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/lit/ - Literature

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5244813 No.5244813[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

In The Penal Colony.
Why did the Traveller think that it was a good idea for The Officer to kill himself in the machine ?

>If the judicial process to which the Officer clung was really so close to the point of being cancelled—possibly as a result of the intervention of the Traveller, something to which he for his part felt duty-bound—then the Officer was now acting in a completely correct manner. In his place, the Traveller would not have acted any differently.

>> No.5244876

>>5244813
Can you post some more context? Was this after the machine screwed up and killed the guy who was supposed to be killed?

>> No.5244891
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5244891

>trying to interpret or understand any of Kafka's storybooks

m8 ur just supposed to have ur mind blown and get a paradigm shift. No need to overanalyze

>> No.5244895

>>5244876
It was before. Condemned Man was taken out of the machine, and the Officer decided to take his place, since it was probably the last time the machine was going to be used.
When Officer is getting naked to jump into the machine, the Traveller says these words.

>> No.5244944

>>5244895
Sounds like I need to read it again. Sorry I can't help you.

>> No.5244949

Jew

>> No.5244966

The officer was so incredibly passionate about the execution device that it's impending dismantlement would make his life completely devoid of purpose. He wanted to die with it.

This is a common trend through Kafka's stories. People with a duty, no matter how inane or abhorrent it may be, define themselves by their work to the point that being unable to do their job makes their life completely devoid of purpose.

>> No.5244975

>>5244966
To answer your question the Traveler found this act noble. Something akin to a captain going down with the ship.

>> No.5244993

>>5244966
>>5244975
Not OP, but thanks.

>> No.5245126

>>5244966
>>5244975
OP here, thanks mates

>> No.5245151

>>5245126
The officer is a form of justice,law,violence.The law practiced there has come to an end,finally destroying itself as its final act.

>> No.5245177

>>5244975
But he subverts this to some extend by having the machine kill the Officer too fast, so that he doesn't achieve the mystical experience of being in it for six hours.

>> No.5245249

>>5244966
>>5244975
This is spot on. When I first read it, I thought it had a lot to do with officer being more concerned with the procedure and protocol of the process that he never questioned what it was being used for.

He was too possessed with the actual mechanical function of the machine he was blinded to the morally questionable application. He was more concerned with the machine than the man in it and valued it so highly that he would rather sacrifice himself to fulfill its purpose than see it go to waste. At least that is what I think.

>> No.5245282

>>5244966
like der hungerkünstler

>> No.5245700

Altough i have to agree with the other interpretations posted here, i would like to add a bit of additional detail.

Another aspect might be that the officer needed to fullfill his judicative funktion and the principle by wich he judged the accused was "Die Schuld ist immer zweifellos" (Guilt is always without doubt). Also crimes that were comitted within the penal colony had to be punished and the only punishment available was achieved through the machine. By judging poorly, the officer also, had to be punished. That is why he had the words "Sei gerecht!" (be just) written onto him. By sentencing himself to the punishment, the officer comitted his final judgement to serve justice after all.

>> No.5245709

>>5245177
I felt that happened to make The Officer a more sympathetic character.

Which I feel is what makes this story special, it makes you sympathise with the executioner who doesn't empathise with his victims whatsoever.

>> No.5245735

>>5245282

Well.. I think that's a bit different since didn't the Hunger Artist say that the only reason he fasted was because he didn't like to eat anything?

I love that story, but I feel I keep misinterpreting it. Every time I always feel that Kafka was talking about himself as an artist. That he didn't write the types of stories he did for success or recognition, but because they were the only stories he knew how to tell.

>> No.5245743
File: 40 KB, 212x325, Christopher_Moltisanti.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5245743

Why doesn't Chris play Kafka in a biopic?

>> No.5246123

>>5244895
brr

>> No.5246593

Well this is a Kafka thread.

Has anyone read any of the Schocken translations of Kafka and are they much different from the old translations? I've heard the original translations were hella rushed and these fix some things but I dunno.

>> No.5246604

>>5245282
>>5245735
Agreed, I'd compare it more to The Judgement

>> No.5246608
File: 86 KB, 700x529, kafkaish.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5246608

>>5246593
these ones

>> No.5246613

>>5245743
Because it'd become a meta-commentary about a young Hollywood screenwriter who never finds his audience and is saved from obscurity by a producer named Max

Oscar bait, oscar bait everywhere

>> No.5246634

>>5246608
I actually like the look and feel of these. I love the minimal design. Reminds me of camus books.

>> No.5246688

>>5246593
Willa and Edwin Muir did a fine job translating his shorts.