Amerika: The Missing Person

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1927

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapters 8-9

Chapter 10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Suitcase

The connection between Karl’s family and shame is captured in his paranoia over losing his suitcase. The suitcase is Karl’s only keepsake from Prague, symbolizing his connection to a past “ever-receding” (21) from his memory. Karl’s paranoia causes him constant unrest. On the Hamburg-America line, he watched his roommate every night to ensure they did not steal from him. When Mr. Green gives Karl his suitcase after announcing his second exile, the latter obsessively checks it. When Karl arrives at the Hotel Occidental and The Head Cook gives him a private room, he feels more “secure” (91), partially because he knows his suitcase is safe.

After leaving Pollunder’s estate, Karl finds two strangers already asleep in his room at a temporary shelter—and becomes paranoid about them stealing his suitcase. He vows to guard his keepsake despite his need for sleep. In a moment of irony, Delamarche and Robinson do not steal his suitcase, but they do take his suit to sell—which he gives willingly. Later on, the suitcase—specifically, the loss of Karl’s cherished photograph—causes a fight that breaks up the trio.

The suitcase represents Karl’s attachment to his identity as a German and his desire to resist assimilating to American society. It is when he loses his suitcase, or believes he has, that leads him to his uncle. When the suitcase is returned to him post-his second exile, he experiences misfortune after misfortune. It seems that Karl’s attachment costs him potential success in America, but he is unwilling to give it up.

Disappearance

Instances of absence and disappearance occur throughout the novel—often in the form of Karl’s cycle of employment. However, this cycle also operates in subtler ways. There is an intriguing connection between the novel’s first chapter and final chapter that illuminates Amerika’s alternate title, The Man Who Disappeared. The parallels between Karl’s encounter with the stoker in the first chapter and his joining the Theater of Oklahoma in the final chapter present a positive take on disappearance.

A man at the theater inquires about Karl’s most recent job (an office job that was not included in the novel): “Were you happy there?” (212). Karl is thrilled by the question as no one ever asked him it before. This very question was something Karl asked the stoker when the latter was leaving the Hamburg-America line: “But what for? Don’t you like it?” (6). The stoker says he doesn’t—that whether or not one likes something doesn’t matter. However, this interaction leads to the stoker’s realization that it does matter, that he doesn’t like his job at all. Karl encourages him to speak to the ship’s captain, which is how he finds his uncle.

As Karl leaves the ship with his uncle, he notices that the stoker all but disappeared. In the first chapter, the stoker is the “man who disappears” from his previous position; in the final chapter, Karl becomes said man, escaping his cycle of suffering and finding acceptance. In this regard, Kafka plays with the idea of both men’s disappearances being literal and metaphorical. It is possible that the aforementioned question inspired the stoker to leave the ship and find employment he would enjoy. Perhaps in a surreal way, the question itself releases one from the unhappiness of a dead-end job—making disappearance no longer associated with a lack of purpose, but freedom.

Language

The English language is a symbol of integration into American society and upward mobility. Karl impresses his uncle by reciting a poem about “conflagration” with “expressionless eyes” (32), as if he only knows the words through memorization rather than truly understanding their meaning. At his first dinner party with Jakob’s business associates, Karl blunders his use of the colloquial “New Yorkish” (35) and worries he said something wrong; Mr. Pollunder reassures him that he was apt. As a lift-boy, Karl devotes his free time to studying English, this time with Therese rather than a hired tutor. Karl sometimes disagrees with Therese (and the Head Cook) on correct grammar, these differences of opinion showcasing the differences in their immigrant experiences. Karl’s English education was likely far more prestigious and technically sound than Therese’s, as his uncle gave him access to a private tutor while the latter had to teach herself. Karl is able to more easily navigate the complex world of business in some part due to his precise English. When he sees Josef Mendel reading a book, he is saddened by how long it has been since he read or studied.