In The Penal Colony By Kafka Analysis

Anyone who reads In the Penal Colony by Kafka cannot fail but noticing what is called the apparatus. This huge machine, described by the Officer as perfect and wonderful, and arguably perceived by most readers as horrible and disgusting. The machine is basically an instrument of death; executions are carried out using the machine to carve into the condemned man's flesh a sentence that represents the lesson he needs to learn. The machine appears very complex and well constructed for its purpose. It is an elaborate mechanism in which nothing is left to chance. All details has been thought out meticulously, to obtain a perfect apparatus. This apparatus is the central focus of the whole narration, and it could be argued that it represents the old ways, or the old law.
The second, and quite related consideration that comes to mind is the maniacal care and regard the Officer demonstrates for the apparatus, all the while showing no compassion for human beings. The machine seems to …show more content…
I obviously focused my attention heavily on the Officer, because the other characters seemed somehow secondary, even if it is the Traveler's disapproval of the Officer's judicial procedure that ultimately prompts the Officer to commit suicide. However, the Traveler is just seen as the Officer's last hope to see his procedures approved, not as an important character in and of himself. At least, that's the way I see it. What is more important to me is the fact that the previous Commander, that is already dead when the story unfolds, had concocted this “perfect” machine—an epilogue to a nonexistent judicial process—together with the Officer. Then, after the old Commander's death, the new Commander made no mystery of his opposition to the procedure, and even the inhabitants of the island, who used to assist en masse to the executions, started deserting