism that is open to multiple
  interpretations.
• Kafka does not lead his
• readers to his meaning,
• he allows you to find
• your way there your-
• self.

7

• We are as forlorn as children lost in the
  wood. When you stand in front of me and look at
  me, what do you know of the griefs that are in me
  and what do I know of yours. If I were to cast
  myself down before you and tell you, what more
  would you know about me that you know about Hell
  when someone tells you it is hot and dreadful?
  For that reason alone, we human beings ought to
  stand before one another as reverently, as
  reflectively, as lovingly as we would before the
  entrance to Hell.
• -- Franz Kafka, age 20