Kafkas Basteele
As presented by Franz Kafka, Karl Rossmann's life has a pattern of confinement. Kafka takes great pains to show us that Karl's reactions to nearly every instance of confinement neatly stems from one formative incident: Johanna Brummer's seduction of Karl. That one scandal seemingly affects how Karl reacts to every other attempt to confine him, who and what he allows to box him in, and his acceptance and/or rejection of that imprisonment. Johanna is noticeably physical with Karl: she "[leads] him into her room," takes off his clothes, "[lays] him on her bed," and nearly chokes him in her frenzied passion. Karl himself in no way advances the action. In fact, he barely seems conscious of what's happening around him: "his eyes [see] nothing," he can't respond when she asks him to speak, and she can "not bring him to" listen to her breast. Johanna is in control of Karl in every way, and most notably in the physical realm. Karl is uncooperative, but allows the seduction to happen nonetheless. And Johanna's passionate actions are effective in that she essentially gets what she wants out of Karl. Suddenly, what had been harmless objects and structures turn against Karl and participate in his confinement: Johanna "would shut the kit
" Just as Uncle Jacob gave Karl the freedom to go to the Pollunder's house, he gave him an electric torch; that is, artificial light to use in the darkness of his confinement. Upon Karl's arrival at the Pollunder house, he is quite pleased to be invited to Clara's room to keep her company. Confining objects exist here as well: "the wretched cubbyhole in which a bunk, a cupboard, a chair and the [stoker] were packed together. Already we see that Johanna has scarred Karl; he seems to have an aversion to being alone with women. The stoker's cubbyhole confinement also introduces a new element of imagery to the scenes of confinement throughout the rest of the novel: light versus dark. Pollunder join them as well" (Kafka 57). If Karl were any other young male character, we would expect him to be excited by such sexual innuendoes. Thus, enticing Karl with a small amount of freedom and restricting his efforts to verbal entreaties, the stoker receives a more cooperative Karl in his ploy to restrict him. He still shows signs of passive aggression, though, because he decides not to answer her when she asks him to explain himself (Kafka 67). And instead of lying Karl down on the bed like Johanna did, the stoker suggests that Karl "lie down on the bunk" because he'll "have more room there" (Kafka 5). Again, objects-"the door handle" and "the door"-suddenly turn against Karl to help imprison him. " He even "[feels] sorry that he had not brought the electric torch which his uncle had given him. For example, both the scenes with the stoker and with Clara employ the imagery of light or the lack thereof to convey Karl's relative freedom at that moment. However, "he would have liked to have Mr. Thereafter, Karl seems to be afraid of being alone with the girl: "And yet Karl cared nothing for her and would gladly have given up all thought of going to her room" (Kafka 62).
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Acceptance Essays
