First published in 1913, “The Judgment” is a story by Franz Kafka. Among critics, it’s considered something of a breakthrough story—and one Kafka himself was proud of, having written it in the span of one day.
The “judgment” of the title is a pronouncement made by the father of the main character, Georg Bendemann.
It’s likely that “The Judgment” is one of the most analyzed of Kafa’s stories. It’s often described as being chaotic and full of paradoxes.
The story is divided into two main sections. The first one makes the reader privy to Georg’s thoughts as he writes a letter to an unnamed friend. It is a friend who lives in Russia and is not faring well there.
Georg feels guilty about telling this friend how well his own life is going—that he continues to work for his father, that he is engaged to a lovely young woman.
In the second part of the story, Georg checks on his father. Since the death of Georg’s mother, his father has slowed down. Georg’s relationship with his father is fraught. His father is sharp in his tone and critical of Georg.
When Georg tells his father about his friend and how he has not been sure about how to tell him all about how great his own life is going, the father’s reaction is quite strange.
When Georg promises to take better care of him, his father reacts harshly, even forming a stark judgment against his son.
What will happen after this rough pronouncement? What will happen next between the father and son? What will Georg do next?
The story is one that is full of the mysteries that can imbue the most ordinary situations—and the most dramatic and unthinkable ones.
