By Sunaini Sharma
Nobodies !‘ ‘a group of nobodies’ as described by Kafka almost a hundred years ago makes me stand staring at the mighty yet majestic view and ruminate that perhaps there is a possibility of somebody to walk you through…. probably all that’s required is just the need for the situation to be viewed with a contrasting perspective ; and then I begin to understand the intensity of despair and anguish which can only resonate with a melancholic song.
Sharing the short story by Kafka for your reading pleasure, with a brief introduction about the extremely private author.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was a prolific writer, spending most of his free time writing, often
late in the night. He burned an estimated 90 percent of his total work due to his persistent struggles with self-doubt. Much of the remaining 10 percent is lost or otherwise unpublished.
Few of Kafka’s works were published during his lifetime; the story collections Contemplation and A Country Doctor, and individual stories, such as his novella The Metamorphosis, were published in literary magazines but received little attention.
In his will, Kafka instructed his close friend and literary executor Max Brod to destroy his unfinished works, including his novels The Trial, The Castle, and Amerika, but Brod ignored these instructions and had much of his work published. Kafka’s writings became famous in German-speaking countries after World War II, influencing German literature, and its influence spread elsewhere in the world in the 1960s. It has also influenced artists, composers, and philosophers.
EXCURSION INTO THE MOUNTAINS
“I don’t know.” I cried without being heard, “I do not know. If nobody comes, then nobody comes. I’ve done nobody any harm, nobody’s done me any harm, but nobody will help me. A pack of nobodies. Yet that isn’t all true. Only, that nobody helps me – a pack of nobodies would be rather fine, on the other hand. I’d love to go on an excursion – why not? – with a pack of nobodies. Into the mountains, of course, where else? How these nobodies jostle each other, all these lifted arms linked together, these numberless feet treading so close! Of course they are all in dress suits. We go so gaily, the wind blows through us and the gaps in our company. Our throats swell and are free in the mountains! It’s a wonder that we don’t burst into song.”
The original German title is “Der Ausflug ins Gebirge [de]”. “Excursion into the Mountains” is a passage about an individual isolating himself from reality. The passage is written in the first person, allowing the reader to fully connect to the thoughts and emotions of the speaker. Kafka’s works often depict a passive individual who wants to stray away from the realities of life; this passage is no different, “I cried without being heard, I do not know, if nobody comes, then nobody comes…a pack of nobodies would be rather fine”. The narrator illustrates self-imposed isolation through images of mountains, a group of “nobodies” linked together going through the mountains, and the vivid image of the “nobodies” happily scavenging through the mountains. This is ironic because the reader can depict these images in any way they want, but based on the descriptions by Kafka it seems to be that the speaker is alone and him going into the mountains with this group of “nobodies” is him isolating himself from society.
Note: The above piece was originally published by The Daily Guardian on August 9, 2024.
