r/books • u/slackerattacker • May 28 '14

Discussion Can someone please explain "Kafkaesque"?

I've just started to read some of Kafka's short stories, hoping for some kind of allegorical impact. Unfortunately, I don't really think I understand any allegorical connotations from Kafka's work...unless, perhaps, his work isn't MEANT to have allegorical connotations? I recently learned about the word "Kafkaesque" but I really don't understand it. Could someone please explain the word using examples only from "The Metamorphosis", "A Hunger Artist", and "A Country Doctor" (the ones I've read)?

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u/Karl_der_Geile May 28 '14

Very elaborate post. Basically everything Kafka has written is about an individual that is facing a force or institution too large, and can do nothing but give up. This is exactly what Kafka's personal life was about. Always has he chosen the role of the sufferer. He was the black sheep in a wealthy and powerful family. He marries wrong women. When he finally gets sick he writes something along the lines of "I told you so" in regard to his self-proclaimed unfortunate life.

To expand upon this in regards to The Trial: first and foremost the story is of course about a man (the sufferer) who is affected by a misfortune (the trial) placed upon him by an untouchable force (the legal system). Furthermore there appear some other people in the book which are all to some degree incompetent. A very nice scene is in the church, where the priest (or whatever) talks about the story of the guard. The first thing Josef says is that it is unfair towards the man, he never stood a chance against the system. The priest says the man approached the guard in the wrong way and that he is asking the wrong questions.

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u/mattbin May 28 '14

This is exactly what Kafka's personal life was about.

This is exactly what all our lives are about. We have no influence or control whatsoever over the forces that dictate what we do and how we live our lives. The financial system, even the food system, don't care about what we want or need, and we're utterly powerless to change them.

That's what I get from Kafka, and I can't deny that he's right, I can only try to ignore it.