Nov 14, 2009

The Great Wall of China | The Great Wall of China

At a glance:

Author: Franz Kafka
First Published: 1931
Type of Plot: Allegory
Time of Work: Third century
Setting: China
Principal Characters: The narrator, The emperor of China, The staff of the high command
Genres: Short fiction, Allegory
Subjects: Reality, China or Chinese people, Monarchy, Walls
Locales: China

The Story

The anonymous speaker of this quasi-historical report on the Great Wall of China speculates not only about the peculiar method of the wall's construction but also about the motives behind the project and the authorities on whose decision it was undertaken. The speaker's focus gradually expands to consider the larger matters of relationship between the emperor and his people, between the empire and the barbarians beyond it, and, ultimately, between the real and the imagined meanings of all these various shapers of the speaker's world.

At the outset, the speaker...

[The entire page is 1609 words long]

The Great Wall of China | The Great Wall of China

At a glance:

The Story

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