Franz Kafka Reflection

Franz Kafka was an author born in Czech Republic in 1883. Kafka wrote The Metamorphosis in 1912, the year he felt his creativity finally taking a definite form. It was one of fairly few works Kafka was to publish in his lifetime. In 1913 he turned down an offer to publish the story.

What Dreams May Come Reflection

The movie What Dreams May Come was a every beautiful and good movie. The movie very much relates to Dante's Inferno in many ways. In both Dante's Inferno and What Dreams May Come, the most important place is hell. Like in the Bible passage where Peter (one of Jesus disciple) that tried to walk on water and failed to do so when he let doubt take over, also Chris was unable to walk on water until after exportation from Albert. In both "The Inferno" and "What Dreams May Come" the most important place is hell. While in "The Inferno" almost all of the novel takes place in hell, in "What Dreams May Come" hell is only part of the movie. In Dante's Inferno, Dante is on a journey through the nine circle of hell in order to get through the journey. While in What Dreams May Come, Chris sees his wife in hell and vigorously tries to help her. Chris experiences hell as a result of his depression to find his wife and save her from that place. But for Dante, as he gets father down into the circles, the surroundings also increase in the intensity of it. The detailed description of hell and each of the circles contributes to the idea of hell not being a nice place and also creates a sense of desperation because it seems as if it will never end. The darkness and chaos of the setting created anxiety and that is the exact same thing that is transmitted to the viewer in "What Dreams May Come" and the reader in "The Inferno." Through the description of the horrid places the tone of the environment is set thereby transmitting the same emotion.

Through the use of flashback the viewer can comprehend the importance of the relationship between Chris and Annie, Chris and his son and daughter. If there was no use of flashback the viewer would not be able to understand why Chris' kids are treasured by both mother and father, why Chris believes the love him and his wife have can overcome even hell, and how death affected the family. In the Bible (Revelation) God explains to John what he sees and hears in Heaven. In "The Inferno" Virgil explains to Dante what he sees in Hell. Virgil serves as a guide for Dante and angles at times serve as guides for John. In "What Dreams May Come" Albert, later discovered it is truly Ian, guides and helps Chris understand the afterlife. In Revelation 3:16, it says that God will not tolerate lukewarm, neither hot or cold, those that neither hate nor love sin. Also in the movie, Albert is his guide through heaven.
Chris and Albert:


Dante and Virgil:

Franz Kafka Biography

Franz Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, in Prague, Czech Republic. Kafka grew up in a middle class, German speaking, Jewish family with his father being a business man, and his mother worked as many as 12 hours each day helping to manage the family business. Kafka's childhood was indeed lonely, and the children grew up largely by a series of governesses and servants. When Kafka was around the age of six, his two younger brothers, Georg and Heinrich, died in infancy, leaving him the only son in a family that included three daughters. Kafka had a difficult relationship with both of his parents. His mother, Julie, was a devoted homemaker who lacked the intellectual depth to understand her son's dreams to become a writer. Kafka's father, Hermann, had a forceful personality that often overwhelmed the Kafka home. He was a successful business man. who make his living by retailing men's and women's clothes. Kafka's father had a huge impact on both Kafka's life and his writing. He was a tyrant of sorts, with a wicked temper and little appreciation for his son's creative side. Much of Kafka's personal struggles, in romance and other relationships, came in part from his complicated relationship with his father. His mother as often quiet and shy, and his father distance and absent. Kafka's troubled relationship with his father is evident in his Brief an den Vater, a letter to his father, of more than 100 pages, in which he complains of being extremely affected by his father's dictatorial and demanding character.




As an adult, Franz Kafka worked in numerous places. On November 1, 1907, he was hired at the Assicurazioni Generali, an aggressive Italian insurance company, where he worked for nearly a year. He ended up quitting because of the long and torturous hours from 8pm-6am, which gave him barely anytime to work on his writing. On July 15, 1908, he resigned, and two weeks later found more congenial employment with the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia. Kafka was very committed to his literary work. Together with his close friends Max Brod and Felix Weltsch these three were called "Der enge Prager Kreis", the close Prague circle. In 1912, at the home of his lifelong friend Max Brod, Kafka met Felice Bauer, who lived in Berlin and worked as a representative for a Dictaphone company. Over the next five years, they corresponded a great deal, met occasionally, and twice were engaged to be married. Their relationship finally ended in 1917. In 1917, Kafka began to suffer from tuberculosis, which would require frequent convalescence during which he was supported by his family, most notably his sister Ottla. In the early 1920s he developed an intense relationship with Czech journalist and writer Milena Jesenská. In 1923, he briefly moved to Berlin in the hope of distancing himself from his family's influence to concentrate on his writing. He lived with Dora Diamant, a 25-year-old kindergarten teacher from an orthodox Jewish family, who was independent enough to have escaped her past in the ghetto, in Berlin. As Kafka's tuberculosis worsened, he also suffered from migraines, insomnia, constipation, boils, and other ailments, all usually brought on by excessive stresses and strains. He attempted to counteract all of this by a regimen of naturalistic treatments, such as a vegetarian diet. He returned to Prague, then went to a sanatorium near Vienna for treatment, where he died on June 3, 1924. His body was ultimately brought back to Prague where he was interred on June 11, 1924, in the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague-Žižkov.






BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Nervi, Mauro. "Kafka's Life (1883-1924)." The Kafka Project. N.p., 08 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.                <http://www.kafka.org/index.php?biography>.

"Franz Kafka Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.                                     <http://www.biography.com/people/franz-kafka-9359401>.

Canto 19-32

Cantos 19-23 take place in the 8th Circle of hell. This circle is home to the sinners of Fraud, Flattery, Simony, Political Corruption, and Hypocrisy. The monster Geryon transports Virgil and Dante across a great abyss to the Eighth Circle of Hell, known as Malebolge, the term refers to the circle’s division into various pockets separated by great folds of earth. In the First Pouch, the Panderers and the Seducers receive lashings from whips; in the second, the Flatterers must lie in a river of human feces. The Simoniacs in the Third Pouch hang upside down in baptismal fonts while their feet burn with fire. In the Fourth Pouch are the Astrologists or Diviners, forced to walk with their heads on backward, a sight that moves Dante to great pity. In the Fifth Pouch, the Barrators (those who accepted bribes) steep in pitch while demons tear them apart. The Hypocrites in the Sixth Pouch must forever walk in circles, wearing heavy robes made of lead. Caiphas, the priest who confirmed Jesus’ death sentence, lies crucified on the ground; the other sinners tread on him as they walk. In the horrifying Seventh Pouch, the Thieves sit trapped in a pit of vipers, becoming vipers themselves when bitten; to regain their form, they must bite another thief in turn. In the Eighth Pouch of the Eighth Circle of Hell, Dante speaks to Ulysses, the great hero of Homer’s epics, now doomed to an eternity among those guilty of the False Counselors for his role in executing the ruse of the Trojan Horse. In the Ninth Pouch, the souls of Sowers of Scandal and Schism walk in a circle, constantly afflicted by wounds that open and close repeatedly. In the Tenth Pouch, the Falsifiers suffer from horrible plagues and diseases.


 

Canto 1-18

When Dante and Virgil begin their trip down into hell, they enter the dark wood. Because Dante does not know where he is, he is frightened. When they reach the gates of hell, Virgil is very calm. Dante is still very curious and a little bit afraid. When they enter Canto 4, Limbo, Dante is confused. Limbo is full of lost souls that cannot go anywhere because they are in the complete dark. When they reach the edge of this canto, they are about to enter Canto 5, in Circle 2, Lust. The whole place is filled with the souls who lived their lives full of lust. In circle 3, Canto 6, is home to the gluttons. They lay on the ground in human feces and can only eat dirt. Since they lived their lives eating like pigs, they must be pigs, laying in filth. In Cantos 7-10, The layers get darker and darker, and colder and colder. Each punishments seem to get more horrible. Circle 7 is home to the murderers who harmed themselves, or others. It is also home to the sinners of usury. Their punishments seemed fair, but at the same time they seemed a little harsh.