Published Paper Details:

Franz Kafka is one of the most prominent writers of the early twentieth century and has had an enormous impact on the literature and thought of not only Europe, but also on world literature. He is one among the major writers who dealt with the inevitable crisis- a part of life of the modern man. Though he never titled himself an existentialist, we can find the major traits of existentialism in his works- uncertainty, absurdity, alienation- to name a few. 'Individual', which constitutes the focal point of existentialism, is the centre of his work. The unique feature of Kafka's short stories is that he not only explores the crux of existentialism in the stories that portray the characters of human beings alone. There are also stories which have animals as protagonists. What is interesting in the animal stories of Kafka is that the animal protagonists express their emotions as human protagonists do. The 'Kafkaesque' atmosphere prevails even in the animal stories and serves the purpose for whatever it was coined. The current paper, through some of Kafka's animal stories, focuses on the expression of the traits of existentialism.