Kafka
"But time's marching on, the execution ought to be starting and I haven't finished explaining the apparatus yet." Kafka's work Into the Penal Colony drives into the heart of man's soul with his references to justice and compassion. A traveler is sought to witness an execution by use of an extraordinary machine called the harrow. He is explained the entire process by the officer in charge, who delights in describing the capabilities that this death machine offers. Yet as the story progresses, the traveler grows less and less fond of this execution, and determines to speak out against it. The lack of justice and difference of the penal colony's judicial system is the main theme of this story, and this is seen in many facets of Kafka's creation. The reader is first introduced to the harrow right in the very beginning of
The process of execution also startles the traveler as well as the audience, especially when described through the officer's own words. " Humanity is thought to always be in the wrong, and we consider ourselves to always be in the right. Coupled with this idea of justice is the aspect of compassion for the fellow man (or lack of compassion in this case). " Kafka leaves the reader with a furrowed brow, trying to decipher what this legal system really revolves around. He tells the traveler that the man does not know his sentence and will not be allowed to give a defense; "The guiding truth for my decisions is this: Guilt is unquestionable. " This one-sided justice is met with a reaction in us like that of the traveler's: "He was not satisfied with the explanation of the judicial process. " The heart of life in this penal colony is the excitement surrounding this murder machine and its functions. The officer sees no area of discussion, and believes his judgment to be final and accurate. the story, signifying what the colony's "justice" is based upon. " This is a theme that continues on in humanity from Kafka's time until today. Even in the end when the role is switched and the officer is on the harrow, the action of the prisoner typifies this lack of compassion: "But the others couldn't make up their minds to come right away; the condemned man had even turned away. As seen from one view in this story, injustice can be so utterly enjoyable that it takes an outsider to point out the error of our ways. Yet the traveler admits that "The injustice of the process and the inhumanity of the execution were unquestionable. "Both the bed and the designer have their own electric battery; the bed needs one for itself and the designer needs one for the harrow.
Common topics in this essay:
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