Prague Essays

Franz Kafka (referred to as Kafka throughout text) was born on July 3rd 1883 into a middle-class, German-speaking Jewish family in Prague which at that time was the capital of Bohemia and part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Kafka’s mother Julie Kafka (1856-1934) was the daughter of Jakob Löwy, a successful brewer in Poděbrady. Julie was well educated and therefore helped with her husband’s business. According to Max Brod “[Kafka’s] mother herself was untiringly busy helping his father in the business”(p

Growing up in Prague, the capital of a landlocked country, I have been always fascinated by the prospect of cycling to the coast, to the shore of the Atlantic, the Baltic, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. The day I arrived in Prague, Nairo Quintana won the stage sixteen of the 2014 Giro d 'Italia. It was a monstrous stage on account of riders needing to traverse three of the region’s toughest climbs. Quintana kept the maglia rosa until the end of the race in Trieste and became the first Colombian

autobahn en route towards Prague, Czech Republic and stop over at the Bohemian Switzerland National Park to catch a glimpse of the awe-inspiring mesas – yes, there are mesas in Europe. I would then arrive in Prague, Czech Republic and seek out some famous landmarks including The Charles Bridge and the St. Vitus Cathedral. Before departing from Prague, I would also make sure to stop and eat some original Czech kolaches. After devouring my scrumptious meal, I would then depart Prague and arrive at the highlight

Franz Kafka grew up in a family where him and his father did not get along so well. His father did not like the way Kafka acted. Kafka’s family was a Jewish family living in the Prague, which at that time bloviated the Jewish population. The novel The Metamorphosis dealt a lot with alienation. Czech was the predominant language of Prague’s working class. Even though Kafka knew both Czech and German, he was more comfortable with German. He felt alienated from everyone because he mainly spoke German

German novelist, Thomas Mann in his novella, Death in Venice suggests that Death in Venice suggests that the lack of feminine presence is a major problem in Aschenbach’s life. He lacks inspiration and women are commonly used by male artists as muses. Aschenbach lives his life with a majority of male influences which causes him to be attracted to Tadzio’s “feminine traits” and without a female character in his life, Aschenbach lacks proper morality. Mann supports his claim by showing that without

I say that my dad is a survivor I try to learn from him and I see him as a hero my dad name is Genaro he was born in Honduras in the big parts of poverty in Honduras. My dad was born in a family who was deep in poverty, my father could not go to school because he was too poor to go to school so he had to work also his parents thought it was a waste of time going when he could be making some money, he always wanted to go to school but he couldn’t he only went to third grade and stopped going because

Franz Kafka, who died in 1924 because of tuberculosis (class notes), has seen his popularity grow. Even if it has been over 80 years since his death, his legacy and his work have influenced many artists and writers over the time because of his willingness to write freely and express his work in a way that most of the writers are not able to. Kafka had a complicated life because of his parents. “This additional burden had been imposed on him by his family, and his resentment ran deep. He hated his

In Lord of the Flies, there are many unique symbols. As the story developed so did each of the symbols in the novel. The symbols in this book include the conch shell, the fire, and the beast. One of the first symbols to appear is the conch shell. The conch shows the start of civilization and rule. In the first chapter, the conch was found near a lagoon on the beach. Piggy said, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us-.” When this happens the conch shell

Growing up is a part of life. Different events and circumstances that we face in life and how we deal with them define us who we are today. In this novella, John Steinbeck used four short stories to portray how a naïve young boy transformed into a man through his encounters with various unfortunate events. These harsh truths brought young Jody out of his fantasy perfect world and showed him the tough reality of life. Through these numerous events, he has learnt what disappointment is, what life and

In Franz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’, magic takes place in the form of the transformation of the protagonist, Gregor, into an insect. This literalized metaphor, a characteristic of the magical realism embodied in this novella, sets the context for Kafka to explore more ‘realistic’ thematic issues, such as the search for humanity and the familial bonds against the economic order of society, as highlighted by symbolism, irony and contrast. The magical transformation at the start of the novella, can

surgeon Tomas, his wife Tereza and mistress Sabina, and her lover Franz. In addition to depicting the personal relationships between these characters, Kundera explores the political situation of communist Czech society during and following the 1968 Prague Spring. In Philip Kaufman’s 1988 adaptation, his struggle lay in including the central character and narrator of the novel, an omniscient and involved onlooker who infuses the novel with his own philosophical discourse built on aphorisms and thought

miles away from Czechoslovakia to Canada in hopes of a better life. “Since the end of World War II, almost half a million refugees have come to Canada to reclaim their lives” (Troper 1). Canada’s main drive was for their own economic benefit. The Prague Spring refugees were intelligent and talented which made them useful to the Canadian society. Canada was eager in recruiting them because of their talents and how they would positively affect their economy. “Some scholars have declared that a country’s

In the 1986 novel Under A Cruel Star: A Life in Prague 1941-1968. Is based off of the actual events that occurred in the authors Heda Margolius Kovaly’s ife. The memoir explains her struggle of escaping during the Holocaust and surviving during WW2 under the totaliariat rule of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. In post war Czechleslovakia many of it’s citizens embraced the idea of a communist society. Utilizing the information given in Kovaly’s memoir and the textbook, I believe most citizens were

“Soviet communism paid a heavy price for what it did to Orwell in Spain. Out of that came Animal Farm. An attack on the myth of the nobility of Soviet Communism” states Russell Baker, author of the preface to George Orwell’s Animal Farm (Orwell vi). In this statement, Baker is referring to Orwell’s experiences in while he fought in the Spanish Civil War. Even though Spain was far away from Russia, it didn’t escape Stalin’s influence. Because of Communist influence in Spain, many of Orwell’s friends

Michael Curtiz’ film, Casablanca, reveals a plethora of symbolism. In particular, the piano is a very important symbol in the film. A piano holds much symbolism, but there is one particular symbol of the piano that pertains to this film: the heart. In fact, if one was to look at a grand piano from an overhead view, one would notice that it somewhat resembles the shape of a heart. The piano in the film is an upright piano, but the idea of a piano still holds that symbolic meaning. The piano is the

understanding of the novela and the underlying themes present in it. Primarily, I found that Arabella’s insight on Prague’s history to reveal multiple motives behind the actions of characters. During Kafka’s time, Prague was not the capital of Czechoslovakia but rather deemed the “Prague Ghetto”, in which anti-semitism reigned despite the large number of Jewish families. I now believe that this culture of hatred greatly impacted Kafka and so it is represented as an extended metaphor through the novella

As a child, I remember being constantly fascinated by the stories my grandfather told me. His tales usually featured his hometown of Prague, where he lived for the first twelve years before coming to America. Each story he told made me wish I lived in another country, a place filled with unique cultural traditions and diversity. I felt that I never got to experience other cultures by living in the United States and I never quite understood why. Perhaps it was the instilled sense of conformity within

Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) was a Czech composer that blended folksong and dance music into his symphonies. Dvorak grew up in a small villa near the capital city Prague of the Czech Republic. Coming from a poor family, Dvorak left his home at sixteen to study music in Prague. For nearly the next two decades of his life, Dvorak played violin in an opera-orchestra and made many attempts to step into the spotlight with no avail. Then at age thirty-six, the great Johannes Brahms recommended Dvorak’s to

Jubilee Synagogue in Prague (Czech Republic) and The Great Synagogue of Florence in Italy. The Jubilee Synagogue is the youngest synagogue in the Jewish Town of Prague. Also known as Jerusalem Synagogue for its location on Jerusalem street, it contains treasures and coloured ornaments that no other Jewish Temple offers. “…the centre of the western front

on July 3, 1883 in Prague. He was a German-language novelist and short story writer who mainly focused his work on realism. Franz Kafka's “The Metamorphosis” accounts the strange story of Gregor Samsa's transformation into a vermin and the hopeless seclusion and individual journey for an important presence that takes after. It investigates the all inclusive concerns and battles of Modernity, yet additionally offers understanding into the lives of acclimatized Jews living in Prague when the new century