"Kafkaesque"

I believe that “Kafkaesque” is a term that does not simply relate to Franz Kafka or his works but also discusses the absurdity and irony of his overall ideas. It is the exaggeration of these elements that allows the audience/reader to have a strong opinion about Kafka’s work hence creating the term “Kafkaesque”.

The absurdity of Kafka’s ideas can be observed in his book The Metamorphosis and in the film Kafka. The Metamorphosis revolves around a character called Gregor who one day wakes up as a cockroach. This whole idea and transformation is simply absurd. Waking up to find yourself transformed as a cockroach is a situation that I can safely say will not happen in this world. 

There are many absurd ideas that can be noted in the film Kafka. Firstly, “The Castle” is a term that citizens in Prague fear to utter because of the frightening rumors they have heard of what happens in there. This somehow reminds me of a fiction book series called Harry Potter, in which many wizards were afraid to utter the name “Voldemort” because they were frightened of the things he could do. Sadly, Hogwarts does not exist, and in the modern world, there is no such building like “The Castle” that people fear to approach or say. Again, this whole idea is absurd. 

Secondly, the monsters that appeared in Kafka can be described as human robots with animalistic behavior. I can think of human robots in my world, slaves could be described as human robots. Slavery has been abolished today but it used to exist sometime during the 20^th century. According to Dictionary.com, a slave is “a person who is the property of and wholly subject to another; a bond servant.” A slave does not have an opinion and is completely controlled by their owner, which is similar to the literal meaning of a “human robot”. However, the human robots illustrated in Kafka portray violent personalities and very animalistic features. The way they run, their attack on humans and their inability to communicate are elements that differ strongly from slaves. These monsters are clearly non-existent in today’s world and such a creation is absurd. 

In addition, I find Kafka’s characters to be absurd which is what makes them humorous thus creating Kafka’s unique humor. In Laughing with Kafka, Wallace says that Kafka’s characters are “never just hollow buffoons to be ridiculed, but are always absurd and scary and sad all at once…” (2) For example, some people laughed when the monster was attacking a human. It was so absurd that is caused the audience to laugh in disbelief but it also created panic within the audience. This is exactly the reaction that Kafka wants to create. His humor is crueler and more sinister than the usual humor. 

Lastly, when Kafka enters “The Castle”, the film shows him entering through a filing drawer. In this film, the filing drawer is a secret door. Of course, secret doors and passages could be possible in today’s world but entering a castle through a drawer? This whole idea is absurd. This also introduces the discernment between the real and surreal which will be discussed in the next paragraph.

When Kafka enters “The Castle”, the colors of the world changed and it went from a black and white screen to a color screen. This raised the question of whether the black and white world; the life outside of the castle was the past or the future? The real world was shown through the black and white representation and the surreal world was in “The Castle” in color. Could Franz Kafka be stating a message here? He could be stating that we must be prepared for the future. He could also be stating that no matter what, we cannot control the many diverse things that may happen in the future possible represent through color.  

There is also irony that can be displayed in Kafka. Three examples can be seen in the film:

1)      1) When Kafka’s boss says that he must conform and in the end, Kafka unconsciously does. This can be noticed when he shows up to work early and when he tells the detective that is was a suicide when he knows that it was not. This is the same answer he gave to the detective in the beginning but the difference is he believed it, whereas, now he knows the truth.

2)      2) The truth is absurd and no one would ever believe him. He realizes he cannot stop or deny what is happening in the society.

3)      3) He tries to reconnect with his father towards the end – another sign of his conformation. 

Overall, Kafka’s irony and absurdity combines to create the term “Kafkaesque”.