Between a Man Who Feared the World and One Who Faced It
I was reading The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.
I won’t call this a review. I don’t think I’m qualified for that.
I’m not here to analyse symbols or decode meanings like Panadits do. I am not qualified. So read like how I am speaking my mind out to simply give you a timepass
I just read it… and felt something.
It’s been few years since I’ve been attracted into poetry and literature. A kind of escape from reality I get when I read some piece of legendary writings. Some poems I understood deeply. Some, I never understood at all 🥲🥲 but still loved. Maybe not everything is meant to be understood. Some things are just meant to sit with you.
VeryRecently, I came across a discussion on Reddit comparing Franz Kafka and Fyodor Dostoevsky.
It was so interesting thread and replies from some unverified profiles were awesome that I completely forgot the headache I had that day. That rarely happens.
Incase you don’t know Fyodor Dostoevsky, he’s a novelist, poet philosopher, someone whose works we even studied back in 10th grade in school here in Keralam. I remember reading chapters of his writings for exams… never thinking I’d come back to him like this.
And u might have guessed it from name itself, he is a Russian
Now, this is my version of their differences. Not academic. Not highlevel.. Just how I felt reading them.
Two Minds, Two Directions
It feels like Kafka and Dostoevsky are standing in the same dark room, but reacting differently.
Some portions below I parsed from Reddit, so below upto a point in this writing is not mine..
"""
Kafka said:
People pray for meaning in life.
Dostoevsky responds:
And when they finally find it, they drown it in distractions,because truth terrifies more than emptiness.
--Kafka feels like someone watching life from a corner.
Dostoevsky feels like someone standing in the middle of it, burning.
Love
Kafka:
I ran from love because I knew it would destroy me.
Dostoevsky says:
I ran into love because I needed it to destroy who I used to be.
Suffering
Kafka:
I am trapped.
Dostoevsky:
I deserve the trap.
Judgment
Kafka:
I fear judgment.
Dostoevsky:
I am both judge and sinner.
Maybe the Real Difference
Kafka sees suffering as something happening to him.
Dostoevsky sees suffering as something coming from within him.
Kafka feels like:
“The world is too much for me.”
Dostoevsky feels like:
“I am too much for the world.”
"""
So… Who is the Optimist?
At first, Kafka feels like the pessimist.
But is he?
Kafka is honest about fear, isolation, helplessness. He doesn’t pretend things will get better.
Dostoevsky walks straight into darkness,,but he believes something can come out of it. Even if it’s painful.
So maybe—-------- yeah maybe
Kafka is the one who sees the void clearly
Dostoevsky is the one who jumps into it anyway
One observes.
One confronts.
Where I Stand
I don’t fully understand either of them😭. And maybe I never will💯.
But reading The Metamorphosis made me feel like Kafka understood a kind of quiet suffering we don’t talk about.
And Dostoevsky… he feels louder. More chaotic. Like a storm inside a human being.
Maybe we need both. We switch ourselves into both at times required
The one who says, “I am broken.”
And the one who says, “Break me more, I want to know why.”
If I had to say it in one line:
Kafka makes you feel less alone in your silence.
Dostoevsky makes you question why you’re silent at all.
——————————————
now I am on the way to decode the below lines..
"
Of all ways I have been trapped, grief is the kindest
Of all ways I remain confined, hope is the cruelest.
"
This is easier to understand, but so soso deep.. will explainmy pov in next episode
Seeyaaa soonn