Comparison of Kafkas Castle with Surrealism - Term Paper Example

?Comparison of Kafka’s Castle with Surrealism Table of Contents Introduction 3 Thesis ment 4 Surrealism and Kafka 4 Surrealism and Castle of Kafka 6 Conclusion 8 Works Cited 9 Introduction “Castle” is the last novel written by one of the supreme writers from the modern pantheon, Franz Kafka. This last and unfinished work of the author stands as one of the greatest mysteries and puzzle of modern literature, when its style and themes are attempted for delineation. An apparent gaze at the plot of the novel introduce its readers with its all time baffled protagonist K, who relentlessly battles to have possession over the authorities of the mysterious castle from where the village is ruled for reasons unknown to everyone. Navigation to the allegory or the underlying current of thought process, quite latent within the premise of its plot, would indicate myriad issues the novel wants to propagate. At one hand, it seems that the author has launched a battle against system and bureaucracy and tries to depict man’s endless frustrations regarding his stand against the prevalent system and his complete unproductive pursuit to attain something beyond his comprehension and reach. To sum up the context of the text, it can be asserted that the novel is about alienation, nihilism and the influence of the movement of surrealism which can be well traced in the style of the novel (Block, “Interpreting Kafka”). The unexpected juxtaposition, the paradoxical view of the artists contradicting the precursory conditions of dream and reality and most importantly, the element of surprise marked the artistry of the surreal movement. Kafka could not escape the deep impression, the movement of surrealism left on the society and very often his style of expression and oblivious plots of his novel set him closer to the style inherent in the surrealistic literature that evolved out of the crisis of the time. Thesis Statement This essay intends to explicate the impression of the surrealism that can be traced through the style of Franz Kafka, inherent in his timeless novel “Castle”. Surrealism and Kafka Before plunging into the paradigm of tracing the relation of surrealism with the novel, “Castle”; it becomes very quintessential to draw a firm relation between the movement and the author from which the style incorporated in the particular novel had culminated. The element of surprise and the subtle and unexpected juxtapositions, paradoxes and parables appear in the texts of the author simultaneously. To examine the incorporation and impression of surrealism in the works of Kafka, one has to probably go through one of his finest surreal novel, “Trial”. From the novel “Trial” to all his other major works, Kafka has been an issue of puzzle for the critics and readers, even today after the passing of so many decades since Kafka’s death. Keith Forth in his essay, “The Function of Style in Franz Kafka’s The Trial” mentions, “We find ourselves faced, in studying The Trial, with a situation like seeing the roof of a house without being able to see the walls” (Fort, “The Function of Style in Franz Kafka's “The Trial”).. The situation is such that critics after launching volley of examination and re-examination could come to a term where there are common agreements on the meaning of Kafka’s novels only. However, if one is likely to comprehend the underlying motif of the man in portraying characters in a mystic form and objects bigger, one will definitely end up in a lane of thoughts with a dead end. For example the “Court”, in the novel “Trial”, posses a quality that has a nightmarish hue, the situation inside the courtroom is unreal. But what is the actual physiological or psychological implication of fabricating such setting for the plot of the novel is a wonder till date. And all these qualities of Kafka’s style have made him equivalent with a singular phenomena constant in all his novels. It shall therefore not be irrational to assert that Kafka, as if raised a battle, portraying the preyed feature of man in the hands of adverse situation. Astonishingly, this does not appear at all in his novels like that of Hardy’s. Kafka’s novels pertinently draw a theme where an omnipotent, mysterious and unreal force operate against man making his predicament almost equal to the fate of a fly in the hand of a wanton boy. After a close introspection through all the major works of Franz Kafka, it would be a sheer injustice on the part of the critic to head the style of Kafka’s writing into any typicality of isms. Expressionism also finds profound space in the style of the author holding the hands of Surrealism side by side. Though the balance on the side of Surrealism in Kafka’s work is heavier, yet it can be asserted that the style of Kafka finds a very unique pattern where a proper amalgamation of Expressionism and Surrealism gets hold of its worthy matrix. The imagination and the reel like setting which is manifested through dream sequences where the dramatic quality of the setting and flow of sequence takes over the narrative style, Kafka’s works resemble first rank form of Expressionism within the narrative structure of the novels that almost takes the stance of a narrative art. Walter Herbert Sokel in his book, “The Writer in Extremis: Expressionism in Twentieth Century German Literature” asserts , “…The effectiveness of a masterpiece like ‘Metamorphosis’ resides to a great extent in its initial and key image – the mysterious transformation of a man into a giant bug. Some of the best lyric poetry of Expressionism is, like the poetry of Surrealism, imagist in character” (Sokel 43-46). In actual terms, it would be too straightforward and too mundane to club the style of Kafka under any particular genre. It is the myth and mystery that engulfs the character and novels of Kafka like his life. In this context, Sokel further comment “…The guilt which his emotional shortcomings arouse in the writer of expressionist generation finds it’s most poignant and significant expression in Franz Kafka. However, in contrast to the expressionists proper, Kafka never deceived himself into believing that the mere utterance of the wish to love and the invocation of the magic formula “O Mensch” could affect a real generation” (Sokel, “The Other Face of Expressionism”). Surrealism and Castle of Kafka Kafka has always presented texts those are very lucid in terms of language, but when it comes to comprehend them, they all have transported the readers into a realm of enigma. James Rolleston in his book, “A Companion to the Works of Franz Kafka” comments, “Kafka’s spare, lucid, yet ultimately enigmatic texts confront, from countless different perspectives, their vulnerability of a modern psyche seeking refuge in the materiality and conventional assumptions of the present” (Rolleston 1). This note of Rolleston regarding the perspective of Kafka can be traced in the plot of the novel, “Castle”. The surrealism in the novel, “Castle” appears through multiple aspects imbibed within its context. Image of death, allegorical content, the struggle of self and the paradoxical quest towards the direction of a realm that is infinite and transcendental holding the hands of psychoanalytical trajectory of human mind, builds the surrealistic approach of the novel. In the novel, the protagonist K finds himself in an archetypal world of Kafka, which more or less appears in every work. A domain from subconscious that is a part of the author’s unconscious and nightmarish world in which the protagonist K is trapped and finds it as a viscous circle. The shadow of Other is felt by everyone in the novel. This shadow suppresses the individual, a state in which no one can claim about his identity, in doing so an individual will be deceived. In the novel “Castle” as well K gets appointment to look after the castle but he himself is not sure of it and never ceases to work and execute his effort. Henry Peyre in his essay, “The Significance of Surrealism” comments notably, “The role of the artist is to become inhuman; he must look for what in art has "most energy", scorn facile charm, leap forward and assert the claims of poetry and painting to explore the world of the future, claims which are prior to those of philosophy, psychology, and science” (Peyre, “The Significance of Surrealism”). Taking the clue of the function of artist in a text influenced by surrealism by Henry Peyre, one can trace the K’s unconscious world where love and feeling means nothing. In the world of Unconscious, Ego is brought to annihilation which is merciless and cruel. Through the stark imagery of death from the outset of the novel, a dark, dim realm of ambiguity is build which is again a potent influence of surrealism. Conclusion Conclusively, it can be asserted that the novel “Castle” is crafted using hue of surrealism. Though critics have always been in a fix to coin the exact style of Kafka’s writing, Kafka and his creation will continue to remain an issue of bafflement for its reader and critics. Kafka is a mystic; his life gets equally reflected through his work. And both the quarters of his life and work has always been swallowed by an ambience of mystery. Under the light of such condition, it would be actually very mundane to coin the style of Kafka’s timeless writing. The literature of modern pantheon and Kafka deals with the stark rationality of contemporary situation presented with a twist of dreamy vision that is actually universal and beyond the capacity of any particular genre. Works Cited Block, Haskell M. “Interpreting Kafka”. The Modern Language Journal, 49.5 (1965): 322-326. Print. Fort, Kieth. “The Function of Style in Franz Kafka's “The Trial”. The Sewanee Review, 72.4 (1964): 643-651. Print. Peyre, Henri. “The Significance of Surrealism”. Yale French Studies, 2 (1948): 34-49. Rolleston, James. “A” Companion to the Works of Franz Kafka. USA: Boydell & Brewer, 2006. Print. Sokel, Walter Herbert. The Writer in Extremis: Expressionism in Twentieth-Century German Literature. California: Stanford University Press, 1959. Print. Sokel, Walter H. “The Other Face of Expressionism”. Monatshefte, 47.1 (1955): 1-10. Print. Read More