Since the day I read Kafka’s masterpiece “Metamorphosis”. Whenever I see a “cockroach”. I always had a vulgar grin on my face and I always shout out Loud! “Hey “samsa Gregor” how you doing?” And to my parents I sound like an Idiot cause I never let them kill any of the cockroaches such is the love of Kafka for me.
This world is Absurd and catastrophic, we all have worst kind of nightmares. Kafka’s writing consist of realism and fantasy based on absurd themes such as guilt, alienation and existential anxiety.
What is Kafkaesque?
The term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe situations like those in Kafka’s writing.
My Kafkaesque moment!
Job + Writing + MBA
I can understand how awfully Kafka suffered all his life because I’m also struggling to write some stories, Managing a tough part-time job along with my studies. Hardly I could find time to write. Its the reason I have become alienated from my friends and family. I hated myself because we sometimes in life cannot pursue what truly is important to us. I know being a writer is my self-worth and my job or education doesn’t define me but sitting on a table for hours to write.
The World of Kafka
Here read this amazing opening statement from Metamorphosis:
One Morning, When Gregor samsa woke from a troubled dream, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He laid on his Armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.
Such absurdity the way he shows his life in worst case scenario to tell us. We all suffer while living around the people who can never understand us fully. If you haven’t read this book I suggest to grab it.
The saddest fact is Kafka burned 90% of his work before dying at the age of 42.
Last Sunday On 3rd of June was Kafka’s Death Anniversary
Kafka was working in a Insurance company, where he worked for nearly a year. His correspondence during that period indicates that he was unhappy with a working time schedule—from 08:00 until 18:00 —making it extremely difficult to concentrate on writing, which was assuming increasing importance to him.
“A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.” “Franz Kafka”
“This is from Franz Kafka novel “The Trail” in a nutshell.
“A young man gets up in the morning to sees two strangers on either side of his bed. He asks them who they are. They reply they have come to arrest him. He asks why. They gave no reason. They arrest him and a trial is held, Even during court proceedings, he doesn’t know why they have arrested him. One thing leads to another and the story assumes phantasmagorical proportions.
His another story “A hunger Artist” show us life of an artist who fasts for a number of days on the trot. His act is interspersed with periods of recovery after which he gets in his cage, he gets en-caged to perform to go on a hunger strike. And when audience interest fades way in him he dies only to be replaced by a panther. Here Kafka is not sympathizing with the artist but he is brutally honest about self-realization on modern day context.
How a person enslaves himself and chooses not to get out of it and those who spectates are no different either. Artist are never appreciated that is the cruelty of life.
Its been a century when it was written we can still see how it all makes sense in our today’s world.
Not only in West but even in our Pakistani society we can see the reference to social unrest, political issues, the story relates to our modern-day problems. We nowadays live in constant fear, sometimes for no reason and very often for the reasons that have nothing to with us. We try our best to escape the death valley of our bureaucratic system that govern our lives and It breaks the natural rhythm of our lives.
I’m glad that an old the Pakistani great Urdu short story writer “Naiyer Masud” as you can see him above is a great admirer of Kafka. He translated Kafka’s stories for Urdu speaking readers to know the great German writer. That’s how literature binds us together.
An old friend of mine visits Prague recently, just look at his remarkable words!
I was so touched by his words as how he felt walking around Prague no doubt he was feeling “Kafkaesque”. And for such inspiring individuals Kafka has written the following lines.
“Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” “Franz Kafka”
The most Important Question Kafka arose?
Can we free our selves from this bureaucratic world? Can this coexistence liberate us from the evils like fear, slavery and totalitarian regimes? See how young people are destroyed by the giant corporations. They depend on the salary which is a bargain for their dreams. Not jobs but We need Art and Creativity to promote life.
At the end please must watch this Ted-ed brilliant video!
Thankyo
The Portrait of an Artist 