Franz Kafka was a short story writer and novelist who often had themes of power, control, and existential dread to create a landscape that mirrors the complexities and injustices of human society. In Kafka’s novel The Trial, he wrote, “The court wants nothing from you. It receives you when you come and dismisses you when you leave” (Kafka, 1925). A 2010 analysis of Kafka and the legal realities he makes in The Trial states that “Kafka’s characters, representing real people, endure that state of nature as unwilling victims” (Pistone, n.d). Given the themes of the individual struggle against oppressive systems, Kafka would have been deeply troubled by the prevalence and effects of rape on college campuses and would agree that it is a social epidemic.
Franz Kafka, celebrated for his exploration of power dynamics, control mechanisms, and existential dread, crafted narratives that serve as mirrors reflecting the complexities and injustices woven into the fabric of human society. In Kafka's seminal work, The Trial, his words echo with chilling profundity: “They're talking about things of which they don't have the slightest understanding, anyway. It's only because of their stupidity that they're able to be so sure of themselves” (Kafka, 1925). This ominous proclamation encapsulates Kafka's thematic preoccupations — individuals ensnared within systems of authority, their destinies determined by indifferent forces beyond their control.
In a 2010 analysis of Kafka's literary landscape, Renee A. Pistone astutely observed that Kafka's characters, emblematic of real people, endure a state of nature as unwilling victims, a sentiment that acquires immediacy when juxtaposed with the prevalence and effects of rape on college campuses. She states that “Kafka’s fictional characters consent to legal and familial authority in order to achieve some form of personal familial satisfaction” and that “Kafka focuses on the discordance between humanity’s desire to seek authority and the struggle to relinquish our own autonomy” (Pistone, n.d). This shows that Kafka's thematic exploration of the individual's struggle against oppressive systems offers a poignant lens through which to examine the social epidemic of campus sexual assault — a pervasive manifestation of power and control.
Central to Kafka's oeuvre is the notion of powerlessness—an existential condition
that permeates his characters' experiences and reverberates throughout his narratives. Within the Kafkaesque realm, individuals find themselves entangled within labyrinthine bureaucracies, subjected to the capricious whims of faceless authorities. Similarly to The Trial, Kafka’s novella, The Metamorphosis displays the themes of powerlessness and self-isolation. An academic article that explores modern life in The Mteamotphosis states “the recurring themes of isolation and alienation in Kafka’s works, portraying characters who often find themselves in a state of existential crisis” and that his characters “also serve as compelling metaphors for the existential dilemmas faced by individuals” (Uddin, n.d.). This parallels how the survivors of campus rape navigate a landscape fraught with institutional indifference, societal stigma, and systemic barriers to justice. Kafka's protagonists, emblematic of real people, confront an existential abyss—an indifferent universe that renders their struggles futile and their voices unheard. His thematic exploration of power dynamics within oppressive systems sheds light on the underlying mechanisms that perpetuate rape culture within educational institutions. Just as Kafka's characters are trapped within the machinations of a faceless bureaucracy, survivors of campus rape find themselves silenced and marginalized within a system that prioritizes institutional reputation over the well-being of its students. The Kafkaesque specter of powerlessness looms large, casting a shadow over the lived experiences of those who have been subjected to the horrors of sexual violence.
In Kafka's fictional universe, justice remains an elusive ideal—a distant mirage that recedes further into the horizon with each futile attempt to grasp it. For example, in The Trail, Josef K. never gets justice for being wrongly arrested (Kafka, 1925). An article states that Kafka used the “dramatic metaphor” to show “the fact that no man is free from guilt” (Halley, 2019, July 2) so there will always be injustice and obstacles in life. Similarly, the pursuit of justice for survivors of campus rape is fraught with obstacles and setbacks, perpetuating a cycle of trauma and injustice. Kafka's indictment of bureaucratic inefficiency and institutional apathy finds chilling resonance in the narratives of survivors who are failed by a system that offers little solace and even less recourse.
Furthermore, Kafka's exploration of existential dread underscores the profound psychological toll of sexual violence on survivors, whose lives are irrevocably altered by the trauma they endure. Kafka often used themes connected to trauma because of the trauma he experienced. Kafka was disconnected from his parents and his Jewish community which caused “a sense of disconnection from both humanity and religious practices” and led him to feel inadequate which “deepened his anxiety and sense of alienation” (Bassett, 2023, July 16). This resulted in the dread within the Kafkaesque landscape; individuals confront the abyss of their existence—a void devoid of meaning or purpose. Likewise, survivors of campus rape grapple with profound feelings of alienation and dislocation, their sense of self shattered by the violation of their bodily autonomy.
Kafka's hypothetical gaze upon rape on college campuses offers invaluable insights into the complexities of power dynamics, control mechanisms, and existential dread within society. By examining Kafka's thematic preoccupations through the lens of campus sexual assault, we gain a deeper understanding of the systemic injustices that perpetuate the cycle of violence and trauma. Kafka’s insights are based on his personal sense of isolation and “struggle to find meaning and purpose in the face of an incomprehensible and oppressive system” (Bassett, 2023, July 16). This resonates with victim’s rape on college campuses to Kafka's admonition to interrogate the mechanisms of power that shape our world and strive for a more just and equitable society.
Franz Kafka would be disturbed by rape on college campuses as his work serves as a rallying cry for social change. His works The Metamorphosis and The Trial show his exploration of power dynamics, control mechanisms, and existential dread (Bassett, 2023, July 16). The depiction of individuals as unwilling victims in Kafka's narratives resonates with contemporary issues, such as the prevalence of sexual violence on college campuses (Pistone, n.d). Kafka's acute awareness of oppressive systems and the individual struggle against them suggests that he would have been deeply troubled by the social epidemic of rape.
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