Who is responsible for Georg’s decision at the end of the story?
I feel that Georg’s dad is to blame for how the story ended. As the story progresses the reader is able to observe the true relationship between Georg and his father. At first it seems like they have a normal father and son relationship however we soon find out this is not the case. It seems like min the story what Georg’s father says George must listen to. At the beginning of the story Georg sounds like a man who is enjoying life since he is writing a letter to his friend and is getting married soon. The story as well as Georg’s life soon turns dark when the author describe the room that his father was in as dark. This represents the relationship that Georg and his father has. The father, throughout the story, continuously puts his son down by talking negatively about his friend, his fiance, and his life. The father claimed “I condemn you to death by drowning!” Soon after, Georg took his own life by jumping off a bridge. Georg’s dad is fully responsible for the suicide of his own son due to all of the negative comments he made towards Georg.
-Joseph Morreale
What is the significance of the very last line of the story: “At this moment, almost endless traffic rolled across the bridge”?
At the end of the story Kafka ends with , “At this moment, almost endless traffic rolled across the bridge”? which represents the saying “life goes on”. The traffic implies the cars keep going and with Kafa saying endless that means it just continues there’s no stop. Unsurprisingly this happens right after Georg jumps off the bridge but before he jumped, the piece says, “ … he spotted an autobus that would easily drown out his fall.” (pg. 7) He intentionally waited to kill himself so that when he did no one would notice, and after that more cars came on, inevitably no one would hear the sound of his fall or about his death. Assuming that he knew the traffic was ahead he jumped at the moment so he could not be saved nor , giving himself a silent death.
-Bintou Samura
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?
In my opinion, the ending to “The Judgement” is both realistic and unrealistic. In one way it is realistic because of the family dynamic between Georg and his father. It seems that Georg is always in his father shadow and want to appease him. For example, as shown here “Maybe it was because, during the time in which his mother was still alive, his father had hindered Georg from developing his own activities by imposing his, the father’s, own opinions.” Thus in his adult life, Georg remains under his father, despite becoming engaged and making friends. He still lives with him and works in the business as well. It is understandable that there would be some tension between the two, especially after the death of the mother. Similar to what Joseph mentions in his post about Georg and his father relationship. So, the ending is realistic where the father seems fed up and Georg is trying to calm him down. However, what doesn’t seem realistic is Georg killing himself. When the father says to him “I condemn you to death by drowning!” and Georg “felt” himself chased out the room, it’s like the father put a spell on him.
-Keauna
7 responses so far ↓
dy154836 // Mar 31st 2017 at 2:11 am
I think Bintou explained the significance of the last line of the story very well. I also liked that you made a connection with a line that Georg said right before he jumped to his death and how you connected it with the last line of the story to explain the situation that Georg put himself in. “Assuming that he knew the traffic was ahead he jumped at the moment so he could not be saved, giving himself a silent death.” I wonder why he did not want to be noticed or saved when he was about to jump to his death, why did he want a silent death? It seemed that his life was going well, business was doing well when he was in charge and he was happily engaged while his father’s health seemed to be withering.
f.furca // Mar 31st 2017 at 7:47 am
Keauna I think you explained Georg and his father’s relationship very well and showed what was prelatic and unrealistic in the story as well. I agree when you said “It seems that Georg is always in his father shadow and want to appease him”. Georg father definitely shows himself to the one in charge. Even though Georg is an adult now that still doesn’t change the type of relationship they had when Georg was younger. I also agree that the ending of the story was very unrealistic and how it seemed he was put on a spell. I don’t think one could commit the act Georg did right the second someone told him to. This then brings back the power his father has over him.
j.azcue // Mar 31st 2017 at 9:51 am
I partially agree with Joseph. I believe George’s father has a big role in his son’s decision of killing himself specially because he ordered him. “I condemn you to death by drowning!” But at the same time we see George as a grown man with a life of himself who is getting married and has a good business running which makes me think he is capable to reason by himself and smart enough not to take such a decision just because his father is talking nonsense because it is very clear that everything George’s father said was uncalled for. His father took everything out of context and exaggerated it so I think George should have been capable of realizing this and even though it is a difficult situation for someone to hear those words from his own father I still think he should have been smarter and stronger.
r.klamen // Mar 31st 2017 at 10:18 am
Michelle:
At the end of the story, Kafka says, “At this moment, almost endless traffic rolled across the bridge.” Bintou argues, “The traffic implies the cars keep going and with Kafa saying endless that means it just continues there’s no stop.” This is an interesting perspective where I personally didn’t think of that myself but I do agree. As he committed suicide when he ran from his home to the bridge that he jumps off, yes people would be concerned, but the bridge won’t shut down forever. Georg had gone through his ups and downs with his father where the story demonstrates their rocky relationship, but I believe his father won’t be too affected by his suicide especially since he ‘condemned’ to do so.
r.klamen // Mar 31st 2017 at 10:49 am
Rebecca:
I really liked Keauna’s comment about the story being both realistic and unrealistic. “When the father says to him “I condemn you to death by drowning!” and Georg “felt” himself chased out the room, it’s like the father put a spell on him.” I thought this was very interesting, because it is strange if you think about his father “condemning him to death” and then he goes and kills himself. It’s sad to think that Georg’s life was all about being a tiny child and listening to his “giant” father’s commands, up until his last move.
sh125650 // Mar 31st 2017 at 11:28 am
I agree with Keauna’s comment about the ending is both realistic and unrealistic. Georg is always in his father’s shadow and want to appease him. “Maybe it was because, during the time in which his mother was still alive, his father had hindered Georg from developing his own activities by imposing his”, Georg and his father has a complicated relationship, Georg’s father ends his stream of accusations by pronouncing a formal judgement over his son, given that the judgement itself appears to be the immediate cause of Georg’s death.
t.lewkowicz // Mar 31st 2017 at 11:31 am
Tara:
I likes Bintou’s response about the significance of the last line. I liked how he said “The traffic implies the cars keep going and with Kafa saying endless that means it just continues there’s no stop”. His interpretation that life continues and cars keep going was interesting. Although someone had just committed suicide which is an awful, tragic thing nobody noticed; and that is how Georg wanted it.
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