In the reading, “The Judgement,” Georg’s friend never replied to any of his letters, except once when Georg tells his friend about his mother passing away. I find this to be very odd as to why he never replies, since friends typically do when communicating with one another. I also find it strange that this friend does not have a name and not much is known about him. From reading the story, we know that this friend had virtually fled to Russia and isolated himself from society. This seems to be a reflection of Kakfa’s own life; he is able to write when he is secluded. Although this text was very confusing to me, I find that this friend may represent the author and his own internal conflict. In the story, the friend is described as an unsuccessful and lonely bachelor, which is the exact opposite of Georg, who was successful in his business and was engaged. The friend may be the part of Kafka that he wants to suppress by trying to live the life that Georg has: social and successful. This is why Georg is conflicted about telling his friend about the engagement; he himself is unsure as to whether or not he wants this friend to come back because the friend is a hinderance to his “successful” life. Also, if he tells the friend about what is happening in his life, his friend would not feel happy and miserable because of his failure. Although Kafka wanted to become a writer, this would hinder him from having a “successful life” and his own father also opposed of him writing. But as we read the story, we realize that although Georg is living as a prosperous businessman, he does not seem to actually like his life; he is not able to live out his desired life of becoming a writer.

I also don’t fully understand why his friend only replies to his father. His father, who seems very overpowering over Georg, mocks Georg by comparing him to his friend; “he knows everything a hundred times better than you do yourself, in his left hand he crumples your letters unopened while in his right hand he holds up my letters to read them!” (Page 70) This reflects Kafka’s own life, where his father also was overpowering and did not approve of him writing .