Homecoming (Kafka short story)

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"Homecoming" (German: "Heimkehr") is a short story by Franz Kafka. [1] A young man returns home and finds that his father does not express any feelings towards him. He recognizes the familiar terrain, such as his family's farm, but feels like a stranger. He stands at the door waiting, and feels a dread as it becomes apparent that he will always be on the outskirts both of his family and of his community.

Short story Brief work of literature, usually written in narrative prose

A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a "single effect" or mood, however there are many exceptions to this.

Franz Kafka German-speaking Bohemian Jewish novelist and short story writer

Franz Kafka was a German-speaking Bohemian Jewish novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work, which fuses elements of realism and the fantastic, typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers, and has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity. His best known works include "Die Verwandlung", Der Process, and Das Schloss. The term Kafkaesque has entered the English language to describe situations like those found in his writing.

It has been suggested that the story is essentially the Parable of the Prodigal Son inverted. [2]

Parable of the Prodigal Son New Testament parable

The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of the parables of Jesus and appears in Luke 15:11–32. Jesus Christ shares it with his disciples, the Pharisees and others.

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References

  1. Richard T. Gray A Franz Kafka Encyclopedia 0313303754 2005 Page 119 - "Heimkehr" ("Homecoming"). Short parabolic story, most likely written, according to the editors of the Kritische Ausgabe (Critical Edition) toward the end of Kafka's life, between November 1923 and January 1924.
  2. de Visscher, Jacques (2001). "'The Longer One Hesitates Before the Door, the Stranger One Becomes'". Journal of Phenomenological Psychology. 32 (2): 118–130. doi:10.1163/156916201760043199.