It had almost been 8 months since I last read Kafka. The last book I read of him was ‘Letters to Milena’. I picked up the collection of his short stories and read The Judgement today. It was around 13-14 pages. So the story basically goes like this - there is a man named Georg who is having a conversation with his friend via letter. His family business is thriving and he has just got engaged after his mother’s death. Georg is writing this letter to his friend who had moved to Russia years ago and is struggling with business and loneliness. He is hesistant to share these news with his friend as it might come across as boastful or make his friend feel like a failure.
He still mentions about his wedding and asks his friend to visit him in his city as it would be the perfect occassion. He then takes the letter across the hall to his father’s room to inform him before sending it. But what starts as an ordinary conversation quickly turns into a psychological dread. It escalates to an extent where his father starts accusing him of being selfish and a disgraceful son who only cares about his own comfort and marriage. He even says that he has been secretly writing to Georg’s friend in Russia telling him about his real nature. After a series of accusations, his father tells him
“I sentence you now to death by drowning!”
What makes the story so kafkaesque is that Georg just accepts it and goes and kills himself. Driven entirely by a rush of guilt and the need to obey he rushes out of the house and drops himself in the river. His last words being
“Dear parents, I have always loved you, all the same.”
What I could make of the story is that a parental authority or any authority in general can shape our lives very drastically. We can feel guilty without any wrongdoing. It shows us how fragile our sense of reality is and how approval and blame of the people who raised us can completely take over our own will to live. I think blind obedience can be very dangerous. I see this almost everywhere that in the name of ‘respect’, we do not dare to question the authority. The story seems like a twisted interpretation of Kafka’s own relationship with his father whom he deeply admired but was also very afraid of.
I got another book today and I have started reading it. It’s called “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying”. I love the idea behind it and will write about it once I finish it. Apart from this, there’s nothing much to do these days. I created a stupid game. I took the inspiration from a game I used to play during college. It was also a conversation based game. I just took the story from my previous blog and converted it but I am thinking of adding more events to the story later. I showed it to a few of my friends and they liked it.
I have already taken leave from 1st October till 11th October. Although there’s no plan fixed yet, but I’m hoping to go somewhere. If no one joins, I might just go solo. I think that’s all for today. Going back to my doomscrolling on insta.
And don’t mind Gengar floating around the screen. He might be a ghost type but he means no harm and is just here to entertain!
