Abstract
In his journal entry for December 2, 1914, Kafka expresses his disappointment with "In der Strafkolonie," designating it to be full of errors. It can readily be assumed that he considered the ending itself to be seriously flawed since he later wrote what appears to be alternative versions, together with further changes; these are all fragmentary in nature. Since this effort on Kafka's part can but be considered an effort to clarify what he held to be the story's import, I intend to discuss "In der Strafkolonie" in the light of the addenda and the story's incompleteness. This failing comes about, I would maintain, because at the time when he wrote the narrative (probably late in 1914), Kafka himself remained indecisive about the direction his literary career should take. He was frustrated in his endeavor to combine devotion to his writing with the achievement of goals preset for a bourgeois young man with a university degree—marriage, the founding of a family, an estimable position in business or the bureaucracy. "In der Strafkolonie " reflects his predicament.
Recommended Citation
Fickert, Kurt
(1993)
"Kafka’s Addenda to “In Der Strafkolonie”,"
University of Dayton Review: Vol. 22:
No.
1, Article 12.
Available at:
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/udr/vol22/iss1/12
