Franz Kafkas In The Penal Colony Manifestation of Power

In 1914, Franz Kafka wrote In The Penal Colony. However, it was published five years after it was written (Rubio 2005). The story In The Penal Colony is basically about a complicated machine which is used to torture and kill condemned prisoner. This machine is placed on an island which is the place for the executions. In the story, there are only four characters and they are The Officer who is the operator of the machine, the Condemned who is the prisoner due for torture and death, the Soldier who is accountable for the security of the Condemned and lastly the Traveler who is a visitor in the island. The story goes and revolves around the machine and the traveler. The Traveler who is just a new visitor in the island is surprised by the knowledge that such machine exists. Further information on the machine is explained to him by the Officer. As the story goes by the origin and the use of the machine becomes more detailed that the machine serves justice by killing.

Eventually, it was stated that the Commandant does want to use the machine anymore and the Officer whose main duty is to operate the machine felt sad about the issue. He knows that the machine delivers justice and he trusts the machine. He tried to negotiate with the Traveler to talk to the Commandant to further use the machine but the Traveler declined. The Officer then set up the machine for himself and freed the Condemned. What happens next is that the machine malfunctions and kills the officer instantly. Taking into account the summary of the story, we will analyze the In The Penal Colony for evidences and manifestations of power that Elias Canetti praised Kafka about. Elias Canetti is a Nobel Prize winning author and he praised Kafka as the greatest expert on power. We will also further analyze specific points in the book that contribute to the praise received by Kafka from Canetti.

The very first manifestation of power in Kafkas story would be the idea of the Machine. Symbolizing the meaning of the machine will lead us to the fact that since it readily imposes justice and is the ultimate punisher for all offenders  we can clearly see that the Condemned has no power to resist and only has the option to be punished by the Machine through processes that are very painful. This gives us the similar concept of the Law. The Machine is relevant to the Law that empowers justice. Power is exerted to the Condemned as an act of punishment for his sins. Kafka portrays an unceasing source of power and judgment from the point of the machine. In my opinion, this has a lot to do with our society today. The metaphor that can be derived from the Machine and the power that flows through it can be related to government and bureaucracy. The balance of power in the story of Kafka was not that evident until nearing the end (Corngold 2009). The role of the traveler also allows us to see how the idea of power is used in the story. The traveler is non-believer and has his own views about justice, human rights and of course the Machine. The Traveler exerts power in the story to project his beliefs at least explain to the Officer why the machine has a very usual way of serving justice.

In another point of view, the Officer represents the medium to which power flows. Take note that in the story of Kafka, it is the officer that is allowed to operate the machine he is the one who holds valuable information including the blueprints and he is the only one who knows how to repair machine. Based on these notions, the Machine is nothing without the Officer and the Officer and is nothing without the Machine. In truth, the Officer can choose not to operate the machine and free the Condemned (like what he did near the end) but because he believes in the power of the machine to do justice and the firm belief that the machine never makes mistakes he goes on with his function to operate the machine and torture and kill the Condemned. Relating this to the society, we can see this in the form of a judge. Most people believe in the justice system and in the end of all trials and tribulations, whatever is handed down is final. There is a lingering idea and sense of power that whatever you do, if your convicted, you done. Kafka illustrates his sympathy for justice in the society and also the imbalance of the power in relation to political leaders and bureaucrats  portrayed by the immense power in the Machine (Gray 2006).

The manifestation of power can also be analyzed with the Machine representing religion. Going back a little, it was noted that the old Commandant who created the Machine imposed a rule that the villagers and the people go out together and witness the serving of justice in the Machine. Similarly, we have compared the machine to religion which is a keeps all the followers together and intact. It also gives an idea of punishment for those followers that will disobey the rules of the religion.  Furthermore, the power of the Machine similar to religion stretches out to other followers and of course it is only logical to think that these followers believe the power of their religion as the officer believes the justice that can be served by the Machine (Corngold 2009).

Moreover, the manifestation of power also showed near the end when the machine was destroyed. As a sign of decline of power, it was portrayed that the Commandant lost his preference to use the machine and so the Officer who is dutifully maintaining and operating the machine feel sad about it and tries to rescue the Machine thereby sacrificing his own life. As manifestation of power to religion, this means that Kafka is compassionate about religion and the current status of it. It was indicated that in the 20th century, the world is losing its grip on religion which is similar to the Commandant losing its preference for the Machine. The following is a quote from the book that shows the lack of preference and resistance of the new Commandant

The officer Have I not tried for hours at a time to get the Commandant to understand that the prisoner must fast for a whole day before the execution. But our new, mild doctrine thinks otherwise. (Kafka 1919)

The power that shifted to the new Commandant made him alter the doctrines and rules for the colony similar to the power given to political leaders during elections and additionally the changes and new polices being made. In the story, the Officer has a high regard for the old Commandant and doesnt speak about breaking the policies and rules set by the former. However, at the end of the story, the shift of power proved too uncontrollable even for the Officer as the new Commandant drafted policies and altered rules set by the old commandant. The following is a quote from the book about the ideas of the Officer regarding the old and new Commandant

Have you ever heard of our former Commandant No Well, it isnt saying too much if I tell you that the organization of the penal colony is his work. We who were his friends knew even before he died that the organization of the colony was so perfect that his successor, even with a thousand new schemes in his head, would find it impossible to alter anything, at least for many years to come. (Kafka 1919)
This quote from the Officer also demonstrates faith in the old commandants ways and policies. On the other hand, the Traveler represents a person who is ignorant and new to his surroundings similar to someone who has not yet experienced having faith and belief in life.

The New commandant represents the true authority in the island. The power that he holds over the machine, whether he uses it or not is his choice and this heavily affected the Officer who sacrificed his life and ended the machine. Borrowing a quote from the renowned Thomas Hobbes, It is authority, not truth, which makes the law. This is very apparent in the story and it plays a great deal of significance on how power is transferred from on commandant to the other and how power was striped from the very creation of the old commandant which is the Machine.

Over all, there are different ways to analyze the manifestations of power in the story of Kafka. One may also put a negative connotation on these manifestations by interpreting the whole Penal Colony as government run under dictatorship or totalitarian government. We all know the facts about dictatorship and totalitarian governments and these can be related to the fact that the Condemned has no right to refuse the Machine. Similarly in a totalitarian government, a leader can put up and create policies and rules to follow in a country similar to the old Commandants policies, guides and rules in the colony. There is a high chance that the people under rule will regard the leader of the totalitarian governments as divine figures and God-like people. Similar to the story, the old Commandant sort of provided a good image to officer and he believed him all throughout (Gray 2006).

Another way of looking into these manifestations is the way the machine and the Officer overpowers the Condemned and this can be analyzed in relation to a system in a government that requires performing unconventional ways of implementing laws. In the story, it is the Officer who controls the Machine and he believes that what he and the Machine are doing is good and it serves justice. However, taking another look at this will lead us to the fact that the Officer may be  trained and controlled by the old Commandant which is similar to forced trainings and brainwashing done on governments in order to further expand their reign and power. Ultimately, the whole scenario of having a new commandant who leaves the old style of serving justice can be analyzed as progress from corruption. Corruption of power can be depicted by the Machine endlessly torturing and killing Condemned people by giving a guilty sentence.

In conclusion, Kafkas In the Penal Colony provides different angles of shifting of power from facet to another. Elias Canetti is indeed correct on praising Kafka as the greatest expert on power.