Fictionalizing Schopenhauer and Subtextualizing De Sade: Kafka's Absurd Existential Experiment in " n the !

enal "olon#" $ike "ritchfield% &ahoo' "ontributor (et)ork

n "*n Suicide%" Arthur Schopenhauer describes the act of suicide as not at all unethical% but simpl# a mistake+ ,o)e-er% if the act is carried out as an existential experiment as a means of in-estigating the limits of existence% then the act can b# no means be considered deplorable+ Either )a#% it is ludicrous to den# an#one the inalienable right to terminate existence+ .hile those )ho commit suicide ma# cause themsel-es pain% this pain /like all pain0 is characterized as positi-e for Schopenhauer1 because happiness and satisfaction are so briefl# experienced that the# can be considered negations of pain+ !ain is best brought to an end not b# attaining elusi-e happiness% but b# eliminating the desire that is causing the pain+ n fact% although Schopenhauer ne-er 2uite expresses it% suicide is perhaps the most efficient )a# of eliminating pain since all corporeal desire ceases+ Kafka parodies this perspecti-e in " n the !enal "olon#" b# emplo#ing a militar# officer to perform the existential experiments on others% the prisoners+ n order to guarantee that his experiments )ill be carried out% he ensures that all are deemed guilt#+ As he informs the tra-eler )ho is to ser-e as the )itness to the execution% "'$# guiding principle is this: 3uilt is ne-er to be doubted'" /450+ 6he legal process is of little concern to the officer7 his chief ob8ecti-e is making sure that the "text" of the crimeis tattooed on his naked bod#% and that in the moments prior to death% the condemned man has )hat Kurt Fickert calls an epiphan#9% a moment in )hich he connects his guilt )ith the supposed crime+ ,o)e-er% the 3erman officer's moti-es are suspect+ ,e becomes excited as he describes the reaction of the condemned as the# approach death: "':ut ho) 2uiet he gro)s at 8ust about the sixth hour' Enlightenment comes to the most dull; )itted+ t begins around the e#es+ From there it radiates+ A moment that might tempt one to get under the ,arro) oneself'" /1<=0+ 6his is the onl# e-idence that the officer can produce that suggests the tortured prisoners achie-e a re-elation since the# cannot speak7 the# are gagged+ Fickert adds that the prison guards speak French% but the condemned man does not% )hich suggests that a language barrier ma# pre-ent him from "decoding" the message from his )ounds+ "ertainl#% the officer does not appear to

speak to the condemned man at all% suggesting that he does not speak the man's nati-e language and that he has not explained the torture process to the -ictim+ $argot (orris asserts that " n the !enal "olon#" should not be interpreted as theological or existential% but as Kafka's "pornological fantas#" /15<0+ n this stor#% she argues% suffering's end is pleasure% and the officer achie-es pleasure in -o#euristic fashion+ 6he "ideal" s#stem of 8ustice in the penal colon# is a pretext% then% for sadistic pla# not unlike that described in de Sade's !hilosoph# in the :edroom+ ,o)e-er% the stor# contains moral implications as )ell7 as >ames .hitlark cogentl# obser-es% the stor# "-ie)s the cruelt# through an obser-er )ho is tr#ing to make moral sense of it% so the effect is not pornographic but ethical;;a search to explain the most irrational malice" /590+ .hitlark also discusses the dual nature of those )ho commit "disorganized sexual homicide?" and ho) "figurati-el# or literall#% the theme of self;di-ision )orks )ell in parod#" /5=0+ 6his dualit# accounts for the officer's other)ise inexplicable decision to offer himself for torture in place of the condemned man+ Kafka's diaries suggest that he linked the moment of death )ith sexual arousal% an idea deri-ed from &iddish theater;;"mitat neshiki%" or death b# a kiss+ Kafka recounts a death;fantas# he has in a diar# entr#: "6his morning% for the first time in a long time% the 8o# again of imagining a knife t)isted in m# heart" /Diaries 1940+ Kafka's enthusiastic description of this phallic;like penetration mirrors the officer's euphoric explanation of the function of the penetrating needles as the# pierce the condemned+ !erhaps e-en more illuminating is a remark Kafka makes in a letter to $ax :rod in 141<: "' am nothing but a mass of spikes going through me7 if tr# to defend m#self and use force% the spikes onl# press deeper'" /@A0+ .hile this re-elation describes his self;torment% it also illustrates the problematic function of his extremel# sensiti-e% self;annihilating consciousness% resulting in a paradoxical existence in )hich he simultaneousl# thri-es and languishes+ Bike his officer% Kafka experiences a destructi-e dualit#+ Kafka's suicide fantasies aside% there is little doubt that de Sade's )ritings profoundl# influenced Kafka's thematic concerns in " n the !enal "olon#+" n Erich ,eller's Kafka% 3usta- >anouch% a friend and confidante of the )riter% reports that Kafka pronounced de Sade "'the true patron of our age'" /9A0+ ,o)e-er% he likel# )as most impressed )ith de Sade's nihilism% his (ietzschean= re8ection of prescribed ethical s#stems% rather than his disturbing pornographic descriptions in !hilosoph# in the :edroom+ (onetheless% de Sade's disturbing reflections illustrate a fascination )ith the torture process that the penal colon# officer shares+ ,e describes the interaction bet)een the torturer and the

torturedA: )hen causing in8ur# to others% the torturer exposes himselfCherself to a tremendous shock+ 6his can be accomplished because pain effects a much greater impression than pleasure+ .hen pain is produced in others% the "re-erberations" )ill resound as a current passes from the tortured to the torturer% primaril# through e#e;to; e#e contact% a per-ersion of the 3aze+ "ertainl#% the penal colon# officer is 2uite preoccupied )ith eliciting this reaction from the condemned+ ,o)e-er% the freedom he has to mete out punishment for his o)n gratification )ould not be possible )ithout the suspension of moralit# inherent during colonization+ ndeed% the brutalit# of the colon# is suggesti-e of the 3erman penal colonies of the captured French at the beginning of .orld .ar % 8ust prior to the composition of Kafka's stor#+ As .orld .ar historian Da-id $enichetti asserts% "6he militar# emplo#ed both acti-e units and armed Bandsturm to keep order and to enforce militar# polic# in the to)ns+ 6he militar# put no real go-ernmental structure in place% simpl# pro-iding a militar# commandant /usuall# a ma8or or colonel0 for each to)n or -illage+ 6he commandants generall# ran the to)ns as loose prison camps% in order to restrict ci-ilian mo-ement% and% in some cases% to humiliate the hated French" /99;9?0+ 6he loose control exercised b# the 3ermans is remarkabl# similar to the French penal colon# in the stor#+ $enichetti adds that the 3ermans committed numerous atrocities against the French as the# approached from the north+ .hile there is a re-ersal of the role of the French as colonized in .. to colonizers in " n the !enal "olon#%" this reflexi-it# pro-ides a parodic criti2ue of the brutalit# of all colonization+ 6he officer's independent pro8ect of torture is an undesirable% albeit common outcome of colonization+ Aggressi-e militar# action attracts those )ho desire to exercise sadean control in a place )here moralit# is suspended+ " n the !enal "olon#" demonstrates that colonizing nations cannot a-oid brutalit# in the process of colonization+ 6his point has been dri-en home b# the scandal at the Abu 3hraib prison% formerl# operated b# the D+S+ militar#+ n one of the photographs that has come to light% a p#ramid of naked ra2i prisoners appears )ith an American prison guard )ho grins for the photographer+ !erhaps )e should not be so shocked b# the beha-ior of a fe) American soldiers but amazed b# Kafka's prophetic )ork and a)akened to Schopenhauer's stern )arning: "among the e-ils of a penal colon# is the societ# of those )ho form it" /"Sufferings" 9E0+ 6his old message re-erberates e-en no)+

End 1See Schopenhauer's "Sufferings of the

(otes .orld+"

9For a discussion of epiphanic moments in man# of Kafka's )orks% see Fickert+ ?.hitlark's "Kafka !arodies of Sexual ,omicide" contains a discussion about Kafka's la) professor ,ans 3ross% )ho )rote an important )ork on forensic ps#cholog#+ =!atrick :ridg)ater's Kafka and (ietzsche addresses (ietzsche's influence .orks "ited :ridg)ater% !atrick+ Kafka and (ietzsche+ :onn: :ou-ier Ferlag% ,erbert 3rundmann% 145=+ de Sade% $ar2uis+ !hilosoph# in the :edroom+ n 6he "omplete >ustine% !hilosoph# in the :edroom% and *ther .ritings+ 6rans+ Gichard Sea-er H Austr#n .ainhouse+ (e) &ork: 3ro-e% 14@@+ Fickert% Kurt >+ "6he Failed Epiphan# in Kafka's ' n der Strafkolonie+'" 3ermanic (otes and Ge-ie)s?9+9 /9<<10: 1A?;A4+ ,eller% Erich+ Franz Kafka+ Ed+ Frank Kermode+ (e) &ork: Fiking% 145A+ Kafka% Franz+ 6he Diaries of Franz Kafka% 141<;141?+ 6rans+ >oseph Kresh+ Ed+ $ax :rod+ (e) &ork: Schocken% 1455+ ;;;+ Betters to Friends% Famil#% and Editors+ 6rans+ Gichard and "lara .inston+ Ed+ $ax :rod+ (e) &ork: Schocken% 1455+ ;;;+ " n the !enal "olon#+" Selected Short Stories of Franz Kafka+ 6rans+ .illa and Ed)in $uir+ (e) &ork: $odern Bibrar#% 14A9+ 4<;19E+ $enichetti% Da-id+ "3erman !olic# in *ccupied :elgium% 141=;141E+" Essa#s in ,istor# ?4 /14450: 1;?1+ (orris% $argot+ "Sadism and $asochism in ' n the !enal "olon#' and 'A ,unger Artist+'" Geading Kafka+ Ed+ $ark Anderson+ (e) &ork: Schocken% 14E4+ Schopenhauer% Arthur+ "*n Suicide+" Studies in !essimism: A Series of Essa#s+ 6rans+ 6+ :aile# Saunders+ Bondon: S)an Sonnenschein% 1E4?+ ;;;+ "Sufferings of the .orld+" Studies in !essimism: A Series of Essa#s+ 6rans+ 6+ :aile# Saunders+ Bondon: S)an Sonnenschein% 1E4?+ on Kafkan Ade Sade describes the "sadistic" process in !hilosoph# in the :edroom+ philosophical texts+