Kafka/Modernism Reflection Essay

As a study of Modernism, there is no better to paint a vivid image of this dark take on reality than Franz Kafka. Modernism is a hard concept to define, but Kafka hits the nail right on the head. Some argue he could be the father of Modernism. Many people may simply shrug Kafka's aims at reality as just a depressed outlook, but there is a method to it that has helped many people and can be found as undeniably true. Modernism is commonly characterized as the explanation for why we work-and the answer is not because it makes people happy. People isolate themselves from what is really important in their lives when they get too caught up in the rat race of society, and one day they will look back at all that they have accomplished and wonder where their loved ones are to prove it to. Franz Kafka's most well-known piece of literature, The Metamorphosis, is the best example of Modernism the world has ever known and still is today. There is a lesson to be found on every page. Using the allegorical character known as Gregor for his expression of the Modernist interpretation of life, Kafka is truly the directing forerunner of Modernism.

As an example of just how judicious Kafka is with his Modernist ideals and knowledge, a college professor by the name of David Foster Wallace has admitted to almost giving up on teaching Kafka to his young students. In his speech, Laughing with Kafka, Foster argues that Kafka cannot be understood by the contemporary generation, simply because kids don't see the humor in his shrewd. "What Kafka seems able to do better than just about anyone else is to orchestrate the pressure's increase in such a way that it becomes intolerable at the precise instant it is released." (Wallace, 1) Like a joke, Kafka forces people to look at the dark underbelly of society when they least want to, but lets them go just in time for them to think about what they have done to create it. He pushes people to the point of breaking, but pacifies them just before the end as to give them time to take it all in. What most scholars don't get is that Kafka doesn't want to depress and upset his readers, he wants to change them for the better. He wants to shed light on what is not known to society and scare away our darkest fears-but only the people themselves can do that. Kafka is simply giving them the weapon of awareness. "The claim is that Kafka's funniness depends on some kind of radical literalization of truths we tend to treat as metaphorical." (Wallace, 2) People can't take all of Kafka's statements verbatim. What is sometimes hard to understand really isn't that difficult at all. People are just trying to avoid the answer that is right in front of their face. Kafka is opening society's eyes to its real life, the life it was created to live in. "Kafka's evocations are, rather, unconscious and almost sub-archtypal, the primordial little-kid stuff from which myths derive; this is why we tend to call even his weirdest stories nightmarish rather than surreal. "(Wallace, 2) People don't understand Kafka because they tend to look too far into it. It's hard to explain the joke after it has already been said, because then the joke isn’t funny anymore. It’s lost all its humor. To understand Kafka is on a personal level, it differs from each individual. That's the unseen virtuosity to Kafka's Modernist wisdom.

Another illustration of Kafka's brilliance is characterized through the similarities of a fellow modern revisionist of contemporary time, a Mr. Thomas C. Foster. Thomas Foster is a literature major and has been teaching on a professional level for over twenty-one years at the University of Michigan-Flint. His most famous piece of writing is an evaluation of Sigmund Freud. Foster's idea of communion and Vampirism is expressed in both his pieces Nice to Eat with You: Acts of Communion, and Nice to Eat You: Acts of Vampires. Through the somewhat bias positions Freud had on neurology, Foster tries to interpret Freud's famous quote, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." (Freud, 1) Foster is trying to shed light on the idea of eating with others, or in a somber case, eating someone. The idea of communion is simple: people eat food with others that they care for as to prove something to themselves, to remind each other of something. In a religious sense, taking communion is supposed to symbolize the blood and body of Christ, and by taking communion in church people are reminding themselves that Jesus died for them on the cross. "Here's the thing to remember about communions of all kinds: in the real world, breaking bread together is an act of sharing and peace, since if you're breaking bread you're not breaking heads." (Foster, 2) People tend to eat with others they care about, and others are not invited into their home without consent of food. Eating is sacred for all people. At the end of the day, families come together at the table to be with one another and enjoy a meal. Sharing food with loved one is always a time to respect, and always necessary. On the other hand, through a Modernist perspective, the symbolism of a Vampire eating is much different. When a Vampire sucks the blood out of its victim, it is literally and metaphorically sucking the life out of them. A Vampire feeds off others' souls, and takes what people have in the most selfish way possible. Like Gregor's father, Vampires get fat and lazy off other's toil. "Denying someone else's right to live in the face of our overwhelming demands." (Foster, 21) Vampires are perverse creatures. They take what they want without any regard or even a second thought to how it may affect their victim or others around them. They feed on others as to make themselves full of life, but not their own. Vampires take other's fortunes and exploit their victims’ values for their own benefit. They prey on others less than them, and draw from their hard work and self worth. Gregor's father could have been working the entire time Gregor was a human, but he only got a job once Gregor was no longer able to support his family. Sharing and taking are two major ideas tossed around by Kafka, and both are symbolized in The Metamorphosis. Communion is a thing to be celebrated, it represents sharing and love for one another. Vampirism is the opposite. Even though Communion is a good thing, it only causes Gregor more pain and makes the Vampirism of his father more unbearable. That is the depressing enlightenment of Kafka's allegories. 

As all of these ideas play into the story line of The Metamorphosis, the reader begins to see the irony, the humor, and the sadness expressed by Kafka intentionally targeting society. Kafka wants to teach everyone something, not only about themselves, but the world they live in too. The idea is a difficult one to dissect, but once people discover it for themselves it becomes eye-opening to say the least. Gregor is a young boy living and supporting his family in a small, drab apartment that he has trapped himself into. He never goes out, he never spends time in nature, and he has no friends at all. He is completely consumed by his work. Being a traveling salesman is all that he ever thinks about, all he is good for. With no real life, no benefit to society or any other characteristics distinguished from a mindless robot, Gregor is not alive. He will leave no real impact on anyone once he dies, and when he does-no one cares anymore. He is thrown out with the rest of the garbage. With nothing more to prove to the world than that of a vermin, Gregor literally becomes one. He is transformed into his true figure: an unclean animal not suited for sacrifice. "No request of Gregor's was of any use; no request would ever be understood." (Kafka, 8) Gregor is a bug, his human form is no longer a mask for what he is deep down. His true ethics and standards have revealed themselves, he can no longer hide himself. What little human values he has are still appreciable, but fading. "For, in fact, from day to day he perceived things with less and less clarity, even those only a short distance away." (Kafka, 13) Gregor has no one to blame but himself. He still cares for his family, and even in his hideous condition he still wants to help them. The only incentive for him to get better is to send his sister to the Conservative. Gregor is a truly selfless figure, but in a Modernist world that cannot be. He simply becomes easy prey for the Vampires. Even when Gregor is covered in garbage, injured by his own Father with an apple and ironically starving, he still tries his best to help and secure his sister. "She frightened Gregor twice every day. The entire time he trembled under the couch, and yet he knew very well that she would certainly have spared him gladly if it had only been possible to remain with the window closed in a room where Gregor lived." (Kafka, 13) Gregor has shut himself in. He wants to help his sister, but he is so focused on doing good for others that he forgot about himself. In the end, with no one to care for him, Gregor dies from starvation. He was no more than the tiny, broken shell of a bug that remains of him, and his memory will only be portrayed as the scrawny little burden to the family with no friends, no life, and no evidence of his own existence. In a Modernist way, Gregor did the best he could with what he had. But he was focused on all the wrong things. All he wanted to do was help his family, but that turned out to be all he did. He was lost in himself. He had nowhere to go besides work, and that is a sad fact to admit. Gregor was living, but not alive. The Modernist world killed him, but it was ultimately his own stubbornness that ended his faulty existence. 

Throughout all of Kafka’s writing, there is a parable to be found. Kafka means to help people, but in the end those who are willing to listen can only help themselves. Kafka can only give you a push towards freedom. Happiness is not money, a high paying job, or even family. Happiness is simply doing what is enjoyed because life will be over soon. People live, try their hardest to leave a positive mark on this earth to remember them by, and then they die. It’s as simple as that. Kafka shares only one message throughout all of his writing: life is meant to be lived. With the short time all people are given on this earth they shouldn’t spend it worrying about money or cornering merits. Enjoy each minute, because the best parts don’t last long enough to go back and appreciate them. Life isn’t protracted enough for that. Life is a complicated ride, and it’s impossible to determine where it will go next. Don’t become a Vampire, and don’t become a mindless bug. Own all of what is good, and expel the bad habits formed in time. Experience life, because when it comes down to it, not a lot matters after it passes by.