Kafka's Use of Lightness
How does Kafka lighten each of these stories?What animates these stories (pushes them forward, provides conflict and finally resolution?) How does the title impact our reading of the story? In “Unhappiness,” what does one make of the girl/ghost? In defining how Kafka treats reality in his story “Unhappiness,” it is important to remember the complementary relationship that exists between lightness and weight, one cannot exist with out the other. Therefore reality—which is usually considered a very weighty concept—must be accompanied by some lightness and described with some abstractions. Without abstraction and general lightness, a story can easily become unreadable. To study how each element of the pair is presented in a story, is the most truthful path leading to a description of the author’s/narrator’s way of dealing with reality. As a title and as a frequently used word, “Unhappiness”—one of the heavier weights under the umbrella of reality—is widely recognized as something purely negative that might set the tone for a similar kind of story to follow. Unhappiness is a very real word that drags along some very weighted equities: sorrow, misery, pain, loss, des
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Kafka Kafka, lightness weight, own mind, story unhappiness, accompanied lightness, narrators reality, description reality,
Approximate Word count = 911
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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