Why Is Kafka's Unjust?

Capital punishment, also frequently referred to as the death penalty, is a government certified practice where a person is put to death by the state as a form of punishment for a crime they have committed (Henderson, 25). Crimes that are found punishable by death are referred to as capital crimes or capital offences, and commonly include offences such as murder, treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide (Henderson, 48-9). The term capital is derived from the Latin term capitalis meaning "of the head" which alludes to executions that were carried out by beheading (Kronenwetter, 202). This paper will discuss the complexities of capital punishment’s history and methods as well as its economic, political, and

Bromley’s choice to use real-life situations serves as an excellent means of showing the ordinary occurrences in our day to day life that demonstrate the ways in which hierarchies of power affect our lives in ways we do not realize. She continues by bringing in the reader to the understanding of the belief that these everyday oppressions are acceptable as they are perpetrated by the people who possess “(…) the power to determine “normal”” (Bromley 2012). When Bromley brings

“A Hanging” by George Orwell is an influential, autobiographical essay, in which the subject of capital punishment is powerfully examined. The essay is based on a prisoner’s execution in a Prisoner of War camp in Burma during the Second World War. In the essay, Orwell is a prison guard for the camp and carefully illustrates his views on capital punishment. The structure of the essay is of three distinct sections. These sections provide the reader with contrast and repetition, and are grounded in reality but with emphasis on the creative,

Franz Kafka was a very intelligent writer of his times. Kafka was born in Austro-Czechoslovakia. He was mainly a writer of short stories, and complex diaries, yet he did publish a small number of novels. The works of Kafka have been interpreted as allegorical, autobiographical, psychoanalytical, Marxist, religious, existentialist, expressional, and naturalist. His novels have a wide variety of interpretations. Of his novels, The Trial is one of the more complex in aspects of literature (Bryfonski and Hall 288). The Trial was written with the intention of an autobiography for Kafka. The Trial delves into the mind of the victim, K., and also into many things not comprehended by Kafka himself. He wrote this book in order to better convey his

captivity in a broken system that declares itself “just” has enforced him to abide by such laws

The history of torture in Europe may seem at first to be a steady progression of barbarous tactics, leading from one social purge to the next, but this is not completely the case. Torture has been used in a progression from primitive methods to the present more modern styles. It has also developed extensively, both in severity and variety of methods used. But in the end, torture has gone full circle; modern forms of torture are more like those methods used by savages than anything in between. Overall, the severity of torture has fluctuated, growing and receding with the passing of each new time period, but eventually reverting to its original state.

The power to use laws for the purpose of peace, justification, and protection of the rights of individuals in society is moral and it has a certain ethical rationale to confirm it’s validity, but when the misuse of authority is exercised for the purpose of selfish advance or benefit, then oppression becomes prevalent. All people have basic rights that must be respected and thought of as an uncompromisable necessity from which no one can neglect or deny allowance. Unfortunately, the abuse of power and authority is wreaking havoc in the foundations of certain societies creating injustices and mistreatment that is thoroughly understood by those who are forced to live under this defect of power. Every person will be faced with an influential decision; stand up for what they believe in or fall under the clutches of the opposition. This statement is noticeably evident in Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s short story when he demonstrates the possible response to oppression in “Harrison Bergeron.” Likewise, in the memorable poem, “Still I Rise,” Maya Angelou illustrates the will power one can have to overcome accusations. Lastly, Hernando Tellez portrays through his short story, “Ashes for the Wind,” the severity some people would go though to reinforce basic rights. These authors exemplify through their pieces of literature the capability of oppression to alter lives.

Over time, the logics of social control and punishment have transformed dramatically and are designed to be effective based on the overall structure of society. During the ancient regime, society was under a feudal system controlled by the monarchy who used fear, torture, and public executions to keep citizens submissive. Accompanying the transition of the logics of punishment under the ancient regime to those introduced by the reformers is the new form of control through the use of discipline and punishment to produce productive members of society and to rehabilitate those who do not conform to societal expectations. During the seventeenth century, the monarchy relied upon the techniques of penal torture and public execution to reaffirm

Human rights, for centuries, has been a buzzword, creating an illusion of equality between people, united in their differences, but it is clear from the callous use of torture throughout history that human rights is only inclusive to those whom society favors. Torture is an act of repression, and establishes a direct attack to the core of human autonomy. One human being is degraded to the state of a non-human object, deprived of all empathy and legal personality. Torture has always aimed to devastate human dignity and diminish its victim to the status of a passive tool of the torturer or judicial system, as seen in Europe in the 1700s. But during this time, with the trepid introduction of human rights and the social feelings associated with

Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony” tells the story of a European traveller who has been invited to observe an unnamed penal colony’s system of justice and punishment. Throughout the foreign traveller’s visit, a character referred to as “the Officer” zealously defends the colony’s justice system by explaining—from his point of view—how one is convicted and punished. A convicted individual—referred to as “the Condemned”—is to face punishment; unfortunately for him, only one form of penalty exists in this society’s system: a tortuous execution by a device known simply as “the apparatus.” This capital punishment is falling out of favor with the majority of the colony’s citizens—including the new commandant, leaving the Officer to implore the Traveller’s support of his beloved machine (Kafka). Under its surface, this story actually speaks to much more than a simple ideological debate; digging deeper, one can come to realize that it touches on a much more severe type of conflict: war. By analyzing Kafka’s characters and looking at numerous conflicts throughout human history, one can conclude that in every war, there are different sides, each with their own ideals: one will prosper, another will be defeated, one will be dragged into the conflict, and one will refuse to intervene.

The context is within a nation where capital punishment was commonly utilised, Burma, and is set during the 20th Century. The overlying idea within the text is the cruel and ugly reality of capital punishment and a disapproval of a system which routinely takes away many lives, provoking a negative reaction of the audience towards such

“A Hanging”, composed by George Orwell, is a personal testimony set in the 1920’s in Burma. The narrative depicts the death of an unknown prisoner and the role of those who enforce the death sentence. Through the process of the execution, Orwell illustrates the effects of capital punishment on the executioners and the executed in an attempt to convey an Abolitionist message. While stated only once in his story, Orwell takes an emphatic position against capital punishment. The author does not use the classic argumentative style; instead, he uses implications of his characters to present the four main points against capital punishment. George Orwell’s Abolitionist message in “A Hanging” is conveyed through the prisoner, dog, functionaries, and their actions, words, and body language.

Society is a prison and in Franz Kafka’s texts he proves it. In both Franz Kafka’s texts The Judgement and In the Penal Colony the theme: Lack of freedom in the Modern World is shown through Georg’s cause of death, the commandant's death, and the the people being imprisoned by society and not realizing it. Georg at the end of the texts commits suicide because of the realization of how he will never be free. The Commandant commits suicide because he was too ingrained in society. In both text the characters do have a realization that freedom is not something that can be easily achieved in the modern world. George is one of the characters from the texts that come to make this realization.

“Do they ever think, or do they only shuffle pointlessly over the earth?” (Kafka 444). Do they know that their submission is emboldening the oppressor to keep up their reign? Why do we so easily give up? Why have we not found the power to embolden ourselves? Why does a book whose stories were written in the early twentieth century still resonate so deeply?

Legally enforced legislation has been part of western society for a few centuries. However, the law’s interpretation and enforcement differs worldwide, depending on a nation’s values and principles. Henceforth, law’s usage in literature is varied and does not always follow the principles of liberal democracies. In Frank Kafka’s “In the Penal Colony,” the readers are faced, through the narration of a foreign explorer, with an island penal colony. On the island, the authorities employ torture as punishment for every type of crimes committed. Thus, “In the Penal Colony” is an allegory of law through the opposing view of the Officer and the Explorer on the justice system. The allegory is understood through the underlying debate of man-made and divine law, the Officer’s disregard of the rule of law and the apparatus’ usage as a representation of Officer’s ideals for the legal system implanted in the colony.