Kafka: Alienation and Marxism

Kafka stands apart from most writers. His style is haunting and, to some, obtuse. Kafka was not a political writer, but he sympathized with socialism. A close friend, Hugo Bergmann, an Israeli philosopher, stated that Kafka's socialism was too strident, putting a dent in between their relationship. Kafka often wore a red carnelian to sympathize with the budding Socialist movement (Wikipedia contributors, "Franz Kafka"). Because of this, we can still read it through a Marxist lens.

The theme of alienation features prominently in all of Kafka's writing, and it is no different here. In The Judgement, Marx's theory of alienation is explored threefold. First, for Marx, alienation in a capitalist society can occur through multiplicities.

A.) Through a seizure of the product from the worker who has created it

B.) Separation from the worker and their development, and

C.) from the worker and their human nature.

In Kafka's short story, he explores not one but all three of these types of alienation which showcases that alienation in complex societies can be widespread. All three of these types share the similarity of the worker being unable to communicate "fundamental social aspects of personal identity" due to the privatized system of labor and production which treats "each worker as an instrument: i.e., a thing, not a person" (Wikipedia contributors, "Marx's Theory of Alienation").

In the case of alienation between workers and the act of production in The Judgement, we focus not on Georg, whose business seems indestructible, but on Georg's unnamed friend. According to Marx, a side effect of this type of alienation is that the worker "…does not feel content, but unhappy, does not develop his physical and mental energy freely but mortifies his body and ruins his mind" (Wikipedia contributors, "Marx's Theory of Alienation"). One of the first descriptive accounts we receive of Georg's friend is that this friend's face displays "a sallow complexion indicating an advancing disease" (Kafka 63). In the previous sentence, Georg mentions that his friend had been "pointlessly grinding himself down in a foreign country" (Kafka 63). To me, this shows that these statements are related. The friend's grinding down in pre-revolutionary Russia is evident in the physical deterioration of the friend's face and body that Marx had predicted.

According to Marxism, the second source of alienation is B.) the estrangement between the worker and their product. To better understand this type of alienation, we look towards the troubling power dynamic between the father and the son of the story, Georg. We learn of the family business growing in status, some of it owing to "accidental good fortune" (Kafka 65) but mainly from Georg's hard work. After the Mother's death, Georg begins to live with the father and takes over the business with "more fervor." Georg, the narrator, goes on to elaborate that during his Mother's lifetime, his father had run the company to prevent Georg from "making his own mark" on the business (Kafka 65). This alone is a form of Marxist alienation by keeping Georg in a place of submission to his father and boss. Still, with personnel doubling, profits increasing fivefold, and prosperity "just around the corner," we see the persistence of Georg's motivation and work ethic. The father seems to take revenge on his son (and employee) for his dedication and service. The father removes any pride that Georg might take in himself the successful work he has done in the family business when he says,

"Tell me – and when you answer, still be my loyal son – what was left for me in my back room, plagued by disloyal staff, and old to the very marrow? And my son saunters exultantly through the world, closing deals I had prepared, falling all over himself with joy, and slinking away from his father with the stiff mug of an honorable man!" (Kafka 73).

What appears curious to me is that the father says, "still be my loyal son." What else could Georg be, except in this sense, his employee? Or to what the father alludes here to a "disloyal employee"? This mind game of logic and loyalty is present but hidden between the words. The father then continues to say, "I don't need you," and "I am still stronger by far," and "I have your clientele here in my pocket" (Kafka 74). He is moving entirely into the bourgeoise persona, dictating to his son as a lesser worker, thus separating him from his value as a laborer and his product.

Alienation of the third kind of alienation from the worker and their human nature is the most evident in all of Kafka's writings, and some would argue what makes Kafka, Kafka. For this type of alienation, we look at the absence of some of the prime characters in this story. The Mother has died, and we can infer that the mother figure might have been a buffer in this fierce competition between father/boss and son/worker. Fraulein Frieda Brandenfeld, the fiancé in this story, is ridiculed subjectively by the father and points to contention between Georg and his friend. What should be a momentous and happy occasion cannot even be spoken about for fear of criticism from the father or further alienation from the friend. The friend is separated by life circumstances and physical distance in a "politically uncertain" Russia (Kafka 64). This friend is kept from knowing about the nuptials because Georg fears that his friend will "feel dejected" and would have to return "alone" (Kafka 66). It is human nature to feel happy, express love, and argue to "pursue happiness," here, all three of these forms are forbidden to the reader and the characters in the story's setting.

There is class consciousness deeply rooted in The Judgement. From alienation from production to Separation from the worker and their product, alienation from satisfying human nature. Kafka makes a point for his readers to experience them all in a concise way that best summarizes the worker's experiences in a realistic setting. Thankfully for this writing, we best surmise what this living experience can be made to look like without the money to experience it first-hand. Because of this, we can then dissect the information and become better, more understanding workers in our sense and this life.

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Works Cited

Kafka, Franz. “The Judgement.” The Metamorphosis and Other Stories, Barnes and Noble Books, 1996, pp. 63–78.

Wikipedia contributors. “Franz Kafka.” Wikipedia, 19 Oct. 2001, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBergman19698-109.