The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka - Episode #1- I'm a bug!

The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka - Episode #1

Hi, I’m Christy Shriver.

And I’m Garry Shriver, and this is the how to love lit Podcast. We’re glad you’re listening- thank you. We hope you enjoy exploring great writing with us, and I want to remind you- if you enjoy our work please forward an episode to a friend. Obviously, it’s by sharing that we all grow and build- which, as the last series on American documents informs us- building is always the goal. Today, however, we are leaving the Americas, and entering the beautiful and historically rich Bohemian city of Prague where we will meet one of its notable native sons, Franz Kafka- in order to look at his famous novella “Metamorphosis”.

Of all the writers we’ve done so far, I have to admit, Kafka intimidates me the most. And it’s not just because he’s one of the most analyzed writers on earth after Shakespeare and the writers of the Bible- although that’s a factor. But kafka gets in people’s heads in a way that is different than other people- the world he creates is a world that we all live in, but at the same time we’re all terrified of- to some degree. Everyone can find themselves in Kafka, and yet- who wants to admit to it- his world feels like a nightmare- in fact, some people call it surreal or dreamlike, except it isn’t.

Which takes us to the term that carries his name kafka-esque- Even if you haven’t heard of Kafka or read his work, you may have heard of or even used the term ‘kafka-esque”- a term usually meant to express an experience that is absurd, ridiculous, nightmarish yet terrible.

Yes- it does mean that- but in some ways- it means more than that- and it embodies something all of who live in the modern world understand. What Kafka tries to show in all of his works is how the modern world is both absurd, frustrating, cruel but ridiculous to the point of funny. He also wants to show us that we are in part responsible for the messes we make in this world. For example, I remember when I was kid in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, we were at the mall (which unlike in the US is a really nice place to go) and I wanted to purchase a hamburger. I went to the counter and asked for the hamburger, the lady said- you have to go over there and buy a ticket at that other counter, then you come back here with your ticket. So, I went to the other side of the store to the cashier and asked for a hamburger- the cashier said they didn’t have hamburgers only cheeseburgers. I asked if I could have a cheeseburger with no cheese. She said she didn’t know, she was just the cashier. I’d have to talk to the manager. So, I went to the manager, waited in a third line, to ask to purchase the cheeseburger He gave me permission, but wrote me a note that I took to cashier. I bought the cheeseburger, but then had to go back to the first lady who then made my burger- she had to conference back with the manager- I waited quite some time, but somehow it had cheese on it and I had to take it off myself- that situation is kafka-esque- frustrating, angering, nonsensical- pointless- but it was all about the bureaucracy of modern living- the thing thst’s supposed to make things easier. But, it’s also funny if you think about it- so much so that I remember it.

I think everyone has a story like that. I remember when I left my job at Shelby County Schools to go to a private school, I then decided to take a part time job from Shelby County Schools at their Virtual Academy. When I went to fill out the application, they asked for a letter of confirmation of employment from my previous employer- and I told them- but YOU are my previous employer. They said, that didn’t matter, I would have to go to downtown office and get the letter regardless. Kafka-esque- a expression of a system that is a tyranny without a tyrant and serves no one but itself to paraphrase the great German-American political theorist Hannah Arendt.

The machine is in charge. And the machine isn’t a person- it’s a frustrating. Nothing.

The legacy of the term kafka-esque describes what has evolved from this unusual man- he knows how to express the frustrations and discouragments of modern life metaphorically in the most vivid and horrifying ways. There’s so many different directions we could take in exploring Kafka, and we’ll do our best to highlights the big ones. The real scholars- which is not us-btw- will tell you all of his works kind of piece themselves together like a sodoku game and if you read all of them they somewhat fit together to create a unified vision of the world- and I, obviously agree with that assessment, although I’ll admit I havent’ read all his works- although honestly, there aren’t THAT many full length works- most of his writings are letters, but even his fiction consists of a lot of short stories. But the novella Metamorphosis is the most well-known.

I want to add- if you’re not up for an entire novella, or even a short story- there is one...