Kaylen Taylor
Professor Hammett
English 1302
Essay 2 Argument/Proposal
22 April 2024
Word Count: 1069
Franz Kafka and the Farmers
Would Franz Kafka agree that suicide in the American agricultural industry is a social epidemic? Franz Kafka is an author of the absurd known for exploring the absurdities and tragedies of human existence in oppressive systems. His works are recognized even today, with characters trapped in webs of existential crises and bureaucratic indifferences that align with issues in the modern world. “Kafka explored the human struggle for understanding and security in his novels…” (Biography.com). None more so than the high rate of suicide among agricultural individuals. While none of his works correlate with farmers specifically, viewing the individual's futile battle against overpowering forces resonates strongly with the depression farmers face. Kafka’s profound analogies of struggles against dehumanizing structures offer a unique lens to view this epidemic. Since Kafka suffered from depression, wrote about the oppression of individuals, and about their battle against overpowering forces, Franz Kafka would agree suicide in Agriculture is a social epidemic.
First, Franz Kafka, the famed Czech writer known for his surreal and existentialist works, struggled deeply with depression and isolation throughout his life. Given his battles with mental health, Kafka would likely concur that the high rates of suicide among farmers point to a serious social epidemic. Kafka’s concern with his appearance appeared in many of his diary entries. “I write this very decidedly out of despair over my body and a future with this body” (Kafka and Brod 10). His body dysmorphia is a clinical sign of depression that wasn’t diagnosed until after Kafka died in 1924 (Biography.com). The agricultural sector can be grueling, lonely work, with long hours, financial uncertainties, and unpredictable factors like weather and markets outside one's control. These stresses, combined with a lack of access to mental health resources in rural areas, have tragically led to disproportionately high suicide rates among farmers. With his sensitive soul and firsthand experience of despair, Kafka would ache to see so many in the agricultural community suffering silently and without support. He would surely advocate for more open dialogue about mental health in rural communities, as well as increased funding for suicide prevention services tailored to farmers. Kafka would argue that these deaths represent a societal failure, not just individual failures, and would push for systemic solutions like subsidies and insurance to ease financial burdens, campaigns to destigmatize discussions of mental health struggles, and initiatives to foster greater community connectivity and mutual support. The social isolation, economic uncertainties, demanding labor, and lack of accessible care that drive rising farmer suicide rates would certainly trouble Kafka deeply, and he would bring his ethical mind, empathetic heart, and gifted pen to address this tragic epidemic.
Second, Kafka writes about the oppression of individuals. Franz Kafka would likely view the high rates of suicide among farmers in the agricultural industry as a tragic social epidemic indicative of deeply rooted systemic issues. Throughout his fictional works, Kafka explores how impersonal bureaucracies and unfeeling authorities can crush the human spirit. The characters in his stories, such as Gregor Samsa in "The Metamorphosis," are isolated, dehumanized, and powerless in the face of forces beyond their control. Similarly, today's farmers face increasing financial hardship, uncertainty, and lack of community support. As family farms give way to industrial agriculture, farmers struggle to make ends meet on decreasing incomes and unpredictable crop yields vulnerable to climate change impacts. At the same time, the social fabric of rural communities has frayed, taking away traditional means of connection and mutual aid. These mounting pressures have proven too much for many farmers, especially those facing other risk factors like relationship problems or health issues. The high rates of suicide suggest a sector-wide mental health crisis. Just as Kafka's characters despair in their alienation and hopelessness, in “The Metamorphosis”, farmers are being pushed to the edge by an agricultural system that treats them as cogs in a machine rather than human beings with dignity and agency. Kafka would likely argue that reforming this oppressive system is crucial to addressing the tragic loss of life. More community support, financial security programs, and access to mental healthcare could make a lifesaving difference for farmers in crisis. Kafka's works call on society to recognize how unjust structures devalue human welfare - a message still painfully relevant when examining the social epidemic of suicide in agriculture today.
Third, Kafka frequently explored the idea of the individual struggling against bureaucracies and oppressive systems. His protagonists were often helpless in the face of forces beyond their control, trapped in nightmarish situations mirrored by the isolation and powerlessness that Kafka felt. “Look at this, Willem, he admits he doesn’t know the law and at the same time insists he’s innocent” (Kafka, The Trial 19). Given Kafka's preoccupation with depicting the plight of the vulnerable individual crushed by overwhelming external pressures, he would likely view the disturbing rise in suicides among farmers in the agricultural sector as an epidemic fueled by similar forces.
Thus, Farmers have long faced economic strains, unpredictable weather, and the burden of isolation, but recent years have seen an increase in farmer suicides. Kafka would see this tragic trend as the consequence of an uncaring economic system stacked against the small farmer, as well as rapid technological and social changes that have upended traditional rural life. Financial hardship, lack of mental health resources in rural areas, and the stigma surrounding mental illness have also contributed to hopelessness. Kafka's sympathies would lie with struggling farm families battling a system that has become inhospitable to small-scale agriculture. He would condemn the indifference of governments and agribusiness conglomerates who have left farmers desperately alone in their fight for survival. Ultimately, Kafka would view the plight of suicidal farmers as a powerful example of little people losing their dignity and even their lives while trapped in an economic machine beyond their control.
In conclusion, the haunting echo of Franz Kafka's narratives finds a contemporary counterpart in the tragic phenomenon of suicide among the agricultural community, underscoring a profound and troubling continuity in the fabric of human despair. By weaving together Kafka's exploration of oppression in individuals, their battle against overpowering forces, and Kafka's depression, it is confirmed that Kafka would agree the stark reality of farmer suicides is an epidemic. In this light, the tragedy of farmer suicides becomes a critical lens through which to examine and critique our complicity in a world that often seems as absurd and unfathomable as Kafka's.
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Works Cited
“Franz Kafka - Quotes, Books & Works.” Biography.com, A&E; Television Networks, 10 May 2021, www.biography.com/authors-
writers/franz-kafka.
Gilman, Sander L. Franz Kafka, the Jewish Patient. Routledge, 2007.
Kafka, Franz, and Max Brod. The Diaries, 1910-1923. Schocken Books, 2000.
Kafka, Franz, and Stanley Corngold. The Metamorphosis. Modern Library, 2013.
Kafka, Franz. The Trial. Schocken Books, 1999.
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