The Judgment (or The Verdict) is a short story written by Franz Kafka. Released in 1912, it details the strained relationship between a man and his father.
Characters[]
- Georg Bendemann
- Georg Bendemann's father
Publisher's summary[]
Franz Kafka wrote The Judgment in a single night in September 1912. The following year it was to be found in an anthology edited by his friend Max Brod. Franz Kafka perceived the story as his decisive literary breakthrough, and for several years he therefore dreamed that, despite its fewer than thirty pages, it should be allowed to be published as a separate print. In the autumn of 1916, in the middle of the First World War, the dream came true. The Judgment was published, with a black and blue cover and printed in the typeface Walbaum, as the thirty-fourth volume in publisher Kurt Wolff's series of expressionist literature. It is this edition that is hereby reprinted together with a new Danish translation.
"What particularly speaks for printing Dommen for itself is, as I see it, that this tale is far more lyrical than it is epic, and that it therefore needs a complete free space around it if it is to work. The is by the way my favorite work, and it has therefore always been my wish that one day, if it were possible, it was allowed to come out on its own."
- Franz Kafka in a letter to the publisher Kurt Wolff on August 19, 1916.
Plot summary[]
In a house near a river, a merchant named Georg Bendemann writes a letter to a friend living in Russia. Georg's friend has lived in Russia for three years and has not visited Georg or his family since then. In that time, Georg has met a young woman and has gotten engaged to her. Though Georg was hesitant to reveal the engagement to his friend, he has finally decided to do so in his most recent letter.
Before sending the letter to his father, Georg decides to check on his father. An old man, Georg's father has not been doing well ever since the death of his wife (and Georg's mother). Georg informs his father about the letter, at which point Georg's father begins questioning the existence of the friend in Russia. After Georg tries to change the subject, Georg's father begins accusing Georg of deliberately lying to him about the family business (which father and son both run).
Georg carries his father into bed and begins tucking him in, but the father simply breaks out of the sheets and declares that his son wishes to kill him. Georg's father claims that he has been sending letters to his son's friend in Russia that have poisoned his mind against Georg. As this happens, Georg shrinks into a corner. Finally, Georg's father declares that his son is evil and that he is sentenced to death by drowning. Seemingly in a fit of sheer panic, Georg flees from the room and jumps into the nearby river.
Sources[]
- Wikipedia