The Pervasiveness of Loss

      The point of presenting her another doll was so that she wouldn't lose hope. Kafka giving the letters was to show that the doll somewhat still existed. She adored the doll so much that if he hadn't done that for her, she may grow up being depressed.

      When Kafka did this kind act, it shows that his parents brought him up to be a caring person. He understood the feeling when losing something, he may have experienced it before so he knew what to do. Someone might have helped him before in the past and now he is following the footsteps of the person. It is important about how you treat people, when you treat them with a good attitude, they will treat you back the same way. Well, it actually depends on their personality, if they aren't the nice kind, then it wouldn't really matter how you treat them. Although, treating people with a good heart, no matter their personality, would give you good karma and that will help in your future.

     This story could have ended differently many ways. If Kafka ignored the girl, she wouldn't get a doll, she wouldn't get the letters, in fact, sh would be still crying about her lost doll. She would have grown up sad. It also could have ended where the child was just using Kafka all this time, just because she wanted to get a new doll. There could have been more ways that it could have ended.

      Do I agree with Kafka's action? To be honest, as much as I appreciate him helping her, I disagree on what he did. He might have been doing a kind act but to a stranger? A stranger you have never met before. He is just wasting his time and effort into writing those letters unless he has nothing to do in his life and so he has all the time to be writing those letters. 

     It could have been told from the child's point of view and she could've said about how a kind stranger helped her and soon became like a friend to her. 

By: Ilysha

Class: 10 Self-Control

 

Kafka and the Doll, The Pervasiveness of Loss

The story goes, Franz Kafka encountered a crying girl in the park who lost her doll. Kafka tried to help look for the doll but to no avail. Instead he composed letters from the doll and read all of them to her each time they met. Written in the letters were tales of the doll on a trip around the world, each letter talking about made up adventures the doll has been on. When the meetings came to an end, Kafka presented a different doll to the girl with a letter that said that the traveling has changed the doll. Many years later, the now grown girl found a letter stuffed into an unnoticed crevice in the cherished replacement doll that said "Everything that you love, you will eventually lose, but in the end, love will return in a different form."

The point of Kafka presenting the girl another doll was because he couldn't keep up with the letters. He knew that it couldn't last forever, therefore presenting a different doll and saying that their trip changed them was another way of saying that Kafka has found the doll.

Kafka's motive in doing the letters and giving the doll was that he didn't want the girl to feel lonely or that she had lost something. This is important because having to lose something could be heartbreaking especially for a young girl and it could change the way she behaves in the future.

A way the story could end differently was instead of writing letters, Kafka could've just admit he couldn't find the doll and apologized. The girl would remain sad and forever wonder where her doll went.

I didn't agree with Kafka's actions, because he didn't know who the girl was and yet he went through so much trouble for her. This girl, although young, was still a stranger. I understand trying to help the girl but to put so much effort that you write letters of made up adventures about an inanimate object and later even getting the girl a new doll was a bit much for a stranger.

The story could be interpreted from the girl's perspective, where she could explain her feelings when she lost her doll and cried. She also could've talked about the kind stranger who wrote her letters and even gave her a new doll. How that stranger gave her hope.

-Vernise Lee (Year 10 Self-Control)