The First Sorrow
Jeetendra Bhudial
Professor Debbie Hamilton
English 111
26 October 2014
The First Sorrow
‘The First Sorrow” is written by Franz Kafka, one of the most influential German author of the 20th century. In this story, the trapeze artist was very childlike. This behavior is evident because he is very anti-social, the manager acted like a parent to him and he burst out in tears at the end of the passage while being comforted by the manager.
Firstly to elaborate on the childishness of the trapeze artist, it can be observed how anti-social he was because he spends all of his time up in the trapeze, ignoring the beauty of meeting and socializing with people. This can be seen from the passage “he never came down from his trapeze by day or night…his social life was somewhat limited, only sometimes a fellow acrobat swarmed up the ladder to him, leaning left and right against the supporting ropes, and chatted, or builders’ workmen repairing the roof exchanged a few words with him” 231-232. It would be natural and necessary for an adult to indulge in everyday activities which would satisfy his worldly pleasures but being childlike, the trapeze artist doesn’t seem bothered by these needs and desires “the trapeze artist could have gone on living peacefully like that” 232.
Secondly, the manager is like a parent to the trapeze artist. He would listen and care for him as a parent would for his/her child, granting his all that his asked for to make sure he was happy. This parent-like role of the manager is visible in the passage “His manager saw to it that his sufferings were not prolonged one moment more than necessary; for town travel, racing automobiles were used, which whirled him, by night if possible or in the earliest hours of the morning…the trapeze artist, biting his lips, said that he must always in the future have no trapezes for his performances instead of only one…the manager at one agreed” 232-233. Even in his abode of escape, up in the trapeze, the manager
Professor Debbie Hamilton
English 111
26 October 2014
The First Sorrow
‘The First Sorrow” is written by Franz Kafka, one of the most influential German author of the 20th century. In this story, the trapeze artist was very childlike. This behavior is evident because he is very anti-social, the manager acted like a parent to him and he burst out in tears at the end of the passage while being comforted by the manager.
Firstly to elaborate on the childishness of the trapeze artist, it can be observed how anti-social he was because he spends all of his time up in the trapeze, ignoring the beauty of meeting and socializing with people. This can be seen from the passage “he never came down from his trapeze by day or night…his social life was somewhat limited, only sometimes a fellow acrobat swarmed up the ladder to him, leaning left and right against the supporting ropes, and chatted, or builders’ workmen repairing the roof exchanged a few words with him” 231-232. It would be natural and necessary for an adult to indulge in everyday activities which would satisfy his worldly pleasures but being childlike, the trapeze artist doesn’t seem bothered by these needs and desires “the trapeze artist could have gone on living peacefully like that” 232.
Secondly, the manager is like a parent to the trapeze artist. He would listen and care for him as a parent would for his/her child, granting his all that his asked for to make sure he was happy. This parent-like role of the manager is visible in the passage “His manager saw to it that his sufferings were not prolonged one moment more than necessary; for town travel, racing automobiles were used, which whirled him, by night if possible or in the earliest hours of the morning…the trapeze artist, biting his lips, said that he must always in the future have no trapezes for his performances instead of only one…the manager at one agreed” 232-233. Even in his abode of escape, up in the trapeze, the manager