Maya's First 500 words

     “Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will”. This quote by German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe reveals what many may not know about writers; more often than not, little pieces of themselves are woven into the fabric of their writing. In the Breon Mitchell translation of Franz Kafka’s The Trial, a few extra pages in the back of the book  were added. These pages detail the events in Kafka’s life from 1883 to 1924. With a quick glance at said timeline of Franz Kafka’s life, it can be observed that a number of events overlap with what happens in his short stories. Whether this happened consciously or unconsciously is unknown. Nonetheless, given that the mentioned overlapping is present, one can speculate that some of the events from Kafka’s life were not only “transferred” into his short stories, but his novel, The Trial, as well.

     The first overlap that can be identified between Franz Kafka’s life and his work occurs in the year 1912. After meeting his future fiancé, Felice Bauer, he writes the two short stories “The Judgement” and “The Metamorphosis” during the month of August. In October of that same year, Kafka is asked to take over of his family’s asbestos factory. During Kafka’s lifetime, asbestos was a cheap, durable, fireproof material used for insulation. Also, at this point in time, the industry was not aware of its carcinogenic effects. When Kafka was asked to take charge, he became so distraught and overwhelmed that he considers suicide. Kafka opts to not take his own life and gives a public reading of “The Judgement” later on. As anyone who has read this short story knows, the protagonist, Georg Bendemann, commits suicide because his surly, almost tyrannical father convinces him that he is incapable of being a man of any worth. Much like Georg, Kafka also had a father who was ill-tempered and oppressive. Already, there are obvious parallels. Since Kafka wrote “The Judgement” months before any of the mentioned events in his life transpired, it seems as though Kafka was the one who was inspired by his work and not the other way around. However, Kafka’s relationship with his father was already prevalent, even before “The Judgement” was written. This makes Kafka’s writing of “The Judgement” seem more like a prediction, or even a “testimonial” of unspoken thoughts, based off of elements from his life that he chose to incorporate. 

     In “The Metamorphosis”, Gregor, a traveling salesman, is transformed into a giant insect.  The father is disgusted by the sight of his son. One by one, the rest of the family begins to share the father’s sentiments towards Gregor. This persists until he succumbs to the effects of self-starvation and dies. Many Kafka biographies discuss the fact that his father avoided his son to a certain extent because he was not supportive of Kafka’s love for literature in any way. In fact, in a letter to his father that Kafka wrote himself, he says, “My writing was all about you; all I did there, after all, was to bemoan what I could not bemoan upon your breast”.