Bio
• Born 1883, died aged 40 in 1924• Originated in Prague, part of a middle-class, german speaking Jewish family
Themes and ideas
• work fuses elements of realism with the fantastic
• isolated protagonist• surreal situations• alienation• guilt• existential worry• absurdity• father-son conflict• transformation• mental turmoil
Life events, influences• A lonely childhood? parents were absent during working days to tend to the family business• Pursued law, despite his lack of enthusiasm for the field. worked on writing in his spare time• Kafka's father referred to his son's career as a 'bread job' - a job to pay the bills. Could suggest an unhappiness? openly admitted he despised his job and how it impacted on his writing.
• Never married, engaged numerous times.• Low self-confidence, repressed, distance from others? • Critics / historians / biographers have speculated that Kafka may have had a schizoid personality disorder
• Perceived by those that met him as quiet, intelligent, with a dry sense of humour• He was said to be very pre-occupied by what others thought of him - feared of being viewed as repulsive
Works of note
• Metamorphosis• The Trial
