The Significance of Kafka's The City Coat of Arms - Essay Example

s s `The Coat of Arms’ written by Franza Kafka is an extra-ordinary short story which unveils layers of concepts and phenomena. It`s unimaginable yet brilliant how such a miniature of textual piece may have such a broad range of interpretations. The symbolism predicated in the story at various levels in different ways is reflected in the title itself which signifies the value inherent in interpretation. This, however, doesn’t undermine the clarity and purpose of the piece written by Kafka since the philosophers and theorists still refer to the text for the sake of argumentation and logic. The significance of the story ‘The City Coat of Arms’ lies in the multitude of phenomena it touches upon ranging from diversity of human existence to common purpose of living to even larger than life realities, and yet converging the ideas in a simple notion of creation which is the essence of human existence. In other words, the significance of the work of Kafka lies in the connotation and explanation of the idea of creation and further explaining how every individual in this world is indulged in the act of creating something (Weil 55-56). At the same time, the idea centers around diverse array of issue like how humans are divided along a range of societal and other logistical identities. Similarly, the story touches upon how when these diverse array of individuals are engaged in some common act, there are difficulties and differences, yet common ground is reached at a point often by virtue of consensus. Also, the story talks about larger than life realities, for instance, the construction of the Tower of Babel is itself an extra-ordinary idea since its purpose is to reach heaven. This serves immense philosophical purpose since various arguments about bureaucratic culture, construction or other philosophical questions can be explained with the help of the ideas propagated in the story. To begin with, the amalgamation of ideas into a single concept of creation is in itself quite a significant philosophical connotation. Firstly, the story revolves around the construction of the Tower of Babel where all individuals are gathered to achieve a common cause of the ‘creation of the tower’. The philosophical standing around the concept of creation can thus be explained with the concept touched upon in the story. The theocratic philosophers may find it explicitly state in the text that spiritual creation is indeed the subject of discussion, since reaching the heavens in the ultimate cause which everyone is working for. In other words, it may be perceived that the society is creating virtue to reach heavens or maybe trying to plead to God to bolster them to achieve the spiritual perfection. Similarly, another interpretation of the concept may relate to the creation of a life by carrying out small acts of life. For instance, we all create goodness by constructing a society in an optimistic way or rather create evil by indulging in deceitful and filthy acts (Weil 22-24). However, on a logical spectrum, the management theorists may perceive the story to imply construction and creation of a product. The managerial aspect stresses on the point that diversity is the essence of creation i.e. the division of labor was only possible to construct the tower due to the presence of eclectic elements within the individuals where people were divided into interpreters, guides, builders, planners and other similar genres of construction. Thus, the diverse array of ideas argued upon and explicated in the entire story where various concepts are eventually incorporated, the central thesis still stands to be the construction, and never at any point has Kafka deviated from this central theme. Furthermore, the significance of the work also lies in other diversified ideas, for instance, a very important theme argued upon till date is the diversity which is a positive and a negative entity at the same time. The individuals who had to be engaged into the common goal of construction the tower were divided along extreme lines in terms of social as well as other aspects of life. In words of Kafka himself, as quoted “But the time was spent not only in conflict; the town was embellished in the intervals, and this unfortunately enough evoked fresh envy and fresh conflict.” (Kafka 9) In other words, people from different nationalities had different ideas about construction where their social constructs classified an activity as socially respectful or otherwise. Similarly, since the scale of project handed over to these people was massive, the ideological as well as social differences paved way for conflicts at various levels. Thus, as generations passed dedicated to the construction of the tower, conflicts only grew in nature. However, it was due to this diversity in nature and backgrounds of these people that the project went on for generations, and also that technical expertise were improved. Thus, the works stands to be significant enough owing to the commentary on the diversity of human race on the planet. More so, another significant epistemological standing of the work of Kafka lies in the dimension where commonality of purpose and resolution of conflicts amongst humans is stressed upon. The beginning of the text indicates how the commonality of cause brought the diversified forces together, where a few individuals were presenting their services expecting that their future races would further take the cause forward. The vision for a future, where they saw the generations working towards a commonality of cause gives meanings to the work and adds to its validity (Pascal 111). Also, Kafka himself quotes “The idea, once seized in its magnitude, can never vanish again; so long as there are men on the earth there will be also the irresistable desire to complete the building.” (Kafka 22) This implies that the individuals were all united on the cause owing to the magnitude of the idea, i.e. the cause was larger than the differences. Another point of unison amongst the diverse array of individuals is that once they were all dedicated to a cause, there was no point of return. Thus, the proposition that consciously or unconsciously humans are supporting a common cause which undermines the inherent conflicts is being addressed here. Furthermore, Kafka also speaks of the ‘general opinion’ while telling the story which implies the succor for the idea of dialogue and consensus. Also, at the same time, Kafka is of the view that conflict paves way for innovation, i.e. he says that when generations would be indulged in construction they would argue and differ over issues and that is how they would lead towards solutions, the product of which would be innovation. Thus, in an instance, Kafka narrated how there was bloodshed amongst people from different nationalities over the desire for the better quarter of labor for themselves, but in the midst of their chaos did they find solutions to build a better tower. Thus, holistically, the larger picture was more significant compared to the conflicts. Similarly, larger than life realities and rather the big picture is an essential aspect of the story from the philosophical point of view. The sole symbolic basis of the entire story, i.e. the Tower of Babel is the most magnanimous of such entities. It represents spiritual as well as physical significance, where at the end of the life, all these people wanted to achieve was a tower. However, the tower wasn’t an ordinary one, rather it required generations of hard work owing to the massiveness of the project. Also, the pathway of the tower was conceived and designed in such a way that it led to heavens. Heavens could further be symbolic for purity, spirituality or even the quest for God. Humans tend to contribute their lives towards achieving virtue. Philosophers like Socrates and Plato also highlighted the subject of achieving virtue, which could possibly be the sole purpose of living. Kafka takes a similar position where he says that humans tend to indulge not only their present lives, but also seek to indulge their future generations in the cause, since the larger picture reflects that the higher power must be the subject of one`s attention. Thus, the common goal seen as the bigger picture is an extra-ordinary reality which seems like a distant dream yet achieving the goal is the sole reality for the people from which they can`t back out. This fact indicates that Kafka makes his work significant not only by touching on minor subjects rather giving his work an inclusive touch where the big picture is clearly reflected. Another perspective where the bigger picture in the story is depicted is the proposition that a human must not think low of one`s powers as limiting the powers would only make them weak. In contrast, humans can achieve a great deal by extending this scope of power to unimaginable levels. Kafka, however, gives the logic that humans must not exert their entire power towards achieving the task at and, as the exertion might go to waste if goals aren’t set aside to be met. However, planning head on, and extending the power of the mind can lead individuals towards looking ahead and be visionaries. Thus, by relying on their intellect, the people building the tower limited their physical exertion in the hope that the future generations would be well equipped to deal with the crises and complete the project initiated by them. Thus, everybody being completely involved in the city with such an intensity that they can`t back down is again a depiction of the fact that by virtue of the construction and the desire to create, they learned their inherent powers which would otherwise have remained cloaked. Thus, at various points during the story, the philosophers can make interpretations in such a way so as to depict the bigger picture as the sole reality of life where the little details are just facilitators. In this context, the management theorists can again take the big picture as flaws inherent in bureaucracies which are pointed out by Kafka, where he believes that the layers of bureaucracy can never be merged since there are too many differences yet the common goal of administration stays which can only be perfected with time. Thus, larger than life realities and rather the big picture is an essential aspect of the story from the philosophical point of view which is clearly depicted at various points during the story. Thus, conclusively, `The City Coat of Arms’ written by Franza Kafka is an extra-ordinary short story which unveils layers of concepts and phenomena. It`s unimaginable yet brilliant how such a miniature of textual piece may have such a broad range of interpretations. The symbolism predicated in the story at various levels in different ways is reflected in the title itself which signifies the value inherent in interpretation. This, however, doesn’t undermine the clarity and purpose of the piece written by Kafka since the philosophers and theorists still refer to the text for the sake of argumentation and logic. The significance of the story ‘The City Coat of Arms’ lies in the multitude of phenomena it touches upon ranging from diversity of human existence to common purpose of living to even larger than life realities, and yet converging the ideas in a simple notion of creation which is the essence of human existence. In other words, the significance of the work of Kafka lies in the connotation and explanation of the idea of creation and further explaining how every individual in this world is indulged in the act of creating something. At the same time, the idea centers around diverse array of issue like how humans are divided along a range of societal and other logistical identities. Similarly, the story touches upon how when these diverse array of individuals are engaged in some common act, there are difficulties and differences, yet common ground is reached at a point often by virtue of consensus. Also, the story talks about larger than life realities, for instance, the construction of the Tower of Babel is itself an extra-ordinary idea since its purpose is to reach heaven. This serves immense philosophical purpose since various arguments about bureaucratic culture, construction or other philosophical questions can be explained with the help of the ideas propagated in the story. Works Cited: Kafka, Franz, and Nahum N. Glatzer. The Complete Short Stories of Franz Kafka. London: Vintage, 1999. Print. Pascal, Blaise. Pensées. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1966. Print. Weil, Simone, and Joseph M. Perrin. Waiting for God. New York: Perennial, 2000. Print. Weil, Simone. Gravity and Grace. London: Routledge, 1992. Print. Read More