Blog Post # 27

Franz Kofka was a German-language novelist of the 1880, and was one of the most influential writers of his time. Born in the Prague, Hungry (now the Czech Republic) on July 3, 1883, Kofka lived in a modest home with his middle class family outside the Old Town Square. He was raised by his mother, Julie Kofka in his home with five other brothers and sisters until he was sent to school in 1889 at a German boy's elementary school outside of Mansa Street. Franz was raised by the Jewish faith, and of the time it was expected that a Jewish boy would get good grades and exceed educationally in school. Franz did, and never thought of himself as much more. He did well, but did not pursue any kind of higher education after a few years of Philosophy at Warsaw. He was said to be a shy boy, never really having much to say but when he did it was profound.




After his studies, Franz went out into the world and was first hired by an insurance company. Franz worked there for less than a year, and didn't enjoy it much. It took too much time out of his writing-which was growing in importance. Franz was said to develop the first "hard hat" for worker's safety while at the firm, but his job never took off that much from there. He was a simple paper-pusher, and was only working to keep food on the table. In 1915 Franz received a letter for the draft of WWI, but due to his tuberculosis he was diagnosed with soon before kept him out. He tried to enlist many times, but the army wouldn't accept him. Franz never seemed to have time for a family, but he did admit to be tortured by sexual addiction. People often regarded him as emotionally repulsive, and not someone that you would want to hang around with. He had a dry sense of humor, and didn't posses much of a personality to mention. Later in his life he found an interest in swimming which he proved to be quite good at, but soon that too had to be sacrificed for more writing time.



Franz Kofka had many influences on people not only of his own time, but is still opening people's eyes today. His writing was inspiring, dark, and very well written. He inspired a form of fluency called "Kafkaesque" to set in motion a whole act of speaking out against injustice, particularity in Germany, and is commemorated in Warsaw every year. Kafka is rarely quoted by others, but many idealists have similar opinions as his stated in his books. Kafka often painted a picture of a dark, strict bureaucratic world. His symbolism and influence helped shape our world today, and has been used to stand out against tyranny all throughout history.

 

Franz Kofka died on June 3rd, 1924 at the young age of 40. His influence lived on, but he as a person was gone forever. As a result of the tuberculosis he had been suffering from since a child, his condition worsened into a terrible throat problem. His official cause of death was starvation, but only because his throat made it too painful to eat. At his funeral, only his immediate family mourned. Franz was not yet famous, and his ideas weren't always shared mutually. We now know that he was a great writer, and even if he wasn't the most fun person to be around socially, its what he spoke out against that counts. His first piece, The Metamorphosis, wasn't published until almost 20 years after he died.




Nervi, Mauro M. "The Kafka Project." The Kafka Project. Linkit, 06 June 1990. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. <http://www.kafka.org/>.