Throughout the narrative, Georg’s friend was never given a stable, distinct identity. Rather, Kafka provided several hints as to the friend’s living conditions and relationship to Georg. At first, the friend served to be a mysterious entity that Georg was almost obsessed with; this friend obviously means a lot to Georg and is an obstacle in his relationship with his father and fiancée.

Georg described his friend as inferior to him. His friend was dissatisfied with his life and virtually fled to Russia, where he knew no one and had “no real ties with the local colony . . . and almost no social dealings with native families, he was settling in to become a bachelor for good” (58). In this instance, the friend is also the opposite of Georg since Georg was about to be married and his business is quite successful. However, as much as Georg is fascinated with his friend, he is conflicted about his friend’s return and is surely keeping his distance. Georg refuses to update his friend on his good fortunes, making us believe that the reason for this is to spare his friend’s feelings. On that note, he claims that he wants his friend to return home, but then comes up with a lot of excuses and reasons of why it’s best that his friend does not return, most of it concerning his own needs as to deal with his troublesome friend and to explain to his friend about the three years of his lives that he failed to mention. Therefore, Georg is acting as if he is a worried friend, but in reality is shameful of his friend and wants to keep him at a letter’s distance.

This friend becomes an obstacle in Georg’s relationship to his father and fiancée because the friend is someone that Georg wants all to himself, he does not want to share him. There is a lot ambiguity and paradox in the story, but after learning about Kafka’s past, I believe that his friend serves to be Georg’s or rather, Kafka’s inner self. This friend represents the other side of Kafka, the unsuccessful, lonely and hidden part of him. Georg is conflicted about sharing the truth, he does not know how to tell his friend about his recent stages of his life, because though it may seem successful and happy for one part of him, it also brings trouble and misery for the other part. Therefore, I see Georg and his friend as the two halves of Kafka.