Project 2: Rhetorical Analysis Essay
Franz Kafka is a German author from the 20th century who is primarily known for his short stories that are filled with themes all about human absurdity. He has expressed his emotions through all of his novels and short stories he has written. His writing was so unique and well known he was given his own literature commonly known as Kafkaesque which is filled with hopelessness and complex moods. Many of Kafka’s stories were written from his own personal experiences, which contain illogical human behavior and lead him constantly writing about it. His true belief was that the world was absurd and filled with all sorts of rationalism, from knowing this it is easy to understand what Kafka would think about the numbers of sports concussions in modern sports. In Kafka’s world “illogic becomes plausible, guilt goes unexplained, and brutal punishment is doled out for no known offense”(Ulin 1). Kafka would consider that athletes are under trained and have to pay the punishment when it comes to one on one contact and are using improper technique and style of play when it comes to physical contact. Some athletes may know how to do this correctly but end up forgetting and getting a concussion sometime through their career. Even though the common human perspective on physical contact is illogical, Kafka would see that any sort of practice to fix this injury is useless.
Influences to play modern day sports have risen, and more and more young kids are introduced to sports and the injuries that follow along with it. In one of Kafka's short stories The Metamorphosis it expands on the idea of feeling a certain way for someone after an event has occurred because you are worried about what other people will think of them. When it comes to sports, people often think very similarly to this short story. Unfortunately “1.7-3 million concussions occur in professional to recreation sports each year.” (Human Kinetics). Even with all the players and parents understanding the risk of concussions and CTE, they still don't take it as seriously as they should. No proper techniques are taught at a young age leading to bad habits and possible injury. When talking about football it is well known you are supposed to tackle with “your head up your back straight, and shoulders level”(Luff 2022) but, instead, the incorrect technique is performed leading to the possibility of a head injury. Kafka would want to reduce the chance of a head injury by correcting the form of athletes. Even though, knowing Kafka’s understanding of human behavior, he would come across players not listening due to them getting their information from a man with a non football background.
Kafka would call out how all players know how to keep their head out of contact of other athletes and how to properly hit them, but they still rely on the improper technique leading to millions of concussions year in and year out. They listen to their own behavior instead of preparing themselves in a different way to prevent the risk of serious injury. Every sports parent, coach, and athlete knows the proper training, gear, and technique that goes into physical contact, yet all of these are rarely put into use. Kafka was often faced with these sorts of problems and had written about how expectations versus reality in human beings is a real world problem. In his short story Description of a Struggle “The narrator's lack of interest in listening”(Course Hero) can be seen in the world of sports. In The Metamorphosis when “Gregor is complicit in his fate”(Ulin 1) players of a young caliber make these decisions that may lead to a bad ending when choosing not to do the right thing when it comes to physical contact. Kafka see’s how people chime in on feelings, behaviors, and other human feelings, and “{Athletes} might be a symbol of fear” (Course Hero). Athletes tend to fear the thought of getting injured; they go back to what feels comfortable instead of learning proper mechanics. Kafka expects athletes, coaches, and parents to push for proper equipment and mechanics to be given to these players to keep them from head injuries.
In his writings, Kafka would always talk about how humans are driven by personal problems, needs, and attention, but forget how their behaviors may affect others or even themselves. Going back to The Metamorphosis, Gregor's family “must care for themselves”(Ulin 1) as Gregor is no longer able to do that. Many young people and parents are motivated by their aspirations and their dreams; success is what drives them to do what they want. Even when incorporating a “helmetless practice"(Dotinga 1) can make the difference in the world, allowing these players to feel what it is like to naturally move their heads out of contact may slim down the yearly head injuries by hundreds of thousands . Even if the young athletes don't play at a higher level they know they will be safe at the level they are at now, and knowing that they are safe will allow them to plan on other things in life later down the road. Kafka would most definitely consider that players will go back on the field knowing the chance of a concussion are high to play a sport is very absurd and very illogical but expects this from us humans. Kafka knows “all of us are trapped in situations we can't escape” (Ulin 4). None of us can predict our futures knowing our certain circumstances so why not try to prevent our futures from being worse living with CTE.
Kafkaesque is similar to entering a “surreal world” ,and things start to fall into pieces (Edwards 1). Kafka can identify human behavior and writes about it frequently in his writings. In his writings, his characters are forced to make decisions due to their previous actions leading to this decision making. This can be seen in his writing The Metamorphosis; Gregor falls to complete absurdity (Kafka 1). His writings are mainly from his own personal experiences. As well as “not to mention accidents” most of his experiences had come accidentally and unexpectedly, same as sports injuries and concussions.
From looking at Kafka's writing and looking at his common themes, it is clear that he will find that the amount of concussions happening per year in sports is quite absurd but would want to make an impact in some way. The growing rates of concussions in sports continues to harm players across the globe and could be described as “Kafkaesque”.
References
Christine Luff, ACE-CPT. “8 Quick Fixes for Running Form.” Verywell Fit, Verywell Fit, 10 Aug. 2022, www.verywellfit.com/tips-for-proper-running-form-4020227#:~:text=Keep%20your%20posture%20straight%20and,do%20as%20they%20get%20fatigued. Accessed 25 Nov.2023
Dotinga, Randy. “Could Football Practice without Helmets Help Prevent Concussions?” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 31 Dec. 2015, www.cbsnews.com/news/could-football-practices-without-helmets-help-prevent-concussions/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2023
“Keeping the Head out of Tackling.” Human Kinetics, us.humankinetics.com/blogs/excerpt/keeping-the-head-out-of-tackling. Accessed 25 Nov. 2023.
Selected stories of Franz Kafka Wedding Preparations in the country summary: Course hero. Selected Stories of Franz Kafka Wedding Preparations In The Country Summary | Course Hero. (n.d.). https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Selected-Stories-of-Franz-Kafka/wedding-preparations-in-the-country-summary/ Accessed 30 Nov. 2023
The Metamorphosis Translated by David Wyllie - CNR. (n.d.). http://giove.isti.cnr.it/demo/eread/Libri/calm/Metamorphosis.pdf Accessed 30 Nov. 2023