great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

Maria:

3) Many people see this ending as somehow unrealistic. Do you agree? Why or why not? How does it being realistic, not entirely realistic, or both contribute to your understanding of the ending?

The ending of the story was very dark as it concluded with Georg killing himself. I see this ending as an somewhat of an unrealistic approach as the story only described one situation in which Georg and his father was argueing. However, this shows how deeply disconnected their relationship was; in that the suffering led Georg to commit suicide. Georg’s father had such a large impact on Georg when he says “I condemn you to death drowning”, that Georg look it pretty literal by committing suicide off a bridge. The ending being unrealistic, at first makes it difficult to understand the meaning behind Georg’s death however, thinking about the purpose of the death at the end of the story, allows the readers to see beyond the plain text. Georg felt truly hurt by his father’s words as well as his family situation. The darkness in his father’s room was a symbol of the relationship they had towards each other. Even when Georg attempted to open the window to let some light in, Georg’s father said he preferred it to be dark. This in turn had a significant impact on Georg which is shown at the end.

Nicole:

Great response Maria. I like how you related the death of Georg with his tainted relationship with his father. However, I don’t think the ending was unrealistic. I can see why one would say the ending seemed a little unrealistic at first, but if you read closely to the story we can tell how tainted and damaged the relationship with Georg and his father affected Georg, which can possibly result in him harming himself. I do agree with you when you said, “However, this shows how deeply disconnected their relationship was; in that the suffering led Georg to commit suicide”. He always felt anxious and on his toes and throughout the story we recognize his constant cry for his dad’s approval. If his dad wasn’t happy with him he wasn’t happy with himself either. The disapproval of his father caused a lot of darkness in his life, which is why when his father condemned him to drowning, he actually went through with it.

Tara:

What is the significance of the very last line of the story: “At this moment, almost endless traffic rolled across the bridge”?

In Kafka’s ending of The Judgement I think he wanted to show us how the approval of Georg’s father was extremely significant. Georg went to his father’s room to receive some sort of guidance or acceptance from him; but the outcome was very different. I agree with nicole that the ending is realistic because Georg had such a strained relationship with his father already. The things his father said to him during their argument showed Georg that things between him and his father would probably never change. The last line in the story “At this moment an almost endless traffic rolled across the bridge” signifies Georg’s freedom through his suicide. His last line before he died was “ But dear parents, I have always loved you” this shows that escaping his father’s judgement through suicide was not an act out of anger. The endless traffic rolled over the bridge after Georg committed suicide because that is what he wanted to do. He didn’t want people to know or feel sorry for him, his decision to commit suicide was his attempt to find happiness.