Franz Kafka's The Judgment: A Perpetual Quest for Answers; or a Contemplation of Absurdity
Kafka’s The Judgment, as the majority of his work, belongs to the genre of magical realism, which stands out because of its unique absurdist undertone and its unmatched suspension of disbelief, an element that is ensured through the use of a swift pacing and a chaotic atmosphere.
In The Judgment, these elements work exquisitely; as soon as the reader perceives a hint of order within the confusion and comprehends the events unfolding before their eyes, this feeling of clearance disappears immediately, lost at the hands of yet another mind blowing occurrence. The reading experience of this story is, in fact, comparable to that of watching a film: the pacing is so swift that it erases the rising action; it is almost as if the exposition and the climax worked consecutively, without any sort of “glue” in between; that is to say that while reading, the rising action goes unnoticed. It is not necessarily a negative aspect, rather it adds to the strangeness and reverie of the story, as dreams form quickly and quickly fade and wane. This peculiarity creates disorientation and alienates the reader from the narration, this strategic chaos, which culminates with the climax (when Georg’s father stands up on the bed, out of his mind), makes it so that the reader is so dazed that they’re left speechless before the finale, which is often tragic. In a story that runs smoothly, without misunderstandings and hitches, the protagonist and their actions often become predictable; the chaos of magical realism preserves the unpredictability of the finale, and it is precisely because of this that I believe this genre to be very cinematic (also due to the story’s capability of coming alive in one’s imagination, thanks to imagery and vivid lexicon). The dialogues also contribute to the speed and liveliness of the story, as they are easily transformed into lines and guarantee a sequence of detached scenes and knotted thoughts, providing the reader with true but too limited information to make predictions. This quality renders the genre similar to a film, which is based around plot twists and builds constant tension in order to bring the reader to the awe and wonder of the finale. Finally, the tragic end (the suicide of Georg) stimulates the reader’s intellect to connect the dots and retrace their own steps to fill in the gaps left by the missing information, which presents the reader with infinite possibilities of interpretation.
To conclude, the beauty of Kafka’s magical realism resides in its open invitation to a perpetual quest for answers, or in fewer words, a contemplation of absurdity.
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