The trees

Die Trees is the smallest prose piece by Franz Kafka in the manner of an aphorism , which only contains a few lines and was published in the context of the volume Consideration in 1913 by Rowohlt-Verlag . It was created in 1903/1904 and is also part of the first record of the description of a fight .

content

People are compared to tree trunks in the snow. They seem to lie flat and are easy to move. But that's not so, because they are firmly attached to the ground, but " even that is only apparent ".

Text analysis

For these early, little-interpreted lines, it is noticeable that the author actually connects with the general public without reservation as a “we”, a rather rare perspective for Kafka. Otherwise, he usually faces the others as an individual. The statement that he makes should therefore apply here generally; namely, that we are actually or rather seemingly firmly anchored in life.

However, our roots in family, culture etc. only seem to bind us, so we have no real hold, but at the same time that is freedom. It expresses the uncertainty about the status in the here and now and the view of the self on oneself and the others. For Kafka, the process of writing is a possibility of existing, but that too is “ only apparent” .

expenditure

• Paul Raabe (Ed.): Franz Kafka Complete Stories. S. Fischer Verlag, 1977, ISBN 3-596-21078-X .
• Roger Hermes (ed.): Franz Kafka The stories. Fischer Verlag 1996, ISBN 3-596-13270-3 . (Original version)
• Wolf Kittler, Hans-Gerd Koch, Gerhard Neumann (Hrsg.): Franz Kafka: Prints during lifetime. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2002, p. 33, ISBN 3-59-615700-5 .
• Wolf Kittler, Hans-Gerd Koch, Gerhard Neumann (eds.): Franz Kafka: Post-processed writings and fragments I. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2002, p. 166.

Secondary literature

• Peter-André Alt : Franz Kafka: The Eternal Son. A biography. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-406-53441-4 .
• Bettina von Jagow, Oliver Jahraus : Kafka Handbook Life-Work-Effect. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008, ISBN 978-3-525-20852-6 .
• Tilly Kübler-Jung: Insights into Franz Kafka's “Contemplation”. Analysis and classification in the history of literature. Tectum-Verlag, Marburg 2005, ISBN 3-828-88799-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Raabe p. 394.
2. ^ Post-legacy writings and fragments I, p. 166.
3. ↑ von Jagow p. 406.

Web links

Wikisource: The Trees  - Sources and full texts

• The trees , spoken by Hans-Jörg Große