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What makes something "Kafkaesque"? - Noah Tavlin

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(Calvino 37)

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Calvino is said to have been inspired by Kafka’s writing style, find a specific passage in the text that is Kafkaesque and explain why it is so.

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Calvino is said to have been inspired by Kafka’s writing style, find a specific passage in the text that is Kafkaesque and explain why it is so.

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It is well known that Calvino was inspired by and influenced by Franz Kafka and his writing style. In The Nonexistent Knight these influences are extremely evident. One of the most prominent Kafkaesque passages is when Raimbaut is looking to avenge his father's death and is told, “You must put in a request to the Superintendency of Duels, Feuds, and Besmirched Honor, specifying the motives for your request, and it will be considered how to best place you in a position to attain the satisfaction you desire” (Calvino 14). Kafkaesque is defined by Merriam-Webster as “of, relating to, or suggestive of Franz Kafka or his writings especially : having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality”. Without a doubt, the process of avenging the death of one’s father as described in the text can be described as nightmarishly complex, bizarre, and illogical. It is expected that all you would have to do in order to avenge the death of one’s father would be to find the perpetrator on the battlefield and defeat him. Instead, there is a needlessly complex system that one needs to go through in order to regain honor. This could be a satire of modern bureaucracy.

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The allusion of Religion helps us understand people's beliefs and how they could believe in something like a nonexistent knight. During a standard night at war, “The camp in sleep was a realm of bodies, a stretch of Adam’s old flesh, reeking from the wine and the sweat of the warriors’ day” (Calvino 10). Calvino uses the allusion of “Adam’s old flesh” describing the soldiers while relating to the Bible, specifically the story of Adam and Eve. The bible says they too did not exist until god made them out of the dust of the ground; similar to Agilulf whose physical form isn't even dust but air.

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The allusion of Charlemagne enhances people’s understanding of rank, and how that plays a role in the leaderboard. As all the knights waited in the hot sun, "Finally, from the end of the line, came Charlemagne, on a horse that looked larger than life, beard resting on his chest, and hands on the pommel of his saddle" (Calvino 1). Calvino utilizes a reference to Charlemagne or Charles the Great, a renowned leader, to demonstrate how much influence he possesses and how well respected he was among the knights. He conquered most of Europe, restoring the Western Roman Empire and became its first emperor.