The Library Annex

‘Everyone is welcome,’ it said. Everyone, that meant Karl too. All that he had done till now was ignored; it was not going to be made a reproach to him. He was entitled to apply for a job of which he need not be ashamed, which, on the contrary, was a matter of public advertistement. And just as public, was the promise that he too would find acceptance. He asked for nothing better; he wanted to find some way of at least beginning a decent life, and perhaps this was his chance.

What a wonderful relief to a poor immigrant boy from Europe coming to America. Such a dignified desire and noble offer. Until one realizes that this is an advertistement to collect people and ship them to Oklahoma under the guise of a theater company with no mention of pay or risks.

Kafka had never been to America and his only knowledge of it was limited to books and propogandic branding of optimism, imagination and opportunity. And yet throughout the narrative, we find Karl pit against exploitative injustices and relationships. Kafka calls this a “light” novel. From a twenty-first century perspective, I did not find much “light” about it. But if one attempts to understand why Kafka would say this, perhaps it is because of Karl’s perserverance, his resilience and even his naive inncocence. Perhaps we would have had a happy ending if Kafka would have completed the novel, where the reader could relish in the glory of an American Dream realized with Karl’s qualities. While that might have tickled our romanticism, many would likely cry “Foul!”

I wonder if Kafka was more satirical in his discussions of his work. Without first-hand knowledge of America, to me, he certainly has a good grasp on her true nature. Or perhaps he coincidentally projects his perspective of his own country onto America and readers a hundred years later despair in how he accidentally got it right. Maybe he didn’t think that Karl would truly find America until the end. Or maybe he really challenges us to accept the good with the bad. If only he’d finished it…

Kafka showcases some patterns throughout the novel. Karl can almost perfectly depend on a bad turn following a good, or a good turn following a bad. Perhaps Kafka enjoyed this transient nature of life in America. One’s lot was never permanent, even though permanence is what motivates Karl through the ups and downs. “Besides, he kept on telling himself, it was not so much a matter of the kind of work as of establishing oneself permanently somewhere.” When experiencing a down turn, he leans on his motivation to manifest his desired future through continued steps with tightened bootstraps. He accepts the position as Brunelda and Delamarche’s servant though Delamarche and Robinson have exploited him and been the cause of his undoing. He trades his respectability for a reasonable course towards a future which he seemingly cannot control. Again, the optimistic perspective might applaud Karl for his resiliency and willingness to sacrifice his dignity for a chance at the American Dream! What nobility to allow others to exploit him in pursuit of their own futures!

Kafka also exhibits a pattern of “trials”, the first with the stoker, in which Karl benevolently inserts his assistance, and the second with Karl himself against the Head Waiter and Head Porter at the Occidental Hotel. In both cases, circumstantial evidence coagulates into damnable proof in bad faith and the land under the rule of law becomes no different than countries governed by the rule of status. But Karl perserveres.

Whether a glory to bootstraps or a satire on the American Dream, the resulting isolation of everyone ruthlessly pursuing their inidividualistic dreams pits all characters against each other in one form or another. Considering this isolation, I do commend Karl for his perserverance but I find it tainted by his naivety. And I can’t justify the Head Waiter’s self-affirming exercise of power at Karl’s expense just because he worked so hard for it.

If anything, the random circumstances surrouding this novel – Kafka’s second-hand knowledge of America, its lack of an ending – helps it serve best as a mirror to one’s own thoughts on the American experience. One can easily mold the content to fit their perceptions. It can validate the concept of the self-made man or the protest against an exploitative society. Perhaps that’s the beauty of it.