Kafka definitely chose a tragic and unexpected ending the short story “The Judgment”. Georg Bendemann the protagonist of the story made a bold move when he decided to kill himself. There could be many reasons as to what drove him into take such a turn. I have come to the conclusion that Georg father was the person who drove him into committing suicide. There are many points throughout the story that shows that they didn’t have the greatest father and son relationship. On the third page it says, “Georg was surprised how dark his father’s room was, even on this sunny morning”. Usually when the sun is out it has been said that people are way happier, yet Georg and his father seem to still have a dark atmosphere. Georg speaks about his father as someone who knows more than him or someone who is just better than himself. The rude comments that were said towards Georg by his father could be the reason why he committed suicide. Especially when his father said “I condemn you to death by drowning!”
Francesca, Jacqueline and Annie
March 28, 2017 Written by f.furca | 11 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
11 responses so far ↓
b.samura // Mar 29th 2017 at 10:58 pm
I agree with your argument that it was Georg’s father who led him to commit suicide. Also I like how you described his Georg and father’s relationship saying , “.. yet Georg and his father seem to still have a dark atmosphere.” This gave me a better outlook on both of them when together its saying that his dad puts them into a dark space, not physically but dark being bad and uncomfortable. With his father’s bitterness around him, he couldn’t take it anymore and it drove him to suicide.
s.domosi // Mar 30th 2017 at 12:34 am
I think that Georg’s father influenced him to commit suicide but I do not agree with Francesca’s statement that “Georg father was the person who drove him into committing suicide.” I believe that many factors led Georg to taking his own life, and having a disjointed family was one of them. Perhaps the death of Georg’s mother is what made that father go slightly crazy, but the death must have also effected Gerog on a deeper level. Gerog only sees the negative in his friend who is supposedly living in Russia, but if Georg is speaking so negatively about him, I believe that says a lot about Georg himself.
j.han6 // Mar 30th 2017 at 9:50 am
I completely agree with Francesca’s idea that “The rude comments that were said towards Georg by his father could be the reason why he committed suicide.” Even though there might be many reasons to make Georg commit suicide, I think that Georg’s father is the biggest and powerful reason for Georg to do so. Also, I like Francesca’s statement which is “Georg and his father seem to still have a dark atmosphere.” That statement shows how bad their relationship is really well. I think his father’s insulting expression is a large part of the responsibility for Georg’s death at the end.
k.stojanovic // Mar 30th 2017 at 2:46 pm
I agree with Francesca and my other classmates. I like how you stated “I have come to the conclusion that Georg father was the person who drove him into committing suicide” and then used ““I condemn you to death by drowning” as proof to back up you’re argument. Georg’s dad was extremely hard on him, which made me think he was hard on him his whole life , which is why he has this certain outlook on life. If Georg’s dad raised him differently, treated him with more respect and supported him more than he disrespected and neglected him this could have prevented his death.
ml155866 // Mar 30th 2017 at 5:06 pm
I agree with Francesca that the relationship Georg and his father had, had a huge impact on George. This disconnection in their relationship had such a significant impact that he committed suicide even though he was preparing to get married. I agree that Georg’s father drove him to a point of no return because his father’s opinion and relationship probably meant a lot to him given his mother had passed away and his “friend” was away from him.
j.devine // Mar 30th 2017 at 6:27 pm
Jacqueline:
At the end of The Judgement, Georg’s death by suicide gives off an unrealistic or almost dream- like feeling to me. Kafka’s use of dramatic imagery creates vivid pictures that pop out at the reader and make the story seem more fictional. For example, when Kafka writes, “He held the railing tight like a starving man clutches food. He jumped over, like the excellent gymnast he had been in his youth…” This powerfully graphic scene shows the character’s actions in humorous way this shows a clear, yet unrealistic picture of what is happening. If the idea of a man committing suicide because of an argument with his father, like Francesca mentions in her post, was not unrealistic to some, the imagery Kafka creates surely does. In a way, this mixture of life- like scenery and unrealistic actions makes it so the reader does not know what is real and what is fake. It allows the reader to understand the story how they want to, because it is not so literal.
j.devine // Mar 30th 2017 at 6:29 pm
Correction:
This powerfully graphic scene shows the character’s actions in a humorous way that shows a clear, yet unrealistic picture of what is happening.
a.wang10 // Mar 30th 2017 at 6:39 pm
In Franz Kafka’s “The Judgement,” it can be considered as a tragic story. In the lines “At this moment, almost endless traffic rolled across the bridge”. Traffic is when the number of vehicles moving along roads, the train, or lines that gets held up. When the character decided to let go of his life, he caused a blockage on the bridge. Not only did he cause a literal blockage on the bridge, he also caused a blockage in his life– the people he had relationships with. Those people’s lives suddenly lost someone, so everything stopped right then and there. If one lives their life to the fullest, one would not want to commit suicide, but in his case he let himself fall down. That blockage is symbolic, traffic symbolized life to the character. In the lines,“But dear parents, I have always loved you” shows that his death by drowning could be seen as to see his mother and that distant friend.
j.morreale // Mar 30th 2017 at 9:05 pm
Jacqueline has a very good point with the death of Georg claiming that it seems unrealistic. She claims “This powerfully graphic scene shows the character’s actions in humorous way this shows a clear, yet unrealistic picture of what is happening.” I think this perfectly describes the situation that Kafka created to end the story. Georg’s suicide seems very unrealistic in many aspects however when Kafka compared Georg jumping to his death to Georg being a gymnast in his youth. The comparison seems very unrealistic as well as the way that Georg supposedly died. The line when Georg’s suicide is compared to a gymnast painted a picture in my head of a gymnast doing a routine which clearly is not the case since Georg was going to take his own life. Kafka could have made the suicide more realistic but due to his word choice as Jacqueline pointed out Georg’s suicide seem unrealistic.
n.mazza1 // Mar 30th 2017 at 11:03 pm
I agree that Georgs father is what pushed him to his death. I feel that throughout the story he just looks for any kind of approval from his father but never gets it. One part I definitely agreed with was when you referred back to the story about when Georg brings up being in a bright room but it feeling so dark. This can be symbolic for how he feels for his father. I like how you went deeper into this quote and said “Usually when the sun is out it has been said that people are way happier, yet Georg and his father seem to still have a dark atmosphere”. Georg finds that his dads Darkness and negative vibes follow him wherever he goes and he cant escape it even on a bright Sunday morning.
k.parkinson1 // Mar 30th 2017 at 11:42 pm
Jacqueline, I think you made some good points about the ending being unrealistic. When you say “Kafka’s use of dramatic imagery creates vivid pictures that pop out at the reader and make the story seem more fictional” I can agree. I wrote something similar, where I also believe the ending was unrealistic. When the father told Gorge to go drown himself, and he immediately did, it made it seem like he was under some spell. Like the words were a trigger for him. Situations, where there is drama in the family, is realistic, but the way Kafka set up the ending as you mentioned surely did not seem realistic.
You must log in to post a comment.