Kafka’s Biography

Kafka Franz was born on July 3, 1883, in Prague, Bohemia, currently known as the Czech Republic. He came from a middle class and had a German-speaking background. He was the eldest child in the family (Nervi).

Kafka interacted with family members and friends as he grew up and pursued his career. His father was an ill-tempered man. In most cases, he directed his anger toward Franz as the eldest son. He did not regard his venture into literature, which lead to the poor relationship. His father was disrespectful to him. His mother, on the contrary, who was more educated than the father, raised him with moral virtues and this equipped him in his future career. In 1912, Kafka met with Felice Bauer in Berlin and they shortly got engaged. Although they met during this period, their relationship ended up in 1917 (Nervi). During his career, he acquainted with Dora Dymant with whom they had a close relationship. His feelings brought forth steady understanding of the events of that time and contributed to self-development.

Kafka came from a German-speaking family; thus his mother tongue was German (The Biography.com). He was also fluent in Czech since his life in Prague exposed him to learning this language. Having been born in a Jewish religious family, he felt alienated from Judaism and Jewish. He did not have a sense of identity in either, and in his adolescent he declared himself an atheist. Having considered himself as Jewish since birth, he did not incorporate any character or theme in his life. His nationality was that of Australia.

In November 1907, Kafka was hired to work in the Assicurazioni Generali, an Insurance Company owned by an Italian. Here he worked for almost a year. During this time, he confessed that he was unhappy with the working schedule there. The tight schedule from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. was unfavorable to him as he could not concentrate on his writing. He resigned the job on July 15, 1908, and in few weeks later he secured another job in Accident Insurance Institute belonging to the Kingdom of Bohemia. During his work, he received several promotions which indicated his hard work. Kafka also remained committed to his literary work. In 1911, he collaborated with his relative Karl Herman in an asbestos factory known as Prager Asbestwerke Herman and Co. He totally dedicated all his free time to this business. It is during this period that Kafka found interest in Yiddish theater performance. These performances served as a road to growing of his strong relationship with Judaism (Nervi). In 1923, Kafka fled to Berlin away from his relatives to concentrate further on his writing.

During the World War period, Kafka was significantly involved in promoting socialism besides his friend who was identified with Zionist (The Biography.com). Kafka’s aim was to root out alienation and bring a forum where people could interact and air out their views. His stand remained firm despite that opposition from other people. It was depicted in most of his writings that were published during this period and advocated for the social network among people.

The time of Kafka’s life was the time of great historical and political changes in the society. Frederick Robert Karl once said that “Kafka seems to me to have understood this better than anybody else alive, and in that sense he becomes the person who absorbed the whole historical lesson before most people realized it was a historical lesson” (Nervi). During this unstable period Kafka underwent much hardship both in his life and career. Although he emerged to be a greater writer, his work was full of challenges. Many scholars have written and discussed Kafka’s life and the difficulties he dealt with during his early life and career making. The views of different authors are similar.

One thing I found funny about Kafka was the sense of humor he had with his friends and people around him. He delighted sharing humor and, therefore, was known as the most entertaining person. According to his friend Brod, he knew Kafka as the most passionate reciter who could “phrase his speaking to sound like music” (The Biography.com). He was a man full of wisdom in giving advice and solving problems. Kafka died on June 3, 1924 after suffering from tuberculosis.