In the Penal

Colony
Study Guide by Course Hero

A penal colony—a place where prisoners are sent to live—is the

What's Inside setting of the story. The title "In the Penal Colony" places the
reader within the action. The colony, with its controls,
punishment, and hierarchy, is a symbol for society.
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1

d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1

a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3 d In Context

h Characters .................................................................................................. 4

k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 6 World War I—The Great War

c Plot Analysis ............................................................................................... 9 Franz Kafka wrote "In the Penal Colony" in 1914, the year that
World War I (1914–18) began. This was a time of intense
g Quotes ......................................................................................................... 13
political and social upheaval that ushered in the end of
l Symbols ...................................................................................................... 14 centuries-old empires and the beginning of an uncertain future.
The story was published in 1919, the year in which peace
m Themes ........................................................................................................ 15 treaties were signed.

The story of World War I began in July 1914 when a Serbian

gunman assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863–1914)
j Book Basics and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg (1868–1914), of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria-Hungary quickly
declared war on Serbia. Within weeks, the European powers
AUTHOR
had formed alliances, and conflict began. Germany declared
Franz Kafka
war on Russia and signed an alliance with Turkey. France allied
YEAR PUBLISHED with Russia. Germany invaded Luxembourg. Germany declared
1919 war on France and Belgium, and Britain declared war on
Germany. The list of alliances and invasions goes on: Germany
GENRE invaded France; Japan declared war on Germany; Germany
Allegory, Drama, Dystopian invaded Russian Poland. By August, there were two fronts. On
the western front, Germany fought the Allied forces of France,
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR
Britain, and Belgium. On the eastern front, Germany battled
The story "In the Penal Colony" is narrated from an omniscient
Russia. Meanwhile, Japan attacked China in a port the
third-person point of view.
Germans had held for 16 years.
TENSE
World War I was both vicious and technologically
The story "In the Penal Colony" is written in the past tense.
sophisticated. On the western front, the British and French
ABOUT THE TITLE fought the Germans at extremely close range—often less than
In the Penal Colony Study Guide
100 yards. The western front was a 440-mile-long trench
system running from Alsace near the Swiss border, zigzagging
through France, and reaching all the way to Belgium's North
Sea coast. Both sides lived and fought in trenches fortified with
sandbags. Sometimes they were close enough to whistle or
sing to each other, or to smell each other's cooking. The
Germans were the first army to use poison gas, but the British
soon developed their own. At first, gas masks were ineffective
(but they became more advanced, as did the poison gases),
and many men died from friendly fire. Troops still used horses,
but it was also the first significant use of tanks or machine
guns by armed forces, who bombed civilians and created the
concept of "total war."
World War I also led to the Armenian Genocide (1915–16), with
the Turks willfully murdering over 1.5 million Christian
Armenians living in Turkey. They feared the Armenians would
ally with Turkey's enemies, which were Britain, France, Russia,
Italy, and the United States. Turkey had allied with Germany
and Austria-Hungary. Finally, the fighting in Africa, Asia, and
the Middle East—largely between representatives of the
European colonial powers—created the blueprint for later
conflicts in the Middle East, the former Yugoslavia, and Asia.
Finally, on November 11, 1918, the Armistice was signed. The
truce signaled the beginning of the end to the conflict.
Germany's kaiser and Austria's emperor both abdicated, and
Yugoslavia declared itself an independent country. The Allied
forces and Germany finally signed a peace treaty called the
Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
The end of the war resulted in a humiliating defeat for
Germany, the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian and
Ottoman Empires, and the establishment of Czechoslovakia as
a new nation with Prague, Kafka's homeland, as its capital.
Approximately 9 million soldiers and close to 10 million civilians
died in the war. The two countries most affected by casualties
were Germany and France. This vast devastation imprinted on
the artists of the day, who expressed a sense of profound
despair and isolation in their work. Kafka wrote in his journals,
"I have intensely absorbed the negative aspect of my time."
Penal Colonies
European countries, primarily Russia, France, and England,
established and operated penal colonies from 1415 through the
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
In Context 2
1960s. A penal colony was an isolated place, often an island,
where governments sent prisoners and political dissidents to
establish new settlements or conduct forced labor, often under
extremely harsh and cruel conditions. During Kafka's time, one
of the more infamous penal colonies was Devil's Island, which
was operated by the French from 1852 to 1953 in French
Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America. Prisoners
were often forced to work naked, and its death rate was
around 60 percent.
Its most famous prisoner was Captain Alfred Dreyfus
(1859–1935). A French officer who was Jewish, Dreyfus was
falsely accused of treason in 1894 and spent over four years at
Devil's Island. He was stripped of his rank, with buttons and
insignia cut from his uniform, and his sword was
broken—events that are echoed in the final scenes of "In the
Penal Colony." He was eventually freed and pardoned because
of a public debate regarding the role of anti-Semitism
(prejudice against Jewish people) in the accusation and the
evidence of an army cover-up. His trial and imprisonment
became known as the Dreyfus Affair and was one of the most
politically divisive events of the 19th century across Europe. It
also served to underscore the brutal treatment delivered in the
penal colonies, as he accepted a dishonorable pardon rather
than return to Devil's Island.
Western Colonialism
Kafka would have been familiar with press reports regarding
the Herero Uprising in what is modern Namibia in southwest
Africa. In the revolt, which began in 1904, the Herero people
rose up against their German colonizers, killing 123 people. The
German colonizers responded with force, killing 80 percent of
the Herero people. Many of those remaining alive were placed
in concentration camps, experimented upon medically, and
executed. There was a German order that the survivors were
to feel the consequences "on their body"—a command also
given by the Officer in "In the Penal Colony." In 1904, another
colonized African people, the Nama, rose up against their
German colonizers. This conflict lasted two years and also
resulted in men, women, and children being sent to
concentration camps as slave laborers. About half of all these
prisoners died in the camps. By the end of the conflicts in 1907,
roughly 75 percent of the Herero and 50 percent of the Nama
had been killed in one of history's most effective genocides.
The power relations and violence of the colonial era inform
In the Penal Colony Study Guide
Kafka's writing of "In the Penal Colony."
The subjugation of the Herero and Nama peoples was part of a
pattern of Western colonialism in Africa, Asia, North and South
America, and the Caribbean. The practice by Western
European countries of politically and economically controlling
another country by subjugating its population and exploiting its
economic resources began in the 1500s and declined after
World War II (1939–45). The industrialization of the 19th
century greatly expanded its reach. In the late 19th and early
20th centuries, European colonialism intensified. This period is
sometimes called "the new imperialism," as new powers were
also hoping to establish global empires. The colonizing
countries were brutal in their annexation of other nations. The
political, economic, and psychological effects of the
exploitation have continued in what is termed post-colonialism.
Kafka would have been intimately familiar with the brutality of
the colonial nations. His uncle worked as an administrator on a
railway project through the Congo, powered by forced labor,
from 1891 to 1902. He wrote about this information in his
journal. In history, the Belgian colonization of the Congo has
been recorded as particularly brutal.
a Author Biography
Early Life and Education
Born July 3, 1883, Franz Kafka grew up in a middle-class
Jewish family in Prague, the capital of Bohemia, which was part
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague became the capital of
the Czech Republic in 1993. Kafka's family spoke German at
home, and his father, a successful businessman, worked as a
clothing retailer. Although Kafka was born into a Jewish family,
he declared himself an atheist by the time he was a teenager.
Still, given the cultural context dominating Western Europe,
Kafka was likely aware of the wrathful God of the Old
Testament (Hebrew Bible). This angry, punishing, and
seemingly capriciously cruel God who demands strict
obedience to his laws no doubt influenced Kafka's view of
authority and law as arbitrary and irrational.
Kafka had an extremely troubled relationship with both of his
parents. His mother was narrow-minded and could not
comprehend his fascination with literature and the arts, nor
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
Author Biography 3
could his materialistic and domineering—some might say
tyrannical—father. In his posthumously published "Letter to His
Father," Kafka described feeling persecuted and belittled by
his "overwhelmingly powerful" father. Kafka struggled against
this fearsome authoritarian, though he often felt that his
struggle was futile. Kafka blamed his overbearing and
disapproving father for many things in his life, such as his
perceived failures and his deep sense of unworthiness and
uselessness. For example, Kafka's father pressured him to
abandon his interest in literature and writing—pursuits at which
he scoffed—and instead to focus on a lucrative legal or
business career.
A good student, Kafka attended a German school, Charles-
Ferdinand University of Prague. He pursued chemistry but
switched to law, giving himself some latitude to take courses
more to his liking while keeping his family happy. He joined the
university's literary club and thrived because of his
participation in it. After graduating in 1906, he worked as an
unpaid law clerk and then as a lawyer with an Italian insurance
company.
Struggling with Anxiety and
Emerging as a Writer
Kafka found a more manageable position with a government
insurance institute, receiving several promotions over the years
and finding time for writing in the off-hours, usually late at
night. As often as he could, Kafka met with other writers to
share and discuss works. Through these meetings, he
developed close friendships with Max Brod (1884–1968), a
Jewish writer who became his biographer, and Felix Weltsch
(1884–1964), a Jewish philosopher, writer, and editor.
While his career paid the bills, Kafka's real passion was writing.
His familiarity with the law gave him deep insight into its
frequent injustices. It also gave him first-hand experience
regarding how an ordinary person might get snared in its
intricate, incomprehensible procedures. Kafka started
publishing short stories and stuck to a rigorous writing routine
that enabled him to amass an impressive body of work. While
he never married, he spent time in brothels and fell in love with
a Jewish woman, Felice Bauer (1887–1960). He was engaged
twice to Bauer; their relationship began in 1912. In 1914, he
wrote "In the Penal Colony" after he broke off their first
engagement. Their second engagement ended in 1917 when he
In the Penal Colony Study Guide Characters 4

had his first attack of tuberculosis, a bacterial lung infection. the boat. His failure to stop the execution and his final act of
leaving can both be seen as likely to perpetuate the colony's
brutal practices.
A Life Cut Short
After Kafka became sick with tuberculosis, he took leave from Officer
his insurance position. He spent a great deal of time resting,
under the care of his sister Ottla. Meanwhile, he had a brief but The Officer is devoted to the execution machine and to the Old
fervent relationship with journalist Milena Jesenská Commandant who created it. Because of his devotion to this
(1896–1944). Later he met and fell in love with a Jewish system of "justice," he takes his own life in the machine after
kindergarten teacher, Dora Dymant (sometimes spelled he realizes that support for the machine is slipping away.
Diamant, 1898–1952), who had socialist leanings—believing in
government ownership of the means of production and
distribution of goods—much like his own. The two moved to
Berlin, where Kafka concentrated on his health and writing, and
for the first time lived away from his family. When his condition
worsened, Kafka returned home to a sanatorium (facility for
long-term medical care) in Prague. Later, he died near Vienna
at age 40 on June 3, 1924.

Many of Kafka's short stories and novels had not yet been
published and were incomplete at the time of his death. The
Metamorphosis, his only completed novella, was written in 1912
and published in 1915. Kafka did not become a well-known
author until after his death. The Trial was published
posthumously in 1925. Kafka left explicit instructions with
friend and fellow author Max Brod for his work "to be burned
unread." Brod went against Kafka's wishes, publishing several
of his friend's novels and stories over the next decade,
including The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927). Brod's move
created a legacy for his friend; little known before his death,
Kafka is now considered a master of 20th-century German
literature.

h Characters

Traveler
A European and an outsider to the colony, the Traveler has
been asked by the New Commandant to witness the execution.
He objects to the execution's brutality and finally exercises his
conscience when he admits to the Officer that he thinks the
execution is inhumane and unjust. Finally, he leaves the colony
and prevents the Soldier and Condemned Man from boarding

Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887

In the Penal Colony Study Guide Characters 5

Character Map

Officer
Superior Devoted executioner

Follower Executioner

Observer

Old Commandant Condemned Man

Ghostly presence Accused man

Witness to
Traveler execution
Moral explorer

Successor Jailer

New Commandant Soldier

Subversive colony leader Friendly officer

Main Character

Other Major Character

Minor Character

Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887

In the Penal Colony Study Guide
Full Character List
Character Description
The Traveler, in his role as a great
explorer, is asked to witness the
execution of the Condemned Man. He
voices his opposition to the practice,
Traveler stretches out his hands to try to stop
the machine when he sees that it is
murdering rather than simply
"punishing," and eventually leaves the
colony.
The Officer is in charge of operating
the machine. As the story opens he is
Officer
preparing to execute the Condemned
Man.
The Condemned Man's crime is
sleeping on his watch and failing to
Condemned
ask for forgiveness when he is
Man
punished. He is eventually set free and
tries to leave the colony.
The Traveler sees the dockworkers
inside the teahouse. They are
Dockworkers described as "poor, oppressed
people." They represent the typical
inhabitants of the colony.
The New Commandant is not a part of
the action of the story, although he is
referred to several times. He dislikes
New the Officer and the apparatus. He has
Commandant asked the Traveler to observe the
execution process, presumably so the
Traveler will suggest putting an end to
it.
The Old Commandant is dead when
the story starts. He invented the
machine and administered the
Old executions while alive. Denied a
Commandant proper grave, he was buried in the
back of a teahouse, but his tombstone
suggests that he and his followers
may rise again.
The Soldier watches over the
Condemned Man and eventually
Soldier
seems to strike up a friendship with
him. He also tries to flee the colony.
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
Plot Summary 6
k Plot Summary
The Explanation
In a valley surrounded by "barren slopes," a Traveler is invited
by the New Commandant of the penal colony to attend an
execution that is to be performed on a "peculiar apparatus."
The Condemned Man, who is bound by chains, is guilty of
"disobeying and insulting his superior." He awaits his
punishment with "dog-like resignation." The Officer begins to
check the parts of the apparatus that are "built deep into the
earth."
As the Officer enthusiastically readies the machine for use, he
begins to sweat in his heavy uniform, where he has tucked
"two fine lady's handkerchiefs under the collar of his uniform."
The Traveler remarks that the uniform is "too heavy for the
tropics." The Officer replies that he will not shed it because the
uniforms "mean home, and we don't want to lose our
homeland." He then tells the Traveler to look at the apparatus,
which is supposed to "keep going for twelve hours without
interruption."
The Officer offers a cane chair to the Traveler and then
explains the apparatus to him. The machine was invented by
the previous Commandant, who is now dead. It has three parts:
the Bed, the Inscriber, and the Harrow. The Traveler is having a
hard time following the explanation because of the strong sun.
He notices that the Condemned Man, who is watching and
being guarded by an indifferent soldier, is trying to understand
the explanation. However, this is not possible because the
Officer is speaking in French—a language the Condemned Man
does not know.
The Officer explains that the condemned prisoner first lies
naked on the bed, on his stomach. Felt is placed in his mouth
to prevent him from screaming or "biting his tongue to pieces."
The man is strapped in place, and then the bed begins to
quiver in coordination with the movements of the Harrow. It is
the Harrow that actually "carr[ies] out the sentence."
The Traveler is confused because he doesn't know what the
"sentence" is. The Officer explains, with dismay, that previously
the Commandant would have been present to provide the
explanation to "such an eminent visitor." Resigned, the Officer
pulls out the diagrams made by the previous Commandant.
In the Penal Colony Study Guide
Observing that "our sentence does not sound severe," he
explains that the law that a condemned man has violated is
inscribed on his body with the Harrow. This Condemned Man's
inscribed sentence will be "Honor your superiors."
The Traveler asks if the Condemned Man understands his
sentence, and the Officer answers that he does not, and there
is no reason for him too because he will "experience it on his
own body." The Condemned Man doesn't know he has been
condemned and has had "no opportunity to defend himself,"
the Officer says.
He continues to explain that the basic principle is that "guilt is
always beyond a doubt." The Condemned Man was "sleeping
on duty" when he was supposed to be rising every hour and
saluting the captain's door. He was horsewhipped and hit
across the face. Instead of "begging for forgiveness," he "cried
out, 'Throw away that whip or I'll eat you up.'" The Officer didn't
bother interrogating the man, because he would have lied.
The Officer continues, "As you see, the shape of the Harrow
corresponds to the shape of a man." There are harrows for the
upper body, legs, and head. The Traveler begins to feel
uncomfortable about the judicial procedure but reassures
himself that the New Commandant is likely to change it. The
Officer, after saying the Commandant is unlikely to be at the
execution, continues to explain how the apparatus works,
calling the action of the needles on the body "the
performance."
The Traveler realizes with "horror" that the Condemned Man
has moved closer to inspect the apparatus. The Soldier
guarding him is sleeping. The Condemned Man drags the
Soldier along as he moves closer to the machine. The Officer
wakes the Soldier up and orders him to stand the Condemned
Man up.
The Officer shows the Traveler the "script" drawn up by the
previous Commandant that determines the movement of the
Harrow. He explains that the script is incredibly complicated,
so that the inscription on the body takes on average 12 hours.
The Officer comments, "There must be many, many
embellishments surrounding the basic script." He fires up the
machine, but it is not working properly, and he reaches inside
the Inscriber. He explains the gruesome process by which the
Harrow covers fresh areas of the body, then returns to deepen
its inscriptions.
The Officer explains that for six hours, the condemned "suffers
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
Plot Summary 7
nothing but pain." After six hours, rice pudding is put at the
head of the bed, and the condemned can "lap [it] up with his
tongue." Most condemned men take the pudding but "around
the sixth hour" spit it out. They also begin to ascertain the
inscription, not with their eyes, but through the wounds to their
body, and cease to have the energy to scream. After another
six hours, the Harrow "spits him right out and throws him into
the pit." Then the Soldier and the Officer bury the man.
The Execution
The Soldier cuts off the Condemned Man's clothing and he is
strapped, naked, onto the bed. As the needle tips lightly touch
his skin, he "shudders." One of the straps breaks, and the
Officer explains that the reason for the breakdown is that the
New Commandant does not support this practice. He keeps
tight control over the cash box and is slow to replace the
machine parts.
The Traveler is now considering whether he should intervene
in the execution. He doubts that he has the authority as an
outsider, but he does not doubt "the injustice of the process
and the inhumanity of the execution." He reasons that he has
been brought here to observe and is well-respected, so he is in
a place to share his "judgment." He also knows that the New
Commandant does not approve of this process and is "hostile"
to the Officer.
His thoughts are interrupted by a "cry of rage" from the Officer,
who has just shoved the felt inside the Condemned Man's
mouth and caused him to vomit. The vomit flows down onto the
machine. The Officer attributes this to the fact that the "new
lenient administration" allows food before the executions. He is
also frustrated because they will not supply him with new felt,
so the piece he uses is "something that a hundred man have
sucked and bitten on" as they were dying.
The Officer pulls the Traveler aside and confides in him that
"this process" no longer has "open supporters in [the] colony."
He believes that this softening has been partly because of the
"women influencing" the New Commandant. He remembers
fondly a time when the executions were well-attended, and the
machine was clean and shiny. "A pile of cane chairs" is "a sorry
leftover" from those days. The Commandant himself would lay
out the condemned man.
He reflects on a particular memory where, with "two small
In the Penal Colony Study Guide
children in [his] arms," he "took in the expression of
transfiguration on the martyred face!" The Officer continues
that it is hard to capture the glory of those days. His faith in the
practice and the machine has never wavered. He observes that
the machine "still works and operates on its own ... even when
it is standing alone in this valley."
The Traveler is uncomfortable because the excited Officer has
put his arm around him. He looks away. The Officer now says
that he believes the Traveler has been brought here to
condemn the execution, given the visitor's "European way of
seeing things." He imagines the Commandant speaking and
saying that a "great Western explorer" who has been tasked
with inspecting "judicial procedures in all countries" has just
called their process, "based on old customs," inhuman. The
Traveler smiles and says he is not an expert in judicial
processes. He suggests that if the New Commandant is
determined to end the procedure, it will end, regardless of the
Traveler's opinion. The Officer counters that the Traveler has
more power than he realizes because he is "to a certain extent
innocent."
The Officer begs the Traveler for his public support.
Throughout this entire discussion, the Condemned Man and
the Soldier are eating the Condemned Man's rice pudding.
The Judgment
In a lengthy monologue, the Officer describes how the Traveler
can make sure he is invited to a meeting "of all the higher
administrative officials" planned for the next day. The Traveler
should not express any view about the procedure but should
seem bitter about what he has seen. Then he is sure to be
invited to the meeting. When the Officer gives a report on the
execution, the Commandant is sure to ask the "great explorer"
for his opinion of it. The Traveler should deliver his opinion very
briefly, then yield to the Officer, who will thoroughly convince
the New Commandant of the value of the procedure.
The Traveler is clear in his decision and says he cannot help
the Officer. He says that he opposes the practice, but finds the
Officer's "conviction genuinely moving." The Traveler intends to
share his opinion in private with the Commandant and leave
the next morning on a ship. During this conversation, the
Soldier and the Condemned Man seem to be becoming friends.
The Officer is surprised that he has not persuaded the
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
Plot Summary 8
Traveler. He turns to the Condemned Man and says, "You are
free." The man doesn't believe him, and the Officer repeats,
"You are free now." The Officer then takes out his leather
folder, finds the script he wants, and tells the Traveler to read
it. The Traveler is still unable to do so, and the Officer states it
for him: "Be just."
The Officer climbs up the ladder, places the paper inside the
inscriber, and rotates the gear mechanism. The Soldier begins
to retrieve the Condemned Man's clothes from the pit. The
Condemned Man puts on the cut-up clothes and circles around
the Soldier, making him laugh. The Officer begins to carefully
remove his clothes, including the handkerchiefs which, he
observes, are "presents from the ladies." He throws everything
into the pit, then breaks his sword into pieces and throws them
in also.
The Traveler reasons that the Officer is following the proper
course, given that the judicial process he clings to will soon be
cancelled. The Soldier and the Condemned Man begin to fight
over the discarded handkerchiefs. When the Officer is naked,
they begin to pay attention. The Condemned Man imagines
that the Traveler has sentenced the Officer to the procedure
that he was supposed to undergo. The Condemned Man feels
a sense of glee at being avenged in this way.
The Officer lies on the bed and does not strap himself. He will
submit to the process voluntarily and sets it in motion. The
Condemned Man and Soldier, however, strap him into the
apparatus. Now he cannot crank the Inscriber, but the machine
works on its own: "The Bed quivered, the needles danced on
his skin."
The Condemned Man is fascinated with the machine. The
Traveler is embarrassed by the man's interest and tells him to
go home, but the Condemned Man begs to stay. Suddenly, the
lid of the Inscriber opens and the gear wheels begin to fall off
the inscriber. The Harrow is now stabbing rather than writing.
The Traveler wishes to stop the apparatus, because he knows
this is not what the Officer intended. The Harrow moves the
"skewered body" as it is supposed to do at the end of the
procedure. As blood flows from the Officer in hundreds of
streams, the body hangs over the pit. The Traveler cries out for
the other two to help, but they fail to come. The Traveler drags
the Condemned Man over to help. When he looks at the dead
face of the Officer, "he could discover no sign of the promised
transfiguration." The Officer has not changed at all; he is
merely dead, an iron needle piercing his forehead.
In the Penal Colony Study Guide
The Departure
The Traveler, the Soldier, and the Condemned Man leave the
scene, walking past the "first houses in the colony," and find a
teahouse. They venture into "a deep, low room, like a cave,"
where the Traveler is "struck by the impression of historical
memory," feeling "the power of earlier times." The Soldier
reveals that the Old Commandant was buried here after being
denied a place in the cemetery by the chaplain. The Traveler
asks the Soldier to show him the grave. They walk past the
patrons of the teahouse who are "dockworkers, strong men"
whose shirts are torn—"poor, oppressed people." The
gravestone, located under a table, reveals that the Old
Commandant had loyal followers. They are not permitted to
have a name. The stone reveals that there is a prophecy that
he will rise again and tells the followers, "Have faith and wait."
When the Traveler sees that the other men in the room are
smiling, he thinks they find this prophecy ridiculous. The
Traveler leaves the teahouse. The Condemned Man and the
Soldier run after him. He is boarding a boat that will take him to
a steamer and assumes they want to go with him. The boat
begins to pull away from shore. The Traveler threatens them
with a "heavy knotted rope" to prevent them from jumping
aboard.
c Plot Analysis
Characterization
Franz Kafka chooses not to give specific names to his
characters, and instead emphasizes their role in the story as
the Officer, Condemned Man, Soldier, Traveler, and
Commandant. The choice gives the story the quality of a
parable, and it suggests that these roles, the story, and the
theme are universal. By being stripped of their names, the
characters are denied any personal identity. They have
become cogs in a machine, performing their jobs. This is
underscored by the fact that the machine has three parts, and
there are three characters involved in the execution—the
Soldier, Condemned Man, and Officer.
The Traveler is a proxy for the reader, as he is new to the
penal colony, an outsider, and an observer. Like Kafka's original
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
Plot Analysis 9
German-language readers, he is also European. The reader
shares his confusion in the beginning and his horror by the end,
as the nature of the machine and this system of "justice"
become clear. He also mirrors the reader's questions: Can this
be stopped? What responsibility do I have as a witness?
The Old and New Commandant are the two characters who
have the most power, even though neither is part of the action
of the plot. They mirror the way in which power is both
contained within human hierarchies, and also invisible. Those
with the most authority may command it even when not
present. Others will follow their orders. Their presence in the
story is a critique of the authority of bureaucracies that
perpetuate themselves through the submission of others.
Language
The story begins with the Officer saying, "It's a peculiar
apparatus," a phrase that has both a literal and metaphoric
meaning. The apparatus refers specifically to the brutalizing
machine, but it also refers to the way the penal colony is
organized. The straightforward language that Kafka employs,
with few figures of speech, makes a horrific execution seem
ordinary. The Officer describes the apparatus's sadistic parts
and processes with precision: "Its purpose is to prevent him
screaming and biting his tongue to pieces." This is a
mechanistic world of "barren slopes," where there is little
emotion, save for the excitement of the Officer.
The narrator emphasizes the importance of language through
the repetition of the word sentence, which also has two
meanings. A sentence in the sense of a judgment specifying
the punishment for a crime is the engine of the plot—the
reason that the execution is taking place. It is a case of
dramatic irony, in which the reader knows more than the
character, that the Condemned Man does not know his
sentence. He cannot understand French, the language the
Officer uses. There are repeated instances where the narrator
points out that the Condemned Man cannot understand what
is being said. It is language that confers power and reduces
people to categories, and the powerful share a language that
facilitates their domination.
A sentence is also a group of words that begins with a capital
letter, ends with a punctuation mark, and follows a particular
arrangement of word parts (such as nouns and verbs)
depending on its meaning. For instance, a sentence can be a
In the Penal Colony Study Guide
command, an assertion, or a question. The characters'
judgments (sentences) are expressed as commands
(sentences): "Honor your superiors." "Be just!" Thus, for the
Condemned Man, his crime and his punishment are both
contained in language. He is guilty of talking back, and his
punishment will be written in words on his body. This
association suggests that language is another tool that is used
to imprison and punish the characters.
Kafka wrote in his journals about his frustration with the limits
of language and its ability to define reality. Humans are all
"sentenced" to be limited by language as an organizing
principle.
Arc of the Story: Two Readings
The way in which the plot unfolds subverts readers'
expectations. The story has three distinct parts, and the three-
part structure presents two possible interpretations. In the
first, the characters can be seen as doomed by their own
primal urges to replicate a brutal system—whether that system
is the penal colony, the colonialism from which it stems, or any
bureaucracy. In the second interpretation, the three-part
structure presents a Christian allegory of self-sacrifice that the
Traveler ultimately rejects.
The System that Shapes a Society
In the words of critic Alexander Provan, Kafka's "singular
insight" in the story was that "the 'rationalization' of society,
with the bureaucracy as its engine, was increasingly shaping
individuals and relations between them." In this reading, the
three-part structure underscores not just the violent "engine"
of the penal colony system and colonialism in general but the
deadening effect of law, punishment, and bureaucracy that
Kafka saw and experienced in his own life.
The story's beginning focuses on the apparatus, presided over
by the all-powerful Officer in his role as judge and executioner.
The Condemned Man is in chains, and it is natural to assume
that he will be put to death.
However, there is a reversal because of the intervention of the
Traveler. Once it becomes clear to the Officer that he does not
have the support of the Traveler, just as he lacks the support
of the New Commandant, he decides to execute himself. His
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
Plot Analysis 10
death is viewed by the Traveler as proof of his belief in the old
ways—the ultimate consummation of beliefs and practice. It
also shows how even those who believe they are controlling a
system are, in fact, controlled by it.
The middle part of the story continues as the machine
malfunctions, and the Traveler seeks to stop what is an even
more brutal process than the Officer anticipated. The
Condemned Man and Soldier stand by watching this grisly act
of self-sacrifice and share the same desire for revenge.
The third part focuses on the Traveler. As he finds the grave of
the Old Commandant inscribed with the words that he will
return, there is the suggestion that the violence of the old
order always has a way of reappearing. In the final scene, the
Traveler threatens the Soldier and the Condemned Man with a
heavy rope as they try to get on the boat that is leaving the
colony. Their fate is unclear. It is possible that they will be
subjected to a brutal form of justice in the wake of the Officer's
death.
The characters' failure to act, their willingness to witness
violent cruelty, and their thirst for revenge means that the
penal colony system—and other brutal practices of
colonialism—will be perpetuated. The Old Commandant will
always have followers, as his tombstone promises. The
haunting of the Old Commandant and the fact that the dead
Officer's body is not buried can be viewed as the way
colonialism will continue to exert its power of thought long
after its practice is dead. The same can be said of any system
of bureaucracy that exists to subdue its members: it will
perpetuate itself through ideology even after its political power
is diminished.
Rejection of Christianity
The three-part story also emphasizes the religious undertones
in one of the story's themes: the prominence of guilt and
suffering within Christianity. In the words of critic Kurt J.
Fickert, "the central and principal event" in the story is the
"dying of one man, an innocent man, in place of another." The
death echoes the death of Jesus in the Bible's four Gospel
narratives: Jesus dies in order to redeem the sins of
humankind. The skeptical Traveler, in Fickert's words, rejects
"a religion based on guilt and suffering." However, he flees
from the Officer's death scene only to be confronted by a tomb
promising the return of the Old Commandment. The old ways,
In the Penal Colony Study Guide Plot Analysis 11

too, must be rejected. Fickert suggests that in throwing the

rope at the Condemned Man and the Soldier at the story's end,
the Traveler breaks his "last ties with traditional religious
beliefs."

Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887

In the Penal Colony Study Guide Plot Analysis 12

Plot Diagram

Climax

7
10 Falling Action
Rising Action
6
11
5

4 12

3 Resolution

2
1

Introduction

Introduction Climax

1. The Officer explains the apparatus to the Traveler. 9. All three who are left go to a teahouse.

Rising Action Falling Action

2. The Condemned Man lies down on the bed. 10. They see the Old Commandant's grave there.

3. The Traveler disagrees with the execution. 11. The Traveler boards a boat to leave the colony.

4. The Condemned Man is set free from the apparatus.

5. The Officer lies naked on the apparatus.

Resolution
6. The machine starts to work but malfunctions.
12. He threatens the Condemned Man and the Soldier with a
7. The Traveler asks the Condemned Man and Soldier to help. rope.

8. The Officer is killed by the machine.

Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887

In the Penal Colony Study Guide Quotes 13

body with the Harrow."

g Quotes
— Narrator
"'It's a peculiar apparatus,' said the
Officer to the Traveler." The Harrow is the part of the machine that inscribes the
condemned man's sentence on his body. It symbolizes the
violent way in which a culture impresses its values on its
— Officer
citizens in order to achieve conformity.

In the opening line, Kafka establishes that the machine is an

apparatus that is strange and yet common, like the culture in "Guilt is always beyond a doubt."
which it exists. The quotation suggests the way in which laws
and customs are made and perpetuated even when they don't
— Officer
make sense. No one questions how they work.

The Officer's statement points to the lack of any fair trial in the

"'These uniforms are really too penal colony. The guilt to which the officer is referring carries a
biblical implication. It is the guilt that all humanity shares for its
heavy for the tropics,' the Traveler sins.

said."

— Traveler
"This process and execution ...
have no more open supporters in
The Traveler is observing the Officer sweating in his uniform. our colony."
Impractical uniforms were a byproduct of colonialism in
tropical regions. By clinging to impractical vestments of power,
— Officer
the Officer shows his inflexibility and the way in which customs
from one culture do not translate in another.
The Officer's words mark the way in which the old system is
giving way to a new one. His revelation also underscores how

"'What is the sentence?' the the violence still in place in the colony is happening in isolation,
away from view. Many of Kafka's works explore what happens
Traveler asked." away from the public eye.

— Traveler
"How we all took in the expression
The Traveler begins this line of questioning, and it is significant of transfiguration on the martyred
because it reveals the arbitrary nature of the penal system.
The accused does not understand either his sentence or his face!"
punishment, so he can't defend himself.
— Officer

"The law which a condemned man The Officer is talking about a previous execution here. The

has violated is inscribed on his "transfiguration" can be interpreted through both a religious

Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887

In the Penal Colony Study Guide
and a secular lens. In the Gospel accounts, transfiguration, a
spiritual change, is what happened to Jesus while praying. The
Christian imagery in the word transfiguration also shows how
those punished are suffering for the sins of the penal colony.
From a secular perspective, the institution of colonialism was
justified by a belief in reform. Thus, the "transfiguration" here
can be seen as emphasizing the relationship between
punishment and reform.
"It operates on its own even when
it is standing alone in this valley."
— Officer
The "it" in this quotation is the execution machine. Its qualities
suggest that the mechanisms of power are automatic and
often perpetuate themselves once they have taken root.
"'Be just!' it states."
— Officer
This is the phrase that the Officer wishes to have inscribed on
his back during his execution. It is an example of dramatic
irony, because there is nothing "just" about this system. This
"sentence," both a judgment and a literal command, raises the
question of whether human justice is possible.
"The Traveler was struck by the
impression of historical memory,
and he felt the power of earlier
times."
— Narrator
This quotation describes the teahouse in which the Old
Commandment's grave is found. The Traveler finds little
difference between the teahouse and the other dilapidated
dwellings in the colony, with the exception of the New
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
Symbols 14
Commandant's "palatial structure." Cultural change is slow, and
the impact of a culture's laws on its citizens is a lingering one.
l Symbols
A Peculiar Apparatus
The "peculiar apparatus" refers to the machine used for
executions in the penal colony. Its many parts symbolize the
way that cultures are made up of customs, laws, and language,
all of which work in unison to control the individual.
The Harrow works with the Inscriber to write the Condemned
Man's sentence on his body. A harrow is a farm implement
used to break up topsoil for uniformity. As a part of the
machine, it symbolizes the violent way in which a culture
imprints its values on its citizens, resulting in conformity.
The Condemned Man is laid out on the bed in a way that
mimics a crucifixion, suggesting the story's theme of the
inevitability of guilt. Despite Christian belief that Jesus died on
the cross for humankind's sins, there is no relief or redemption
from sin and the guilt that results from it.
The script is the specific words to be imprinted on the body,
and it has so many "embellishments" that it is impossible for
the Traveler to read. It represents the intricate ways in which
power expresses itself, preventing those outside its bounds
from understanding how it is exercised.
The Condemned Man
Typical of Franz Kafka's work, the Condemned Man can be
seen from various perspectives. From a religious perspective,
he symbolizes the common man who carries the burden of
original sin shared by all humanity. The burden is the result of
the transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis in
the Old Testament. Like these first humans, the Condemned
Man's sin is disobedience. His strange threat to the captain
who whips him for sleeping on duty is "Throw away that whip
In the Penal Colony Study Guide
or I'll eat you up." The reminder of eating is one of several in
the story, evoking the inevitability of the body's desires and
hunger.
Critic Kurt J. Fickert says the story begins with the premise
that "God created the world as a penal colony," where men
must suffer in order to find redemption. The Condemned Man's
actual sin is insignificant, because according to the Officer,
"Guilt is always beyond a doubt." He is simply doomed to sin
and suffering. However, at the end of the story the Traveler
rejects the idea that suffering brings redemption, and in fact,
the Condemned Man goes free.
Through another reading, the Condemned Man can signify the
dominating presence of legal systems and the way in which the
guilty are caught up in the incomprehensible machinery of the
law. As critic Walter Benjamin, writing in the mid-1930s, pointed
out, Kafka's own world was dominated by a "vast machinery of
officialdom whose functioning is directed" by shadowy
authorities. Kafka's work in general, Benjamin said, presents a
"sickness of tradition." This sickness can be seen in the
presumption of guilt in the Condemned Man and the
monstrously inhumane punishment that he faces as a result.
m Themes
No Redemption from Guilt
Franz Kafka's writing is preoccupied with questions of guilt and
innocence. Scholars often attribute this preoccupation to his
relationship to his father. The author once wrote in a letter to
his father, "Because of you, I lost my self-confidence and
acquired a boundless feeling of guilt in exchange." Kafka
generalized this feeling as an essential part of the human
experience. He also read both Christian and Jewish philosophy
widely, and these texts influence the images and themes of
this work. The allusions in his writing evoke both the Old and
New Testament.
The story begins with a central character who is condemned
for crimes that are not directly understood or explained to him.
This suggests the Old Testament–based concept of original
sin and asks the reader to consider the extent to which all
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
Themes 15
humanity is condemned to guilt and suffering, with the body as
the site of humiliation. The Officer exclaims, "Guilt is always
beyond a doubt."
In the Old Testament's Book of Genesis, Eve's sin centers on
appetite, a carnal desire for the apple that symbolizes
forbidden knowledge. Both Adam and Eve recognize shame in
their nakedness. In the story, two of the characters are
reduced to the shame of nakedness. The Condemned Man's
crime evokes this same drive for appetite through his words of
protest. As he is being whipped he says, "I'll eat you up." The
strange quality of this threat underscores the carnal appetite
for vengeance that the entire penal colony is founded upon.
References throughout the text to tongues, eating, and
sucking associate guilt with the body and its drives, located in
the mouth.
The ritual of offering the dying man rice pudding reinforces this
theme. Even in the throes of suffering, the body will betray
itself through its desire. This is symbolized in the Condemned
Man vomiting. It suggests the many ways that the body chokes
down its various insults. The crime must be inscribed "on the
body" because it is the site of the offense. The body is both the
crime and the punishment, as humans are trapped by its needs.
As the story progresses, it moves to New Testament themes.
The Condemned Man now appears to be a Christlike figure,
suffering for the sins of all in the penal colony. His torture is a
kind of crucifixion on the bed, suggesting the "sins" performed
in bed. According to the Officer, the man becomes quiet at the
"sixth hour," the hour of prayer and divination, achieving
understanding with a look that might tempt others to lie down
on the bed. The man can no longer eat or speak, renouncing
the pleasures of the mouth. These details suggest a spiritual
transformation through suffering. This image is reinforced by
the Officer's description of one particular execution in which
the witnesses took in "the expression of transfiguration on the
martyred face." The blood that spews forth when the Officer is
executed is the blood on the hands of all humanity.
However, the narrative undercuts the notion of redemption.
When the Officer's body is viewed in death by the Traveler, he
observes, "It was as it had been in his life. He could discover no
sign of the promised transfiguration." This suggests that
spiritual purification through suffering is an illusion. The felt
that the condemned men must bite is "something that a
hundred men have sucked and bitten on"—a universal
condition. The Officer's body hangs over a pit, guilty and
In the Penal Colony Study Guide
trapped. Humans are doomed by their primal urges, and
religion offers no relief from guilt and suffering. Kafka would
continue to explore the conflict between the body's appetites
and the quest for spiritual transformation in his last published
work during his lifetime, "A Hunger Artist."
Free Will versus Determinism
In the opening paragraph, the narrator compares the
Condemned Man to a dog who could be set "free to roam" but
would be easily called back by a whistle. This man is so
conditioned by the system that he doesn't even need a leash to
be pulled back to his own demise. This analogy suggests that
man has very little free will. Rather, his decision-making is
determined by external forces. He is conditioned by a vast
array of institutions, including the memory of the Old
Commandant who still looms, fatherlike, over the colony. In the
days of the past, he created and administered rules and
punishment; he dictates policy even after death.
The Traveler seems to be the one character who may have a
degree of free will; he is not a product of the institutions that
have created the colony's mindless brutality. He tells the
Officer "No," and he yells "Help" in an attempt to stop the silent
but brutal workings of the machine. However, he fails to stop
the machine's own will to enact violence. Although he is not a
part of the penal colony, in the final scene he threatens those
who are trying to escape. He seems to be exacting revenge for
their failure to help the dying Officer. In this way, he
perpetuates the existing social order, leaving them to their fate
in the colony.
Institutionalized Violence
In his opening statement, the Officer defines the machine as "a
peculiar apparatus," but the narrator finishes the line by telling
the reader it is "thoroughly familiar" to the Officer. This opening
sentence is intended to convey the paradox of culture and
institutions: they are both strange and ordinary in the way they
imprint in people's consciousness. Even the strangest practice
can become acceptable and mundane through repetition.
Copyright © 2021 Course Hero, Inc. Downloaded on 07-19-2021 by 100000817764887
Themes 16
The parts of the apparatus demonstrate how culture inscribes
its rules on the bodies and minds of its citizens. The Harrow
works slowly, so that the Condemned Man doesn't realize what
it will do to him. By the time the accused realizes the meaning
of the Harrow's writing, it is too late to change his fate. The
fact that the Traveler cannot read "the Script" of the inscriber
suggests the way in which outsiders cannot understand a
culture to which they don't belong. Only those in power truly
understand how the institutions work slowly, through repetition
and violence. While it may appear that the Officer has control
of the system in the beginning of the story, it becomes clear
that he is being controlled by the Old Commandant and his
attachment to the past. This fact is ultimately symbolized in his
attempt to take control of his own death by jumping onto the
bed; however, the machine brutally destroys him.
Colonialism
Kafka's works are often viewed as prophetic for their ability to
predict psychological and historical trends. Through this lens,
"In the Penal Colony" can be seen as a critique of colonialism
and as a predictor of its eventual demise and lingering effects.
Penal colonies represent one of the most extreme forms of
subjugation. They mirror the types of humiliation that was a
part of the colonial system—the exploitation of bodies through
work, punishment, and hierarchy. The presence of the word
colony in the title places an emphasis on colonialism.
Although there are few markers of place in the story, those
that exist evoke European colonies. The first reference comes
in the form of the uniform that the Officer is wearing. It is too
hot for the "tropics," one of the major sites of colonial
exploitation. The practice of wearing heavy uniforms even in
excruciating heat was a well-known part of the British protocol
in India.
The Officer's stubborn insistence is indicative of the broader
European assumption of superiority: "We don't want to lose our
homeland," he tells the Traveler. There is an inflexibility of
thought and practice and an unwillingness to adapt to the
existing culture, no matter how irrational or impractical clinging
to the old order may be.
The reference to the "cane chair" that the Traveler sits on is
also a nod to colonialism. The cane chair was a piece of
In the Penal Colony Study Guide Themes 17

furniture strongly associated with British colonialism. The

nearness of a pile of dilapidated cane chairs to a pit suggests
not only that the executions are no longer supported or
attended, but also that the system has fallen into disrepair. The
"teahouse" in the story's third section is also a reference to
one of the enduring exports of the colonial system: tea.

The Traveler is referred to later in the story as "a Great

Western explorer." The trading that began as a consequence
of European exploration grew into colonial conquest that was
reinforced by a military presence. This reference to exploration
and the ranks of the characters suggest the historical arc of
colonialism. The execution is the symbol of the violence done
to a colony's native population for no justifiable reason. The
Officer has participated in his own dehumanization through his
celebration of this brutality. The system he supports eventually
destroys him from within.

The decay and the silence of the machine suggest that the
downfall of this system is approaching. There are several
reasons that the executions no longer hold sway over the
public. A voice of resistance comes from the Traveler, who
says, "No." By the end of the story, he is returning to his home
country, where he will presumably report his findings. The
change from an Old Commandant to a new one also
represents this shift.

Although the fall of colonialism will happen decades after

Kafka's death in 1924, the plot suggests some of the reasons
for its ending. One of the Officer's biggest complaints against
the New Commandant is that he no longer fills the cash box, so
the funding and parts that are needed to maintain the torture
device are unavailable. This detail gestures toward the idea
that colonialism will fall not just because of its brutality or the
voices of resistance, but also because of the cost of
maintaining it. In fact, in the wake of two world wars, the
European powers would lack the financial reserves required to
keep a hold over their colonies.

All material contained within this document/guide is protected by copyright law of the US and various other
jurisdictions and may not be reproduced or distributed without the express written consent. Contact Course Hero
with respect to reproduction or distribution. This document was downloaded from Coursehero.com on 07-19-2021
by 100000817764887.