The Tomb Guard

Franz Kafka

The Complete Works of Franz Kafka 20권 · Continental Press

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"The Tomb Guard" ("Der Gruftwächter") is a fragmentary short story written by Franz Kafka, likely in 1920. It was unpublished during his lifetime and later included in posthumous collections of his works. As with many of Kafkas fragments, the story is incomplete, leaving much of its narrative and thematic intent open to interpretation. It exemplifies Kafka's recurring preoccupation with existential dilemmas and ambiguous power dynamics. The story centers on a cryptic figure known as the Tomb Guard, who oversees a mysterious tomb. Kafka introduces an unsettling and enigmatic atmosphere, with the guard's role and the tomb itself remaining ambiguous. The narrative conveys a sense of tension and unease, as the guard appears to embody both a protector and a prisoner of the tomb. His duties and existence are shrouded in mystery, reflecting Kafkas exploration of duty, confinement, and the human condition. Despite its brevity and incompleteness, "The Tomb Guard" is often interpreted as a meditation on isolation, authority, and the burden of responsibility. The Tomb Guard's position, caught between the living and the dead, resonates with themes of liminality and existential uncertainty. This story, like much of Kafkas work, leaves readers with a haunting sense of unresolved questions and deep philosophical inquiry. This modern translation from the original German is a fresh, accessible and beautifully rendered text that brings to life Kafka's great literary work. This edition contains extra amplifying material including an illuminating afterword, a timeline of Kafka's life and works alongside of the historical events which shaped his art, and a short biography, to place this work in its socio-historical context. Kafka's original German works published during his lifetime entered the public domain in 1995 (70 years after his 1924 death), while his posthumously published works like "Der Prozess," "Das Schloss," and "Der Verschollene" entered the public domain in 2020 (as EU copyright law specifies that works published between 1925-1941 had protection until 70 years after publication).

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A Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, Kafka's work, which fuses elements of realism and the fantastic, typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. His writings, such as "The Metamorphosis" and "The Trial," explore themes of alienation, existential anxiety, and guilt, and are influential in modernist literature.