Franz Kafka has created quite a number of dystopian futures in his body of work. He tends to write about individuals facing surrealistic, very powerful bureaucracies, where social, economic and political control are centered. Isolated individuals in these worlds have no freedom, no choices, and nothing to really call their own.
The Metamorphosis
In this story, Gregor Samsa wakes up as cockroach, and he and his family have to adapt to his new condition, and to the lack of Gregor’s finances, as he was the family bread winner. Gregor is now confined to his room, and he and his family struggle to understand each other, so miscommunication is frequent. In this story, the dystopia happens after an individual changes so fundamentally, that it forces others around him to change. It shows how people adapt to the horrific, and how they keep going. It speaks to our resilience, in a world of the unexpected and unpredictable.
The Trial
Josef K. is arrested and neither he nor the reader ever know why nor what agency has done the arresting. He is not imprisoned, but given a court date with no time, and when he gets there, he experiences several fantastical events, and cannot find a judge to question the whole situation. As the story goes on, Josef fears that a single person seems to be police, judge, jury and executioner – like Judge Dredd. Like the Metamorphosis, the dystopian element is centered on what happens to the individual. Its unclear how it plays out in the wider world. But we have to assume if it happens to one, then it can happen to all.
The Castle
In this story, K. comes to a village to gain access to the authority that lives in the castle. It is generally believed to represent life under an unresponsive, non-transparent bureaucracy.
Kafka’s works reveal how living in a dystopia affects the individual and those around them. They are not traditional dystopias, but do help us visualize and feel. horror at elements of our own world.
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