This chapter explores the fundamental cause of Kafka's vegetarianism and compassion for animals. The chapter maintains that the canine speaker exhibits a spiritual awakening with obvious signs of personal exposure. The chapter also demonstrates how prevalent in Kafka's time were ideas about the beauty of the natural world's fauna and the immorality of killing animals. The chapter also attempts to show how strongly the Jewish cabalistic view of animals was opposed.
Kafka merely investigates mystical experience and inspirational consciousness by using an animal from the animal kingdom. The story also has two aspects of mystical encounters. In this context, he uses the dog-narrator, which clearly describes his period of awakening. In this story, the dog-narrator that belongs to the canine community has been used as the interpretation.
Explaining Kafka’s story is a bit problematic according to the Jewish theology. However, Grözinger’s interpretations compete that Kafka accepted the types of creatures from his insatiable understanding of Hasidic stories in which animal characters depict the Jewish theme of restoration. According to him, the earlier tradition belief taught to the disciples and it gave rise to the modern Hasidic movement. According to Hasidic, creatures are corporeal and abrasive. Therefore, the reincarnation of animals was considered as some form of castigation.
Fingerhut contends that Kafka’s animal statistics were representations of human characteristics and symbols of human views. Fingerhut continues that the dog narrator characterizes fine art and the sculptor. The artist is on the assessment the dog narrator embark on. Thus, Fingerhut suggests that canine narrator via the ability imagination creativity are annihilating visions. I.e. Kafka transfers his practices as an encouraged legendary.
In the closing remarks Levitt mentions that one disciple, Benedict Lust, had founded a branch of Jungborn. Nevertheless, the movement seemed to have incompatible ideas such as those evident in the section of “In Investigations of a Dog.” Kafka had a religious worship of creatures when he expended three weeks at Jungborn. While at Jungborn, Kafka developed a skill of hunting, he always ate fruits and the love of nature made him become tubercular. Finally, his travel and stay at Jungborn is by far the extensive narrative in his journal. Despite its length, the story stretches the impress that Kafka was not inspired by Just philosophies or the treatment he was experiencing. He makes enjoyable jokes about the specialist inhabitation.
Work cited
Leavitt, June O. “The Mystical Life of Franz Kafka: Theosophy, Cabala, and the Modern Spiritual Revival.” Oxford Scholarship Online, January 2012.
