The Familiar View of Capital

Gustav Janouch A I showed Kafka some new books published by the firm of Neugebauer. As he was turning the leaves of a volume with illustrations by George Grosz, he said:

Franz Kafka ‘That is the familiar view of Capital– the fat man B in a top hat squatting on the money of the poor.’

CFat Man Between

Gustav Janouch ‘It is only an allegory,’ I said.

Franz Kafka drew his eyebrows together.

Franz Kafka ‘You say “only”! In men’s thoughts the allegory becomes an image of reality, D which is naturally a mistake. But the error already exists here.’

Gustav Janouch ‘You mean, Herr Doktor, that the picture is false?’

Franz Kafka ‘I would not quite say that. It is both true and false. It is true only in one sense. It is false, in that it proclaims this incomplete view to be the whole truth. The fat man in the top hat sits on the necks of the poor. E That is correct. But the fat man is Capitalism, and that is not quite correct. The fat man oppresses the poor man within the conditions of a given system. But he is not the system itself. He is not even its master. On the contrary, the fat man also is in chains, F which the picture does not show. The picture is not complete. For that reason it is not good. Capitalism is a system of relationships, which go from inside to out, from outside to in, from above to below, and from below to above. Everything is relative, everything is in chains. G Capitalism is a condition both of the world and of the soul.’