The first-person narrator is an ambiguous burrowing animal. The only direct references to his anatomy are to a "forehead", which he uses to compact the loose earth around the section of his burrow referred to as the "Castle Keep”, “paws” and “claws”.
The creature lives in constant fear of attack from enemies. This leads to compulsive attempts to make the burrow perfectly secure. Along with the Castle Keep, the entrance to the burrow is a source of constant anxiety. Later in the story the creature becomes obsessed by a persistent noise and resolves to dedicate his energy to the identification and elimination of its source.
The last sentence of the story reads "But all remained unchanged, the—". This sentence is at the end of a page, implying that Kafka had written more and perhaps fashioned an ending. In order to publish the story with the semblance of a conclusion, Max Brod edited the last sentence to "But all remained the same."
"I have completed the construction of my burrow and it seems to be successful."
"...[T]he most beautiful thing about my burrow is the stillness. Of course, that is deceptive. At any moment it may be shattered and then all will be over. For the time being, however, the silence is with me."
"You live in peace, warm, well-nourished, master, sole master of all your manifold passages and rooms, and all this you are prepared—not to give up, of course—but to risk it, so to speak; you nurse the confident hope, certainly, that you will regain it; yet is it not a dangerous, far too dangerous stake that you are playing for? Can there be any reasonable grounds for such a step? No, for such acts as these there can be no reasonable grounds."
"I almost screw myself to the point of deciding to emigrate to distant parts and take up my old comfortless life again, which had no security whatever, but was one indiscriminate succession of perils, yet in consequence prevented one from perceiving and fearing particular perils, as I am constantly reminded by comparing my secure burrow with ordinary life."[4]
References in other media
A parody of the story appears as part of the short story "The Notebooks of Bob K." by Jonathan Lethem, which is collected in Kafka Americana. In the story Batman'sBatcave is presented as a version of the burrow.
↑ The Great Wall of China: Stories and Reflections. Franz Kafka - 1946 - Schocken Books
↑ Rituals of Dying, Burrows of Anxiety in Freud, Proust, and Kafka: Prolegomena to a Critical Immunology. J Türk - The Germanic Review, 2007 - Heldref Publications
"The Great Wall of China" is a short story by Franz Kafka. While written in 1917, it was not published until 1930, seven years after his death. Its first publication occurred in Der Morgen, a German literary magazine. A year later, Max Brod included it in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer, the first posthumous collection of short stories by Franz Kafka.
"Investigations of a Dog" is a short story by Franz Kafka written in 1922. It was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections. Told from the perspective of a dog, the story concerns the nature and limits of knowledge, by way of the dog's inquiries into the practices of his culture.
"The Village Schoolmaster", or "The Giant Mole" is an unfinished short story by Franz Kafka. The story, written in December 1914 and the beginning of 1915, was not published in Kafka's lifetime. It first appeared in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"The Hunter Gracchus" is a short story by Franz Kafka. The story presents a boat carrying the long-dead Hunter Gracchus as it arrives at a port. The mayor of Riva meets Gracchus, who gives him an account of his death while hunting, and explains that he is destined to wander aimlessly and eternally over the seas. An additional fragment presents an extended dialogue between Gracchus and an unnamed interviewer, presumably the same mayor.
The Penal Colony: Stories and Short Pieces is a collection of short stories and recollections by Franz Kafka, with additional writings by Max Brod. First published in 1948 by Schocken Books, this volume includes all the works Kafka intended for publication, and published during his lifetime. It also includes critical pieces by Kafka, "The First Long Train Journey" by Kafka and Brod, and an Epilogue by Brod. The collection was translated by Willa and Edwin Muir.
The Great Wall of China is the first posthumous collection of short stories by Franz Kafka published in Germany in 1931. It was edited by Max Brod and Hans Joachim Schoeps and collected previously unpublished short stories, incomplete stories, fragments and aphorisms written by Kafka between 1917 and 1924. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in 1933. The same translation was published in 1946 by Schocken Books.
"A Little Fable" is a short story written by Franz Kafka between 1917 and 1923, likely in 1920. The anecdote, only one paragraph in length, was not published in Kafka's lifetime and first appeared in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer (1931). The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"Prometheus" is a short story by Franz Kafka written between 1917 and 1923, likely in 1918. The story presents four versions of the myth of Prometheus, concerning his fate after he was chained to a cliff for betraying the secrets of the gods to men. It was not published in Kafka's lifetime, first appearing in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer (1931). The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"The Bridge" is a short story by Franz Kafka. It was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"The Knock at the Manor Gate" is a short story by Franz Kafka. It was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"The Silence of the Sirens" is a short story by Franz Kafka. It was not published until 1931, seven years after his death. Max Brod selected stories and published them in the collection Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"A Common Confusion" is a short story by Franz Kafka. It was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"The City Coat of Arms" is a short story by Franz Kafka. It was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"The Married Couple" is a 1922 short story by Franz Kafka. It was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"The Problem of Our Laws" is a short parable by Franz Kafka was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"The Bucket Rider" is a short story by Franz Kafka, written in 1917. It first appeared in the Prager Presse in 1921 and was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation, by Willa and Edwin Muir, was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It also appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"A Crossbreed" is a short story by Franz Kafka.
"On Parables" is a short story fragment by Franz Kafka. It was not published until 1931, seven years after his death. Max Brod selected stories and published them in the collection Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
"The Truth about Sancho Panza" is a short story by Franz Kafka. It was published in 1931, seven years after the death of Kafka. Max Brod selected stories and published them in the collection Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China: Stories and Reflections.
"My Neighbor" is a short story by Franz Kafka. It was written in 1917 and published in 1931 in Berlin by Max Brod and Hans-Joachim Schoeps. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections.
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