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A Report for an Academy
A Report to an Academy
(German: Ein Bericht für eine Akademie) is a short story by Franz Kafka, written and published in 1917. In the story, an ape named Red Peter, who has learned to behave like a human, presents to an academy the story of how he effected his transformation. The story was first published by Martin Buber in the German monthly Der Jude, along with another of Kafka's stories, Jackals and Arabs (Schakale und Araber). The story appeared again in a 1919 collection titled Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor).
27 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1917
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About the author
Franz Kafka
3,257 books37.9k followersPrague-born writer Franz Kafka wrote in German, and his stories, such as "
The Metamorphosis
" (1916), and posthumously published novels, including
The Trial
(1925), concern troubled individuals in a nightmarishly impersonal world.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
Jewish middle-class family of this major fiction writer of the 20th century spoke German. People consider his unique body of much incomplete writing, mainly published posthumously, among the most influential in European literature.
His stories include "The Metamorphosis" (1912) and " In the Penal Colony " (1914), whereas his posthumous novels include The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927).
Despite first language, Kafka also spoke fluent Czech. Later, Kafka acquired some knowledge of the French language and culture from Flaubert, one of his favorite authors.
Kafka first studied chemistry at the Charles-Ferdinand University of Prague but after two weeks switched to law. This study offered a range of career possibilities, which pleased his father, and required a longer course of study that gave Kafka time to take classes in German studies and art history. At the university, he joined a student club, named Lese- und Redehalle der Deutschen Studenten, which organized literary events, readings, and other activities. In the end of his first year of studies, he met Max Brod, a close friend of his throughout his life, together with the journalist Felix Weltsch, who also studied law. Kafka obtained the degree of doctor of law on 18 June 1906 and performed an obligatory year of unpaid service as law clerk for the civil and criminal courts.
Writing of Kafka attracted little attention before his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories and never finished any of his novels except the very short "The Metamorphosis." Kafka wrote to Max Brod, his friend and literary executor: "Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me ... in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others'), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread." Brod told Kafka that he intended not to honor these wishes, but Kafka, so knowing, nevertheless consequently gave these directions specifically to Brod, who, so reasoning, overrode these wishes. Brod in fact oversaw the publication of most of work of Kafka in his possession; these works quickly began to attract attention and high critical regard.
Max Brod encountered significant difficulty in compiling notebooks of Kafka into any chronological order as Kafka started writing in the middle of notebooks, from the last towards the first, et cetera.
Kafka wrote all his published works in German except several letters in Czech to Milena Jesenská.
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November 15, 2025
I feel honored by your invitation to present the academy with a report on my former life as an ape.
Freedom is to have free will and being without undue or unjust constraints. It is the plausibility of picking the choice of unfreedom. Free - picks, not free obeys wants. Freedom is a perspective; it is a philosophical idea mirroring a natural human right to understand one's human will. Outside of freedom, an individual can't understand the abundance of his inward world and his abilities. It starts precisely where an individual purposely confines himself. Freedom is awful: in the event that it is the quintessence of an individual, at that point, thus, it goes about as an obligation; man is subjugated by his opportunity. It is an overwhelming weight borne by man. He is answerable for his activities and what's going in the world. In this story the protagonist ape is confronted with the fact that he has lost his freedom; he can no longer live as an ape because there is "no way out." Thus, he can only gain a modicum of freedom by becoming something he wasn't: "I repeat: there was no attraction for me in imitating human beings; I imitated them because I needed a way out, and for no other reason."
The story ruminates on this theme in detail, the tragedy of being caught between two distinct states of being, two worlds. On the one hand, Red Peter has sought his development as a fully-fledged human; on the other, it has been forced upon him as a means of survival. The protagonist of the story- Red Peter, an ape- has decided to leave his ape state to be a human, the act in turn robs him off his freedom he has as an ape, the transformation which though seems to be an act of free will is in fact an ‘forced choice’ to be accepted in the society. Many a times people do such things just to exist on the bare thread of existence and do not necessarily live freely as we know freedom is a weight too heavy to be carried through. Red Peter takes on more characteristics of his human environment, he has trouble even comprehending the freedom of his past. It eludes his comprehension and gradually but certainly he loses track of his apedom which now has only a symbolic representation in his memory.
Does he really become free of his apedom, does his consciousness leave traces of his previous state since after all he himself has chosen this life- the human form. Or is apedom still lingers around somewhere in his consciousness. As it happens in our life we may take certain appearances to be accepted in the society and we feel we’ve shred off the traces of our past, however as soon as we face the piercing gaze of free will, all our appearances shred to nothingness and our inauthentic existence falls apart. The sense of comfort we might be driving from that inauthentic existence fly away in thin air.
Our protagonist here choses to be human at the cost of leaving his ‘free will’ which he might be having as an ape, however he is being constantly reminded of his lost freedom-his apedom, he is now being caught between two modes of existence. His wounds, which are aggravated by his sense of free will which is lost, are brazenly open to the world now, he does everything to be humane, takes over many appearances to be accepted but his existence is torn apart between inauthentic mode his has chosen the free will he had. At his heart, he still craves for the ‘free’ apedom which he essentially his, however the desire to be human, to be accepted as one of them proves to be too significant for him.
The storm that followed me from my past abated, and today it is nothing more than a breeze to cool my heels, and that distant aperture through which it blows, the same opening I once passed through myself, has grown so small that I would have to scrape the fur off my body to make it through-assuming I had the strength and willpower for the journey back. Frankly speaking, much as I enjoy finding images to describe all this, frankly speaking, esteemed sirs, your own apedom, insofar as something similar may lie in your own past--could not be further from you than mine is from me. But every creature that walks the earth has a ticklish heel: from the small chimpanzee to the great Achilles.
We see that the narrator’s report to the academy is a constant dilemma between his apedom- his past which he does not represent anymore and which he has consciously chosen to not to- and his present which he is not in essence. His dilemma is illustrated in the fact that he exists among humans during the day, at lectures and variety shows, but at night, he returns to sleep with his chimpanzee mate who is half-trained. He has a hard time facing her as he describes the look in her eye as that of a broken animal. For him, becoming human and living in their world was a choice, although not an easy one. For her, however, living among humans is sure to drive her crazy. The experiences of his human form are superficial in nature as it represents his inauthentic existence and essentially he is still an ape. However the irony lies in the fact that he is unable to tell account of his apedom since he does not remember anymore what is to be an ape, what does it take to return to it, as it becomes increasingly difficult with advent of time proportionate with his development as a human.
The narrator has taken over some of the appearances which are supposed to be humane, like he casually boasts of having "emptied many a bottle of good red wine with the expedition leader" and when he jeers at such ridiculous human demonstrations of freedom as that acted out and applauded in the course of a circus trapeze act. It represents his seemingly achievements of doing things which are generally assumed out of human beings, but at the same time he remains in a constant fix since these are just dramatizations of what is supposed to be humane and not essentially represent what human beings are.
I come from the Gold Coast. As to the method of my capture I have to rely on the accounts of strangers. A hunting party of the firm Hagenbeck-incidentally I have since downed many a bottle of good red wine with the leader of that expedition-had set up a blind in the bushes by our watering place along the riverbank, where I went in the evening together with my tribe. Shots were fired, I was the only one hit, I took two bullets.
This existential dilemma of the narrator throws him in the hell of non-being wherein he is tripped off of any presumed comfort of acting like human beings and also the essence of being an ape is somewhere become repressed and downtrodden in his advent, so he becomes essentially trapped in the hell of non-being wherein the protagonist has not merely lost his sense of identity, but he has actually lost this identity itself. Kafka has deftly used, he invariably does, the otherness of human or apedom to represents the cruelty of human existence wherein inauthenticity and unattainability of humanity is perfectly portrayed.
I'm afraid that you may not understand exactly what I mean by a way out, which I mean in the most ordinary and fullest sense of the phrase. I am deliberately avoiding the word freedom, because I don't mean this grand feeling of freedom on all sides. As an ape I may have known it, and I've met humans who yearn for exactly that. But I myself have never asked for freedom, neither then nor now. As an aside: freedom is something people deceive themselves with far too frequently. And just as it counts as one of the most sublime feelings, so, too, can it lead to the sublime disappointment.
Freedom is to have free will and being without undue or unjust constraints. It is the plausibility of picking the choice of unfreedom. Free - picks, not free obeys wants. Freedom is a perspective; it is a philosophical idea mirroring a natural human right to understand one's human will. Outside of freedom, an individual can't understand the abundance of his inward world and his abilities. It starts precisely where an individual purposely confines himself. Freedom is awful: in the event that it is the quintessence of an individual, at that point, thus, it goes about as an obligation; man is subjugated by his opportunity. It is an overwhelming weight borne by man. He is answerable for his activities and what's going in the world. In this story the protagonist ape is confronted with the fact that he has lost his freedom; he can no longer live as an ape because there is "no way out." Thus, he can only gain a modicum of freedom by becoming something he wasn't: "I repeat: there was no attraction for me in imitating human beings; I imitated them because I needed a way out, and for no other reason."
The story ruminates on this theme in detail, the tragedy of being caught between two distinct states of being, two worlds. On the one hand, Red Peter has sought his development as a fully-fledged human; on the other, it has been forced upon him as a means of survival. The protagonist of the story- Red Peter, an ape- has decided to leave his ape state to be a human, the act in turn robs him off his freedom he has as an ape, the transformation which though seems to be an act of free will is in fact an ‘forced choice’ to be accepted in the society. Many a times people do such things just to exist on the bare thread of existence and do not necessarily live freely as we know freedom is a weight too heavy to be carried through. Red Peter takes on more characteristics of his human environment, he has trouble even comprehending the freedom of his past. It eludes his comprehension and gradually but certainly he loses track of his apedom which now has only a symbolic representation in his memory.
Does he really become free of his apedom, does his consciousness leave traces of his previous state since after all he himself has chosen this life- the human form. Or is apedom still lingers around somewhere in his consciousness. As it happens in our life we may take certain appearances to be accepted in the society and we feel we’ve shred off the traces of our past, however as soon as we face the piercing gaze of free will, all our appearances shred to nothingness and our inauthentic existence falls apart. The sense of comfort we might be driving from that inauthentic existence fly away in thin air.
Our protagonist here choses to be human at the cost of leaving his ‘free will’ which he might be having as an ape, however he is being constantly reminded of his lost freedom-his apedom, he is now being caught between two modes of existence. His wounds, which are aggravated by his sense of free will which is lost, are brazenly open to the world now, he does everything to be humane, takes over many appearances to be accepted but his existence is torn apart between inauthentic mode his has chosen the free will he had. At his heart, he still craves for the ‘free’ apedom which he essentially his, however the desire to be human, to be accepted as one of them proves to be too significant for him.
The storm that followed me from my past abated, and today it is nothing more than a breeze to cool my heels, and that distant aperture through which it blows, the same opening I once passed through myself, has grown so small that I would have to scrape the fur off my body to make it through-assuming I had the strength and willpower for the journey back. Frankly speaking, much as I enjoy finding images to describe all this, frankly speaking, esteemed sirs, your own apedom, insofar as something similar may lie in your own past--could not be further from you than mine is from me. But every creature that walks the earth has a ticklish heel: from the small chimpanzee to the great Achilles.
We see that the narrator’s report to the academy is a constant dilemma between his apedom- his past which he does not represent anymore and which he has consciously chosen to not to- and his present which he is not in essence. His dilemma is illustrated in the fact that he exists among humans during the day, at lectures and variety shows, but at night, he returns to sleep with his chimpanzee mate who is half-trained. He has a hard time facing her as he describes the look in her eye as that of a broken animal. For him, becoming human and living in their world was a choice, although not an easy one. For her, however, living among humans is sure to drive her crazy. The experiences of his human form are superficial in nature as it represents his inauthentic existence and essentially he is still an ape. However the irony lies in the fact that he is unable to tell account of his apedom since he does not remember anymore what is to be an ape, what does it take to return to it, as it becomes increasingly difficult with advent of time proportionate with his development as a human.
The narrator has taken over some of the appearances which are supposed to be humane, like he casually boasts of having "emptied many a bottle of good red wine with the expedition leader" and when he jeers at such ridiculous human demonstrations of freedom as that acted out and applauded in the course of a circus trapeze act. It represents his seemingly achievements of doing things which are generally assumed out of human beings, but at the same time he remains in a constant fix since these are just dramatizations of what is supposed to be humane and not essentially represent what human beings are.
I come from the Gold Coast. As to the method of my capture I have to rely on the accounts of strangers. A hunting party of the firm Hagenbeck-incidentally I have since downed many a bottle of good red wine with the leader of that expedition-had set up a blind in the bushes by our watering place along the riverbank, where I went in the evening together with my tribe. Shots were fired, I was the only one hit, I took two bullets.
This existential dilemma of the narrator throws him in the hell of non-being wherein he is tripped off of any presumed comfort of acting like human beings and also the essence of being an ape is somewhere become repressed and downtrodden in his advent, so he becomes essentially trapped in the hell of non-being wherein the protagonist has not merely lost his sense of identity, but he has actually lost this identity itself. Kafka has deftly used, he invariably does, the otherness of human or apedom to represents the cruelty of human existence wherein inauthenticity and unattainability of humanity is perfectly portrayed.
I'm afraid that you may not understand exactly what I mean by a way out, which I mean in the most ordinary and fullest sense of the phrase. I am deliberately avoiding the word freedom, because I don't mean this grand feeling of freedom on all sides. As an ape I may have known it, and I've met humans who yearn for exactly that. But I myself have never asked for freedom, neither then nor now. As an aside: freedom is something people deceive themselves with far too frequently. And just as it counts as one of the most sublime feelings, so, too, can it lead to the sublime disappointment.
September 16, 2025
English: A Report for an Academy
You know what species behaves most inhumanely? That's right: Humans. In this short story, Rotpeter (Red Peter), the most famous monkey in German-language literature, gets captured in the West African jungle by an expedition for Hagenbeck and he is shipped away in a brutally small cage. Trying to figure out a way to survive and to escape the cage, Rotpeter starts to imitate humans, learning gestures and even the human language. When he finally arrives in Europe, he doesn't want to live in a zoo (which just means a bigger cage), so he starts working as a performer in a variété. With the help of teachers, he learns more and more about human behavior and even gets a proper education, thus becoming extremely popular - the whole text is written by himself and aims to explain his transformation and his former life as an ape to an enigmatic academy.
Alas, Rotpeter doesn't properly remember his life in the jungle: His assimilation is complete. What is tragic is that he did not learn the ways of humans because he wanted to or because he finds them particularly convincing; no, he simply wanted to survive, so he decided to deny his own nature and exchange it for the weird behaviors of the cruel species that shot and captured him. He even goes so far to have a chimpanzee as a lover who is traumatized by his life in captivity, and to state that he doesn't want to see her by day because he doesn't want to face her inner brokenness. We, the readers, never get to know what the title-giving "academy" is all about.
The obvious theme here is Jewish assimilation: Kafka was Jewish and the text was first published by Martin Buber in a magazine called "Der Jude" (The Jew). But there are more ways to read the text: In Prague, there really was a monkey performing in a variété, and Kafka was probably aware of that. On top of that, Kafka was very interested in social darwinism and animal behvior as depicted by Alfred Edmund Brehm. Just like in some of his other stories, Kafka questions what the difference between humans and animals really is (see: The Metamorphosis, The Burrow). And then, the whole thing works as a parody of the idea of education as imitation of what's socially acceptable, no matter how stupid.
And that's where the humor comes in: For instance, there is an episode in which Rotpeter has to learn to drink schnapps, because that's what humans do. Yup, the really absurd parts are the ones depicting human behavior that the poor (reasonable) monkey tries to adapt.
All in all, a slightly enigmatic, funny, sad and profound story about the weird species that is humanity. Kafka at his best.
You know what species behaves most inhumanely? That's right: Humans. In this short story, Rotpeter (Red Peter), the most famous monkey in German-language literature, gets captured in the West African jungle by an expedition for Hagenbeck and he is shipped away in a brutally small cage. Trying to figure out a way to survive and to escape the cage, Rotpeter starts to imitate humans, learning gestures and even the human language. When he finally arrives in Europe, he doesn't want to live in a zoo (which just means a bigger cage), so he starts working as a performer in a variété. With the help of teachers, he learns more and more about human behavior and even gets a proper education, thus becoming extremely popular - the whole text is written by himself and aims to explain his transformation and his former life as an ape to an enigmatic academy.
Alas, Rotpeter doesn't properly remember his life in the jungle: His assimilation is complete. What is tragic is that he did not learn the ways of humans because he wanted to or because he finds them particularly convincing; no, he simply wanted to survive, so he decided to deny his own nature and exchange it for the weird behaviors of the cruel species that shot and captured him. He even goes so far to have a chimpanzee as a lover who is traumatized by his life in captivity, and to state that he doesn't want to see her by day because he doesn't want to face her inner brokenness. We, the readers, never get to know what the title-giving "academy" is all about.
The obvious theme here is Jewish assimilation: Kafka was Jewish and the text was first published by Martin Buber in a magazine called "Der Jude" (The Jew). But there are more ways to read the text: In Prague, there really was a monkey performing in a variété, and Kafka was probably aware of that. On top of that, Kafka was very interested in social darwinism and animal behvior as depicted by Alfred Edmund Brehm. Just like in some of his other stories, Kafka questions what the difference between humans and animals really is (see: The Metamorphosis, The Burrow). And then, the whole thing works as a parody of the idea of education as imitation of what's socially acceptable, no matter how stupid.
And that's where the humor comes in: For instance, there is an episode in which Rotpeter has to learn to drink schnapps, because that's what humans do. Yup, the really absurd parts are the ones depicting human behavior that the poor (reasonable) monkey tries to adapt.
All in all, a slightly enigmatic, funny, sad and profound story about the weird species that is humanity. Kafka at his best.
July 9, 2017
La perfecta transición de un animal, a un hombre promedio. El reflejo de la imposibilidad de la libertad, y la aceptación de una salida por medio del engaño.
Tremendo.
Tremendo.
November 17, 2025
Ugh! What was that?
July 1, 2015
ما هى الهوية؟
كيف نفرق بين الكائنات الحية؟
ما الذي يميز الفرد و يجعله مختلفا عن الأخرين؟
هل الاختلاف في حد ذاته مقبول أم مرفوض؟
كافكا في هذه القصة يناقش ازمة الهوية مرة أخرى.. و على العكس من قصة المسخ حيث يتحول فيها الإنسان إلى حشرة.. يتحول هنا الحيوان إلى إنسان..
كيف حدث هذا التحول المعاكس؟ حدث عندما قرر القرد أن يقلد الإنسان.. حدث عندما قرر القرد ان يتصرف كيفما يرى الناس من حوله تتصرف...
القرد ليس قردا حقيقيا.. إنه فقط شخص مختلف عن الناس.. شخص حاول ان يندمج مع الناس فوجد الطريقة الوحيدة للاندماج هى ألا يكون مختلفا..
بداية القصة القرد عندما انتقل إلى عالم البشر وجد معاناة.. معاناة لأنه يتصرف بطبيعته.. طبيعته "كقرد".. تلك الطبيعة المرفوضة من الناس.. تلك الطبيعة التي يعتبرها الناس لاأخلاقية..
"قرأت مقالة لأحد الصحفيين الذين أشاعوا ان طبيعتي كقرد لم تختف حتى الآن.. و الدليل على ذلك هو انه عندما تأتيني زيارة أخلع السروال بكل سرور و أشير إلى المكان الذي أصابتني فيه الطلقة..
لو كنا نسعى إلى الحقيقة فكل إنسان محترم عليه أن ينبذ تلك الأساليب النخبوية... فلو أن الكاتب خلع سرواله امام الضيوف سيكون الامر مختلفا.. لكني أعتقد أنه من الفطنة ألا يفعل ذلك"
فلابد للآخر ان يتبع نفس ما اعتنقه أنا من أفكار و إلا سيتم النظر إليه باعتباره حيوانا!!
و هنا يعرف القرد أنه لا يستطيع الحياة مختلفا.. لابد له من الاندماج.. فالاندماج هو الطريق الوحيد -و ياللتناقض!- للحرية الذاتية!!
"لم يكن لدي دافع لتقليد البشر.. قلدتهم لأني كنت أبحث عن مخرج و ليس لسبب آخر.. لكن الفوز لم يكن يعني لي الكثير"
"حصلت على معدل متوسط من معارف المواطن الأوروبي بمجهود لا يقارن بأي مجهود غيره على وجه الأرض.. ربما هذا لا يعني شيئا في حد ذاته و لكنه ساعدني في أن أخرج من القفص و أمن لي مخرجا إنسانيا"
فالقرد لم يكن لديه حلولا آخرى.. فالبديل لدى القرد لم يكن بديلا مقبولا..
"عرفت ان امامي خيارين.. حديقة الحيوان.. او المسرح الهزلي..
لم اتردد!!
قلت لنفسي : استجمع كل قواك حتى تصل إلى المسرح الهزلي.. هذه هى نقطة الإنطلاق.. فحديقة الحيوانات ليست سوى قفص كبير.. و لو ذهبت إلى هناك فانت ضائع لا محالة!"
فإما أن يتم وصمه بأنه حيوان و يوضع في قفص و يصبح سجينا منعزلا عن الناس..
و إما أن يتقبل أن يكون "مقلدا/مضحكا" في عروض السيرك.. كخطوة لينضم للمجتمع البشري..
فهو يضحي بكامل كرامته من أجل الحصول على القبول من الآخرين!
و بمرور الوقت يبدأ القرد في اعتناق كل ما يراه من آراء بشرية.. حتى لو كانت تخالف طبيعته الحقيقية..
"أسندت وجهي على الصندوق و الشباك تقطع في لحم ظهري.. يعتبرون أن هذا مناسب لتربية حيوان بري في الفترة الأولى.. و لا يمكنني اليوم -بعد تلك التجارب- أن أنفي أن هذا -من المنظور البشري- صحيح"
فهو -و هو الذي تعرض للتعذيب في حياته القديمة- أصبح متقبلا لفكرة التعذيب حتى يكون فقط جزءا من المجتمع البشري!
هذا التحول الذي لم يؤثر فقط على تصصرفات القرد و لكنه لغى حتى أفكاره و كلماته.. لغى مشاعره القديمة .. ضحى بذاكرته و ذكرياتها بأكملها فقط لأنه اراد الانضمام لعالم البشر..
"كل ما شعرت به وقتها كقرد يمكنني أن أصفه الآن فقط بكلمات بشرية و بهذا لن يكون وصفا دقيقا"
هل كان القرد محقا في إلقاء حياته بأكملها من أجل أن يكون فردا آخر في القطيع؟؟
هل لم يكن الإنسان أي خيار سوى الانصياع للتيار العام؟؟
كافكا يقول أن هذه هى الحقيقة.. و للأسف انا اتفق معه..
كيف نفرق بين الكائنات الحية؟
ما الذي يميز الفرد و يجعله مختلفا عن الأخرين؟
هل الاختلاف في حد ذاته مقبول أم مرفوض؟
كافكا في هذه القصة يناقش ازمة الهوية مرة أخرى.. و على العكس من قصة المسخ حيث يتحول فيها الإنسان إلى حشرة.. يتحول هنا الحيوان إلى إنسان..
كيف حدث هذا التحول المعاكس؟ حدث عندما قرر القرد أن يقلد الإنسان.. حدث عندما قرر القرد ان يتصرف كيفما يرى الناس من حوله تتصرف...
القرد ليس قردا حقيقيا.. إنه فقط شخص مختلف عن الناس.. شخص حاول ان يندمج مع الناس فوجد الطريقة الوحيدة للاندماج هى ألا يكون مختلفا..
بداية القصة القرد عندما انتقل إلى عالم البشر وجد معاناة.. معاناة لأنه يتصرف بطبيعته.. طبيعته "كقرد".. تلك الطبيعة المرفوضة من الناس.. تلك الطبيعة التي يعتبرها الناس لاأخلاقية..
"قرأت مقالة لأحد الصحفيين الذين أشاعوا ان طبيعتي كقرد لم تختف حتى الآن.. و الدليل على ذلك هو انه عندما تأتيني زيارة أخلع السروال بكل سرور و أشير إلى المكان الذي أصابتني فيه الطلقة..
لو كنا نسعى إلى الحقيقة فكل إنسان محترم عليه أن ينبذ تلك الأساليب النخبوية... فلو أن الكاتب خلع سرواله امام الضيوف سيكون الامر مختلفا.. لكني أعتقد أنه من الفطنة ألا يفعل ذلك"
فلابد للآخر ان يتبع نفس ما اعتنقه أنا من أفكار و إلا سيتم النظر إليه باعتباره حيوانا!!
و هنا يعرف القرد أنه لا يستطيع الحياة مختلفا.. لابد له من الاندماج.. فالاندماج هو الطريق الوحيد -و ياللتناقض!- للحرية الذاتية!!
"لم يكن لدي دافع لتقليد البشر.. قلدتهم لأني كنت أبحث عن مخرج و ليس لسبب آخر.. لكن الفوز لم يكن يعني لي الكثير"
"حصلت على معدل متوسط من معارف المواطن الأوروبي بمجهود لا يقارن بأي مجهود غيره على وجه الأرض.. ربما هذا لا يعني شيئا في حد ذاته و لكنه ساعدني في أن أخرج من القفص و أمن لي مخرجا إنسانيا"
فالقرد لم يكن لديه حلولا آخرى.. فالبديل لدى القرد لم يكن بديلا مقبولا..
"عرفت ان امامي خيارين.. حديقة الحيوان.. او المسرح الهزلي..
لم اتردد!!
قلت لنفسي : استجمع كل قواك حتى تصل إلى المسرح الهزلي.. هذه هى نقطة الإنطلاق.. فحديقة الحيوانات ليست سوى قفص كبير.. و لو ذهبت إلى هناك فانت ضائع لا محالة!"
فإما أن يتم وصمه بأنه حيوان و يوضع في قفص و يصبح سجينا منعزلا عن الناس..
و إما أن يتقبل أن يكون "مقلدا/مضحكا" في عروض السيرك.. كخطوة لينضم للمجتمع البشري..
فهو يضحي بكامل كرامته من أجل الحصول على القبول من الآخرين!
و بمرور الوقت يبدأ القرد في اعتناق كل ما يراه من آراء بشرية.. حتى لو كانت تخالف طبيعته الحقيقية..
"أسندت وجهي على الصندوق و الشباك تقطع في لحم ظهري.. يعتبرون أن هذا مناسب لتربية حيوان بري في الفترة الأولى.. و لا يمكنني اليوم -بعد تلك التجارب- أن أنفي أن هذا -من المنظور البشري- صحيح"
فهو -و هو الذي تعرض للتعذيب في حياته القديمة- أصبح متقبلا لفكرة التعذيب حتى يكون فقط جزءا من المجتمع البشري!
هذا التحول الذي لم يؤثر فقط على تصصرفات القرد و لكنه لغى حتى أفكاره و كلماته.. لغى مشاعره القديمة .. ضحى بذاكرته و ذكرياتها بأكملها فقط لأنه اراد الانضمام لعالم البشر..
"كل ما شعرت به وقتها كقرد يمكنني أن أصفه الآن فقط بكلمات بشرية و بهذا لن يكون وصفا دقيقا"
هل كان القرد محقا في إلقاء حياته بأكملها من أجل أن يكون فردا آخر في القطيع؟؟
هل لم يكن الإنسان أي خيار سوى الانصياع للتيار العام؟؟
كافكا يقول أن هذه هى الحقيقة.. و للأسف انا اتفق معه..
December 5, 2019
I have reviewed this story with those in the collection, The Country Doctor: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've also reviewed a brilliant one-woman play based on this story, Kafka's Monkey: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've also reviewed a brilliant one-woman play based on this story, Kafka's Monkey: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
November 5, 2025
Ik voel me soms ook een aap die zich heeft geïntegreerd in onze maatschappij die erin slaagt om mij claustrofobischer te laten voelen dan een zoo. Enkel Kafka slaagt er in om zo’n ironisch concept melancholisch te maken. (And I LOVE it)
June 17, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beCYG...
By far my favorite short story from Kafka. The story has hints of Kafka playing with the idea of Metamorphosis of a creature into a conscious and creative being whose only aim is to break free from his abductors. Kafka shrewdly leaves the reader thinking if the Ape actually broke free from bondage which he so eagerly wanted to do or unconsciously became accustomed to it.
By far my favorite short story from Kafka. The story has hints of Kafka playing with the idea of Metamorphosis of a creature into a conscious and creative being whose only aim is to break free from his abductors. Kafka shrewdly leaves the reader thinking if the Ape actually broke free from bondage which he so eagerly wanted to do or unconsciously became accustomed to it.
April 24, 2022
Buenísimo.
March 19, 2025
3.5/5
I love how Kafka always picks the simplest stories and infuses them with his writing, making them deep
I love how Kafka always picks the simplest stories and infuses them with his writing, making them deep
January 10, 2021
unglaublich vielschichtig und dicht. Ein wahres Vergnügen. Zugegeben ein nicht gleich zu erschließender Text. Habe zunächst Deleuze/Guattari Kafka.Eine kleine Literatur gelesen, die Tiermotivik, Kritik an dem „Trüben Blick dieser Menschen“ und die Suche nach dem Ausweg, statt der Freiheit regen mehr als zum Denken an. Wahnsinn, was man auf 11 Seiten unterbringen kann. Stellenweise musste ich an Rilkes Der Panther denken. Wunderbar!
July 13, 2018
Kafka provokes us in this story full of irony and sharp criticism on humanity, pointing out several times that finding an exit from a situation does not mean freedom; shows us the violence and idiocies of men, whether in their pleasures like smoking and alcohol; the zoo and the circus; and beyond all: the idea of human power -the supreme specie before all other animals.
In this tale, it is a monkey that sees the poverty of man's spirit. He finds as the only way out for his survival, to live as a human in all stupidy, vanity and arrogance typical of humans. Because in that way, through the monkey's eyes, it is the only way out of its own survival. For him, it is preferable to live as a human than behind the bars of a cage in a zoo.
The criticism of man comes to one of his radical points, when the monkey describes his evolution: "through an effort that has not been repeated on earth until now, I have reached the average formation of a European. it was nothing, but it is something, since it helped me out of the cage and gave me this special exit, this human exit. There is an excellent quote in German idiom .... that's what I did, I fell out.I had no other always assuming that it was not possible to choose freedom. "
And again as in other tales, Kafka provokes us about laws, judgments and absurd explanations, in a situation also absurd and ironic: a monkey making a speech to intellectuals in a University: "I no longer want no judgment of men, I just want I only make a report, and to you, eminent members of the Academy, I have just presented a report. "
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Kafka nos provoca nessa história repleta de ironia e crítica afiada sobre a humanidade, apontando diversas vezes que encontrar uma saída de um situação não significa liberdade; nos mostra a violência e a idiotice dos homens, seja em seus prazeres como o fumo e a bebida alcoólica; o zoológico e o circo; e além de tudo: a ideia de poder, o da espécie suprema perante a todo os outros animais.
Nesse conto, é um macaco que vê a pobreza de espirito do homem. Ele encontra como única saída para sua sobrevivência, viver como um idiota humano em toda sua idiotice, vaidade e arrogância típicas humanas. Porque dessa forma, pelos olhos do macaco, é a única saída à sua própria sobrevivência. Para ele, é preferível viver como um humano do que atrás das grades de uma jaula em um zoológico.
A crítica ao homem chega a um dos seus pontos radicais, quando o macaco descreve sua evolução: "através de um esforço, que até agora não se repetiu sobre a terra, cheguei à formação média de um europeu. Em si mesmo, talvez isso não fosse nada, mas é alguma coisa, uma vez que me ajudou a sair da jaula e me propiciou essa saída especial, essa saída humana. Existe uma excelente expressão idiomática alemã ....foi o que fiz, caí fora. Eu não tinha outro caminho, sempre supondo que não era possível escolher a liberdade".
E mais uma vez como em outros contos, Kafka nos provoca sobre leis, julgamentos e explicações absurdas, em uma situação também absurda - a do macaco fazendo um discurso para intelectuais em uma Universidade: "no mais não quero nenhum julgamento dos homens, quero apenas difundir conhecimentos; faço tão somente um relatório; também aos senhores, eminentes membros da Academia, só apresentei um relatório".
In this tale, it is a monkey that sees the poverty of man's spirit. He finds as the only way out for his survival, to live as a human in all stupidy, vanity and arrogance typical of humans. Because in that way, through the monkey's eyes, it is the only way out of its own survival. For him, it is preferable to live as a human than behind the bars of a cage in a zoo.
The criticism of man comes to one of his radical points, when the monkey describes his evolution: "through an effort that has not been repeated on earth until now, I have reached the average formation of a European. it was nothing, but it is something, since it helped me out of the cage and gave me this special exit, this human exit. There is an excellent quote in German idiom .... that's what I did, I fell out.I had no other always assuming that it was not possible to choose freedom. "
And again as in other tales, Kafka provokes us about laws, judgments and absurd explanations, in a situation also absurd and ironic: a monkey making a speech to intellectuals in a University: "I no longer want no judgment of men, I just want I only make a report, and to you, eminent members of the Academy, I have just presented a report. "
------
Kafka nos provoca nessa história repleta de ironia e crítica afiada sobre a humanidade, apontando diversas vezes que encontrar uma saída de um situação não significa liberdade; nos mostra a violência e a idiotice dos homens, seja em seus prazeres como o fumo e a bebida alcoólica; o zoológico e o circo; e além de tudo: a ideia de poder, o da espécie suprema perante a todo os outros animais.
Nesse conto, é um macaco que vê a pobreza de espirito do homem. Ele encontra como única saída para sua sobrevivência, viver como um idiota humano em toda sua idiotice, vaidade e arrogância típicas humanas. Porque dessa forma, pelos olhos do macaco, é a única saída à sua própria sobrevivência. Para ele, é preferível viver como um humano do que atrás das grades de uma jaula em um zoológico.
A crítica ao homem chega a um dos seus pontos radicais, quando o macaco descreve sua evolução: "através de um esforço, que até agora não se repetiu sobre a terra, cheguei à formação média de um europeu. Em si mesmo, talvez isso não fosse nada, mas é alguma coisa, uma vez que me ajudou a sair da jaula e me propiciou essa saída especial, essa saída humana. Existe uma excelente expressão idiomática alemã ....foi o que fiz, caí fora. Eu não tinha outro caminho, sempre supondo que não era possível escolher a liberdade".
E mais uma vez como em outros contos, Kafka nos provoca sobre leis, julgamentos e explicações absurdas, em uma situação também absurda - a do macaco fazendo um discurso para intelectuais em uma Universidade: "no mais não quero nenhum julgamento dos homens, quero apenas difundir conhecimentos; faço tão somente um relatório; também aos senhores, eminentes membros da Academia, só apresentei um relatório".
November 17, 2025
"Nearly five years stand between me and my apehood . . ."
Every Kafka story is strange, but this one is strange in its own way.
The introduction to my volume notes three favourite themes at play here: animals endowed with human reasoning although bound by their own natural physique; the psychology of the state of captivity; and, the vaudeville or circus performer representing the exposed and lonely life of the creative artist in society.
"Oh, you learn when you have to; you learn when you want a way out; you learn regardless of all else."
Note: my version is titled: "A Report to an Academy."
Every Kafka story is strange, but this one is strange in its own way.
The introduction to my volume notes three favourite themes at play here: animals endowed with human reasoning although bound by their own natural physique; the psychology of the state of captivity; and, the vaudeville or circus performer representing the exposed and lonely life of the creative artist in society.
"Oh, you learn when you have to; you learn when you want a way out; you learn regardless of all else."
Note: my version is titled: "A Report to an Academy."
November 8, 2022
Кафка и метафорите! За вечното порастване, за трудното порастване, за съзнателния избор, който се налага да правим - да растем, като се превърнем в нещо друго, или да се откажем от пътя си, защото все пак “за маймуната няма нищо по-лесно от бягството”.
December 15, 2024
تقرير قرد كان من سوء طالعه أنه تعرف على عالم البشر، بعد أن تم أسره، كان سبيله الوحيد للنجاة أن يتعلم كيف يكون إنسان.
أسفي على القرد الذي اضطرته الظروف أن يعيش في عالم البشر المعقد.
قصص كافكا مليئة بالرمزية، تناقش هذه القصة فقدان الهوية، فالبطل وجد نفسه محاط بنوع مختلف عنه وعلم أنه لا سبيل للهروب ولا داعي للغضب والاستنكار فلا نتيجة مرجوة منهما، لذا فقد قرر الاندماج حتى يجد حلا لورطته.
تبدأ معضلة فقدان الهوية أن يدّعي المرء أنه فقط يتماهى اجتماعيا مع المحيطين به ولكنه في قرارة نفسه يؤمن بحفاظه على قيمه ومبادئه وأنه فقط يندمج لينجو ثم بعد فترة يجد أن شخصيته الجديدة بدأت تطغى وتحتل شخصيته الأصلية ليجد نفسه أصبح جزء من القطيع.
لذا عندما دعته الأكاديمية إلى تقديم تقرير بصفته قرد سابقا يجد نفسه يبدأ بالاعتذار فقد أصبح إنسانا وأما عن حياته السابقة كقرد فأصبحت ذكريات ضبابية.
استمتعوا...
دمتم قراء…❤❤❤
December 29, 2024
„Zoologischer Garten oder Varieté. Ich zögerte nicht. Ich sagte mir: Setze alle Kraft an, um ins Varieté zu kommen; das ist der Ausweg; Zoologischer Garten ist nur ein neuer Gitterkäfig; kommst du in ihn, bist du verloren.“
Kafka zerlegt die perverse Freizeit-Institution „Zoo“ in 9 Seiten literarisch in seine Einzelteile. Welcher andere deutschsprachige Autor kann sowas?
Mehr zu dem Thema ist bei diesem großartigen Vortrag von Colin Goldner zu finden:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MfS9Gny...
Kafka zerlegt die perverse Freizeit-Institution „Zoo“ in 9 Seiten literarisch in seine Einzelteile. Welcher andere deutschsprachige Autor kann sowas?
Mehr zu dem Thema ist bei diesem großartigen Vortrag von Colin Goldner zu finden:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MfS9Gny...
April 17, 2020
افضل قصص المجموعة إلى الآن يحكي البطل كيف تحول من قرد إلى انسان من الممكن أن تكون قصة للشخص الذي يتخلى عن هويته ويقرر أن يصبح مجرد مقلد لطبيعة مختلفة ومن الممكن أن تكون قصة تطور البشرية بشكل قد يراه البعض انتكاسة
February 11, 2024
Ok i think I need to psychoanalyze this tmrw
May 1, 2024
"Jeigu mane būtų prikalę, mano laisvė nuo to nė kiek nebūtų sumažėjusi."
September 8, 2025
i never knew why he was referring to himself and to everyone as apes until i finished the report…
now that i understand why; it was a story of a person who abandons his identity and decides to become a mere imitator of a different nature.
The dilemma of the loss of identity begins when a person claims that he is merely socially identifying with those around him, but deep down, he believes in preserving his values and principles and that he is only blending in to survive. Then, after a while, he finds that his new personality begins to overwhelm and occupy his original personality, and he finds himself part of the herd.
So when the academy invites him to submit a report as a former ape, he finds himself apologizing for what he had become, a human, and his previous life as an ape is now a blurry memory.
now that i understand why; it was a story of a person who abandons his identity and decides to become a mere imitator of a different nature.
The dilemma of the loss of identity begins when a person claims that he is merely socially identifying with those around him, but deep down, he believes in preserving his values and principles and that he is only blending in to survive. Then, after a while, he finds that his new personality begins to overwhelm and occupy his original personality, and he finds himself part of the herd.
So when the academy invites him to submit a report as a former ape, he finds himself apologizing for what he had become, a human, and his previous life as an ape is now a blurry memory.
September 8, 2021
Kafka is definitely into fauna!! First a cockroach (The Metamorphosis), now an ape!
Opening Line: You show me the honour of calling upon me to submit a report to the Academy concerning my previous life as an ape.
So the 'ex-ape' tells his story.
"I come from the Gold Coast. For an account of how I was captured I rely on the reports of strangers."
"No, I didn’t want freedom. Only a way out—to the right or left or anywhere at all."
"Imitating human beings was not something which pleased me. I imitated them because I was looking for a way out, for no other reason."
He did a fine job of imitating humans and is now here to tell his story"
5 stars
Opening Line: You show me the honour of calling upon me to submit a report to the Academy concerning my previous life as an ape.
So the 'ex-ape' tells his story.
"I come from the Gold Coast. For an account of how I was captured I rely on the reports of strangers."
"No, I didn’t want freedom. Only a way out—to the right or left or anywhere at all."
"Imitating human beings was not something which pleased me. I imitated them because I was looking for a way out, for no other reason."
He did a fine job of imitating humans and is now here to tell his story"
5 stars
Read
August 29, 2023Fand ich genial. Ein Affe berichtet einer Akademie von seinen Erfahrungen und seinen Erlebnissen in Gefangenschaft der Menschen und betont dabei immer wieder, dass er unter den unwürdigen und grausamen Umständen lediglich einen Ausweg gesucht hat, nicht die Freiheit. Dass die Freiheit unmöglich ist. Fand ich ein mega starkes Bild, um den Begriff zu dekonstruieren. "Ein Bericht für eine Akademie" dient auch als gutes Beispiel dafür, mit wie viel Humor und satirischem Geschick Kafka schreiben konnte.
January 18, 2024
Pedro el Rojo, que vivía en la selva en absoluta libertad, elige la falsa libertad del hombre. Sus secuelas son todavía visibles en su leve cojera y una gran cicatriz roja sin pelo, de donde procede aquel apelativo. Pedro no quería la libertad, sólo una "salida"; la libertad es propia de la desdichada especie humana. Y su "salida" fue dejar la jaula y convertirse en hombre tras un largo y arduo aprendizaje.
"No, yo no quería libertad. Quería únicamente una salida: a derecha, a izquierda, adonde fuera. No aspiraba a más. Aunque la salida fuese tan sólo un engaño" :c
"No, yo no quería libertad. Quería únicamente una salida: a derecha, a izquierda, adonde fuera. No aspiraba a más. Aunque la salida fuese tan sólo un engaño" :c
August 9, 2021
Denuncia allo sfruttamento coloniale e/o a quello animale (?)
November 14, 2024
Heel kort maar krachtig, echte banger
April 5, 2025
Jak już mówiłam kocham Kafke
April 12, 2025
I don’t think I will ever have the guts to give Kafka anything less than a 5 star.
April 21, 2025
رغم أنها قصة قصيرة، إلا أنها تحتوي على قدر كبير من الحكمة... سأكتب مراجعتي لاحقاُ لضيق الوقت الآن.
November 14, 2025
yay zaczynamy czytanie krótkich form kafki, bo w końcu wypożyczyłam opowiadania i przypowieści:)))
February 29, 2024
wow vaya
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