In the Diary of a Madman, Lu Xun uses the distasteful concept of cannibalism to challenge the rigid feudal society of China. This is similar to Kafka’s use of contrasting the Friend and Georg to express his desire to break away from the norms expected by society. Cannibalism acts as a metaphor for the oppressive feudal society that dominated China. The madman’s insanity is Lu Xun’s break from the feudal society which the “sane” majority conforms to. Kafka created an absurd character with no name and no real substantial description to show the importance of his Writing Self when in conflict with the expectations of the rigid society he lived in. By analyzing both texts, it becomes evident that judgement hides the truths within society by dividing nature’s ambiguity into two understandable extremes, the right and wrong. The authors find their truths by reconnecting this division through art.

Judgement separates society into understandable parts for the majority. In Diary of a Madman,  everyone thought the narrator was insane but the narrator thought the people were insane. From initial glance, it may seem obvious that the narrator was insane for assuming that everyone was out to eat him. Insanity is usually associated with a negative connotation. Lu Xun masterfully makes insanity a positive by connecting cannibalism with oppression. Even though the madman is insane, he recognizes that everyone who eats human flesh is ignorant to their conformity to a oppressive feudal society. Cannibalism represents the consumption of individuality within society. Everyone was trying to eat the narrator because narrator retained his individuality because of his courage to reject the cannibalistic nature of his world. “But the more courage I had, the more that made them want to eat me so that they could get a little of it for free”(247).The madman is literally insane because of his illness but figuratively, he can be labeled sane for knowing the truth about the oppressive feudal society. Everyone else appears insane to the narrator because ,literally, they are cannibals, and figuratively, because they do not know the same truth as the narrator. The meaning of insanity and sanity becomes ambiguous within this work of literature.

The Friend in The Judgment is the Writing Self of Kafka and Georg is the Working Self of Kafka. This unnamed friend in story has no real substantial description and is filled with contradictions when compared to concrete descriptions of Georg. The Friend was described to be an “old child”, “a bachelor for good”, and had no real social attachments since he did not fit in with anyone in his community. Georg was the opposite, a successful business, an attachment to society through his engagement. From a literal observation, Georg would be judged positively because he fits the expectation within society and the Friend would be judged negatively for not meeting the expectations. This initial observation breaks down after understanding the autobiographical role of each character. Understanding the Writing Self makes it hard to label the Friend as a useless figure within society. He may be hard to accept but the Friend is the source of life in Kafka’s life. Kafka would not be able to write without the Writing Self of his. The Working Self needs the Writing Self no matter how appearing irrational the Writing Self is at first observation. Even though the Friend is initially judged as an excess of society, the Friend plays an important role in Kafka’s life. Ambiguity is found within nature since judgement fails to provide a truth.

Art allows the realm of ambiguity to flourish. It helps the reader accept this ambiguity and to alter their language in attempt to deconstruct the meanings of previously accepted concepts. These concepts were based off pre-accepted judgements that fail to make sense. People must break down what they thought were the truths because those truths may be not be shared by everyone.