In the Penal

Colony
Study Guide by Course Hero

A penal colony—a place where prisoners are sent to live—is the

What's Inside setting of the story. The title "In the Penal Colony" places the
reader within the action. The colony, with its controls,
punishment, and hierarchy, is a symbol for society.
j Book Basics ................................................................................................. 1

d In Context ..................................................................................................... 1

a Author Biography ..................................................................................... 3 d In Context

h Characters .................................................................................................. 4

k Plot Summary ............................................................................................. 6 World War I—The Great War

c Plot Analysis ............................................................................................... 9 Franz Kafka wrote "In the Penal Colony" in 1914, the year that
World War I (1914–18) began. This was a time of intense
g Quotes ......................................................................................................... 13
political and social upheaval that ushered in the end of
l Symbols ...................................................................................................... 14 centuries-old empires and the beginning of an uncertain future.
The story was published in 1919, the year in which peace
m Themes ........................................................................................................ 15 treaties were signed.

The story of World War I began in July 1914 when a Serbian

gunman assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863–1914)
j Book Basics and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg (1868–1914), of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austria-Hungary quickly
declared war on Serbia. Within weeks, the European powers
AUTHOR
had formed alliances, and conflict began. Germany declared
Franz Kafka
war on Russia and signed an alliance with Turkey. France allied
YEAR PUBLISHED with Russia. Germany invaded Luxembourg. Germany declared
1919 war on France and Belgium, and Britain declared war on
Germany. The list of alliances and invasions goes on: Germany
GENRE invaded France; Japan declared war on Germany; Germany
Allegory, Drama, Dystopian invaded Russian Poland. By August, there were two fronts. On
the western front, Germany fought the Allied forces of France,
PERSPECTIVE AND NARRATOR
Britain, and Belgium. On the eastern front, Germany battled
The story "In the Penal Colony" is narrated from an omniscient
Russia. Meanwhile, Japan attacked China in a port the
third-person point of view.
Germans had held for 16 years.
TENSE
World War I was both vicious and technologically
The story "In the Penal Colony" is written in the past tense.
sophisticated. On the western front, the British and French
ABOUT THE TITLE fought the Germans at extremely close range—often less than
In the Penal Colony Study Guide In Context 2

100 yards. The western front was a 440-mile-long trench 1960s. A penal colony was an isolated place, often an island,
system running from Alsace near the Swiss border, zigzagging where governments sent prisoners and political dissidents to
through France, and reaching all the way to Belgium's North establish new settlements or conduct forced labor, often under
Sea coast. Both sides lived and fought in trenches fortified with extremely harsh and cruel conditions. During Kafka's time, one
sandbags. Sometimes they were close enough to whistle or of the more infamous penal colonies was Devil's Island, which
sing to each other, or to smell each other's cooking. The was operated by the French from 1852 to 1953 in French
Germans were the first army to use poison gas, but the British Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America. Prisoners
soon developed their own. At first, gas masks were ineffective were often forced to work naked, and its death rate was
(but they became more advanced, as did the poison gases), around 60 percent.
and many men died from friendly fire. Troops still used horses,
but it was also the first significant use of tanks or machine Its most famous prisoner was Captain Alfred Dreyfus

guns by armed forces, who bombed civilians and created the (1859–1935). A French officer who was Jewish, Dreyfus was

concept of "total war." falsely accused of treason in 1894 and spent over four years at
Devil's Island. He was stripped of his rank, with buttons and
World War I also led to the Armenian Genocide (1915–16), with insignia cut from his uniform, and his sword was
the Turks willfully murdering over 1.5 million Christian broken—events that are echoed in the final scenes of "In the
Armenians living in Turkey. They feared the Armenians would Penal Colony." He was eventually freed and pardoned because
ally with Turkey's enemies, which were Britain, France, Russia, of a public debate regarding the role of anti-Semitism
Italy, and the United States. Turkey had allied with Germany (prejudice against Jewish people) in the accusation and the
and Austria-Hungary. Finally, the fighting in Africa, Asia, and evidence of an army cover-up. His trial and imprisonment
the Middle East—largely between representatives of the became known as the Dreyfus Affair and was one of the most
European colonial powers—created the blueprint for later politically divisive events of the 19th century across Europe. It
conflicts in the Middle East, the former Yugoslavia, and Asia. also served to underscore the brutal treatment delivered in the
penal colonies, as he accepted a dishonorable pardon rather
Finally, on November 11, 1918, the Armistice was signed. The than return to Devil's Island.
truce signaled the beginning of the end to the conflict.
Germany's kaiser and Austria's emperor both abdicated, and
Yugoslavia declared itself an independent country. The Allied
forces and Germany finally signed a peace treaty called the
Western Colonialism
Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
Kafka would have been familiar with press reports regarding

The end of the war resulted in a humiliating defeat for the Herero Uprising in what is modern Namibia in southwest

Germany, the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian and Africa. In the revolt, which began in 1904, the Herero people

Ottoman Empires, and the establishment of Czechoslovakia as rose up against their German colonizers, killing 123 people. The

a new nation with Prague, Kafka's homeland, as its capital. German colonizers responded with force, killing 80 percent of
the Herero people. Many of those remaining alive were placed
Approximately 9 million soldiers and close to 10 million civilians in concentration camps, experimented upon medically, and
died in the war. The two countries most affected by casualties executed. There was a German order that the survivors were
were Germany and France. This vast devastation imprinted on to feel the consequences "on their body"—a command also
the artists of the day, who expressed a sense of profound given by the Officer in "In the Penal Colony." In 1904, another
despair and isolation in their work. Kafka wrote in his journals, colonized African people, the Nama, rose up against their
"I have intensely absorbed the negative aspect of my time." German colonizers. This conflict lasted two years and also
resulted in men, women, and children being sent to
concentration camps as slave laborers. About half of all these
Penal Colonies prisoners died in the camps. By the end of the conflicts in 1907,
roughly 75 percent of the Herero and 50 percent of the Nama
European countries, primarily Russia, France, and England, had been killed in one of history's most effective genocides.
established and operated penal colonies from 1415 through the The power relations and violence of the colonial era inform

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Author Biography 3

Kafka's writing of "In the Penal Colony." could his materialistic and domineering—some might say
tyrannical—father. In his posthumously published "Letter to His
The subjugation of the Herero and Nama peoples was part of a Father," Kafka described feeling persecuted and belittled by
pattern of Western colonialism in Africa, Asia, North and South his "overwhelmingly powerful" father. Kafka struggled against
America, and the Caribbean. The practice by Western this fearsome authoritarian, though he often felt that his
European countries of politically and economically controlling struggle was futile. Kafka blamed his overbearing and
another country by subjugating its population and exploiting its disapproving father for many things in his life, such as his
economic resources began in the 1500s and declined after perceived failures and his deep sense of unworthiness and
World War II (1939–45). The industrialization of the 19th uselessness. For example, Kafka's father pressured him to
century greatly expanded its reach. In the late 19th and early abandon his interest in literature and writing—pursuits at which
20th centuries, European colonialism intensified. This period is he scoffed—and instead to focus on a lucrative legal or
sometimes called "the new imperialism," as new powers were business career.
also hoping to establish global empires. The colonizing
countries were brutal in their annexation of other nations. The A good student, Kafka attended a German school, Charles-
political, economic, and psychological effects of the Ferdinand University of Prague. He pursued chemistry but
exploitation have continued in what is termed post-colonialism. switched to law, giving himself some latitude to take courses
more to his liking while keeping his family happy. He joined the
Kafka would have been intimately familiar with the brutality of university's literary club and thrived because of his
the colonial nations. His uncle worked as an administrator on a participation in it. After graduating in 1906, he worked as an
railway project through the Congo, powered by forced labor, unpaid law clerk and then as a lawyer with an Italian insurance
from 1891 to 1902. He wrote about this information in his company.
journal. In history, the Belgian colonization of the Congo has
been recorded as particularly brutal.

Struggling with Anxiety and

a Author Biography Emerging as a Writer
Kafka found a more manageable position with a government

Early Life and Education insurance institute, receiving several promotions over the years
and finding time for writing in the off-hours, usually late at
night. As often as he could, Kafka met with other writers to
Born July 3, 1883, Franz Kafka grew up in a middle-class
share and discuss works. Through these meetings, he
Jewish family in Prague, the capital of Bohemia, which was part
developed close friendships with Max Brod (1884–1968), a
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague became the capital of
Jewish writer who became his biographer, and Felix Weltsch
the Czech Republic in 1993. Kafka's family spoke German at
(1884–1964), a Jewish philosopher, writer, and editor.
home, and his father, a successful businessman, worked as a
clothing retailer. Although Kafka was born into a Jewish family, While his career paid the bills, Kafka's real passion was writing.
he declared himself an atheist by the time he was a teenager. His familiarity with the law gave him deep insight into its
Still, given the cultural context dominating Western Europe, frequent injustices. It also gave him first-hand experience
Kafka was likely aware of the wrathful God of the Old regarding how an ordinary person might get snared in its
Testament (Hebrew Bible). This angry, punishing, and intricate, incomprehensible procedures. Kafka started
seemingly capriciously cruel God who demands strict publishing short stories and stuck to a rigorous writing routine
obedience to his laws no doubt influenced Kafka's view of that enabled him to amass an impressive body of work. While
authority and law as arbitrary and irrational. he never married, he spent time in brothels and fell in love with
a Jewish woman, Felice Bauer (1887–1960). He was engaged
Kafka had an extremely troubled relationship with both of his
twice to Bauer; their relationship began in 1912. In 1914, he
parents. His mother was narrow-minded and could not
wrote "In the Penal Colony" after he broke off their first
comprehend his fascination with literature and the arts, nor
engagement. Their second engagement ended in 1917 when he

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Characters 4

had his first attack of tuberculosis, a bacterial lung infection. the boat. His failure to stop the execution and his final act of
leaving can both be seen as likely to perpetuate the colony's
brutal practices.
A Life Cut Short
After Kafka became sick with tuberculosis, he took leave from Officer
his insurance position. He spent a great deal of time resting,
under the care of his sister Ottla. Meanwhile, he had a brief but The Officer is devoted to the execution machine and to the Old
fervent relationship with journalist Milena Jesenská Commandant who created it. Because of his devotion to this
(1896–1944). Later he met and fell in love with a Jewish system of "justice," he takes his own life in the machine after
kindergarten teacher, Dora Dymant (sometimes spelled he realizes that support for the machine is slipping away.
Diamant, 1898–1952), who had socialist leanings—believing in
government ownership of the means of production and
distribution of goods—much like his own. The two moved to
Berlin, where Kafka concentrated on his health and writing, and
for the first time lived away from his family. When his condition
worsened, Kafka returned home to a sanatorium (facility for
long-term medical care) in Prague. Later, he died near Vienna
at age 40 on June 3, 1924.

Many of Kafka's short stories and novels had not yet been
published and were incomplete at the time of his death. The
Metamorphosis, his only completed novella, was written in 1912
and published in 1915. Kafka did not become a well-known
author until after his death. The Trial was published
posthumously in 1925. Kafka left explicit instructions with
friend and fellow author Max Brod for his work "to be burned
unread." Brod went against Kafka's wishes, publishing several
of his friend's novels and stories over the next decade,
including The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927). Brod's move
created a legacy for his friend; little known before his death,
Kafka is now considered a master of 20th-century German
literature.

h Characters

Traveler
A European and an outsider to the colony, the Traveler has
been asked by the New Commandant to witness the execution.
He objects to the execution's brutality and finally exercises his
conscience when he admits to the Officer that he thinks the
execution is inhumane and unjust. Finally, he leaves the colony
and prevents the Soldier and Condemned Man from boarding

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Characters 5

Character Map

Officer
Superior Devoted executioner

Follower Executioner

Observer

Old Commandant Condemned Man

Ghostly presence Accused man

Witness to
Traveler execution
Moral explorer

Successor Jailer

New Commandant Soldier

Subversive colony leader Friendly officer

Main Character

Other Major Character

Minor Character

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Plot Summary 6

Full Character List k Plot Summary

Character Description
The Explanation
The Traveler, in his role as a great
explorer, is asked to witness the
In a valley surrounded by "barren slopes," a Traveler is invited
execution of the Condemned Man. He
voices his opposition to the practice, by the New Commandant of the penal colony to attend an
Traveler stretches out his hands to try to stop execution that is to be performed on a "peculiar apparatus."
the machine when he sees that it is
The Condemned Man, who is bound by chains, is guilty of
murdering rather than simply
"punishing," and eventually leaves the "disobeying and insulting his superior." He awaits his
colony. punishment with "dog-like resignation." The Officer begins to
check the parts of the apparatus that are "built deep into the
The Officer is in charge of operating earth."
the machine. As the story opens he is
Officer
preparing to execute the Condemned As the Officer enthusiastically readies the machine for use, he
Man.
begins to sweat in his heavy uniform, where he has tucked
"two fine lady's handkerchiefs under the collar of his uniform."
The Condemned Man's crime is
The Traveler remarks that the uniform is "too heavy for the
sleeping on his watch and failing to
Condemned tropics." The Officer replies that he will not shed it because the
ask for forgiveness when he is
Man
punished. He is eventually set free and uniforms "mean home, and we don't want to lose our
tries to leave the colony.
homeland." He then tells the Traveler to look at the apparatus,
which is supposed to "keep going for twelve hours without
The Traveler sees the dockworkers interruption."
inside the teahouse. They are
Dockworkers described as "poor, oppressed
people." They represent the typical The Officer offers a cane chair to the Traveler and then
inhabitants of the colony. explains the apparatus to him. The machine was invented by
the previous Commandant, who is now dead. It has three parts:
The New Commandant is not a part of the Bed, the Inscriber, and the Harrow. The Traveler is having a
the action of the story, although he is hard time following the explanation because of the strong sun.
referred to several times. He dislikes
He notices that the Condemned Man, who is watching and
New the Officer and the apparatus. He has
Commandant asked the Traveler to observe the being guarded by an indifferent soldier, is trying to understand
execution process, presumably so the the explanation. However, this is not possible because the
Traveler will suggest putting an end to
Officer is speaking in French—a language the Condemned Man
it.
does not know.

The Old Commandant is dead when The Officer explains that the condemned prisoner first lies
the story starts. He invented the
machine and administered the naked on the bed, on his stomach. Felt is placed in his mouth
Old executions while alive. Denied a to prevent him from screaming or "biting his tongue to pieces."
Commandant proper grave, he was buried in the The man is strapped in place, and then the bed begins to
back of a teahouse, but his tombstone
quiver in coordination with the movements of the Harrow. It is
suggests that he and his followers
may rise again. the Harrow that actually "carr[ies] out the sentence."

The Traveler is confused because he doesn't know what the

The Soldier watches over the
Condemned Man and eventually "sentence" is. The Officer explains, with dismay, that previously
Soldier
seems to strike up a friendship with the Commandant would have been present to provide the
him. He also tries to flee the colony. explanation to "such an eminent visitor." Resigned, the Officer
pulls out the diagrams made by the previous Commandant.

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Plot Summary 7

Observing that "our sentence does not sound severe," he nothing but pain." After six hours, rice pudding is put at the
explains that the law that a condemned man has violated is head of the bed, and the condemned can "lap [it] up with his
inscribed on his body with the Harrow. This Condemned Man's tongue." Most condemned men take the pudding but "around
inscribed sentence will be "Honor your superiors." the sixth hour" spit it out. They also begin to ascertain the
inscription, not with their eyes, but through the wounds to their
The Traveler asks if the Condemned Man understands his body, and cease to have the energy to scream. After another
sentence, and the Officer answers that he does not, and there six hours, the Harrow "spits him right out and throws him into
is no reason for him too because he will "experience it on his the pit." Then the Soldier and the Officer bury the man.
own body." The Condemned Man doesn't know he has been
condemned and has had "no opportunity to defend himself,"
the Officer says.
The Execution
He continues to explain that the basic principle is that "guilt is
always beyond a doubt." The Condemned Man was "sleeping The Soldier cuts off the Condemned Man's clothing and he is

on duty" when he was supposed to be rising every hour and strapped, naked, onto the bed. As the needle tips lightly touch

saluting the captain's door. He was horsewhipped and hit his skin, he "shudders." One of the straps breaks, and the

across the face. Instead of "begging for forgiveness," he "cried Officer explains that the reason for the breakdown is that the

out, 'Throw away that whip or I'll eat you up.'" The Officer didn't New Commandant does not support this practice. He keeps

bother interrogating the man, because he would have lied. tight control over the cash box and is slow to replace the
machine parts.
The Officer continues, "As you see, the shape of the Harrow
corresponds to the shape of a man." There are harrows for the The Traveler is now considering whether he should intervene

upper body, legs, and head. The Traveler begins to feel in the execution. He doubts that he has the authority as an

uncomfortable about the judicial procedure but reassures outsider, but he does not doubt "the injustice of the process

himself that the New Commandant is likely to change it. The and the inhumanity of the execution." He reasons that he has

Officer, after saying the Commandant is unlikely to be at the been brought here to observe and is well-respected, so he is in

execution, continues to explain how the apparatus works, a place to share his "judgment." He also knows that the New

calling the action of the needles on the body "the Commandant does not approve of this process and is "hostile"

performance." to the Officer.

The Traveler realizes with "horror" that the Condemned Man His thoughts are interrupted by a "cry of rage" from the Officer,

has moved closer to inspect the apparatus. The Soldier who has just shoved the felt inside the Condemned Man's

guarding him is sleeping. The Condemned Man drags the mouth and caused him to vomit. The vomit flows down onto the

Soldier along as he moves closer to the machine. The Officer machine. The Officer attributes this to the fact that the "new

wakes the Soldier up and orders him to stand the Condemned lenient administration" allows food before the executions. He is

Man up. also frustrated because they will not supply him with new felt,
so the piece he uses is "something that a hundred man have
The Officer shows the Traveler the "script" drawn up by the sucked and bitten on" as they were dying.
previous Commandant that determines the movement of the
Harrow. He explains that the script is incredibly complicated, The Officer pulls the Traveler aside and confides in him that

so that the inscription on the body takes on average 12 hours. "this process" no longer has "open supporters in [the] colony."

The Officer comments, "There must be many, many He believes that this softening has been partly because of the

embellishments surrounding the basic script." He fires up the "women influencing" the New Commandant. He remembers

machine, but it is not working properly, and he reaches inside fondly a time when the executions were well-attended, and the

the Inscriber. He explains the gruesome process by which the machine was clean and shiny. "A pile of cane chairs" is "a sorry

Harrow covers fresh areas of the body, then returns to deepen leftover" from those days. The Commandant himself would lay

its inscriptions. out the condemned man.

The Officer explains that for six hours, the condemned "suffers He reflects on a particular memory where, with "two small

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Plot Summary 8

children in [his] arms," he "took in the expression of Traveler. He turns to the Condemned Man and says, "You are
transfiguration on the martyred face!" The Officer continues free." The man doesn't believe him, and the Officer repeats,
that it is hard to capture the glory of those days. His faith in the "You are free now." The Officer then takes out his leather
practice and the machine has never wavered. He observes that folder, finds the script he wants, and tells the Traveler to read
the machine "still works and operates on its own ... even when it. The Traveler is still unable to do so, and the Officer states it
it is standing alone in this valley." for him: "Be just."

The Traveler is uncomfortable because the excited Officer has The Officer climbs up the ladder, places the paper inside the
put his arm around him. He looks away. The Officer now says inscriber, and rotates the gear mechanism. The Soldier begins
that he believes the Traveler has been brought here to to retrieve the Condemned Man's clothes from the pit. The
condemn the execution, given the visitor's "European way of Condemned Man puts on the cut-up clothes and circles around
seeing things." He imagines the Commandant speaking and the Soldier, making him laugh. The Officer begins to carefully
saying that a "great Western explorer" who has been tasked remove his clothes, including the handkerchiefs which, he
with inspecting "judicial procedures in all countries" has just observes, are "presents from the ladies." He throws everything
called their process, "based on old customs," inhuman. The into the pit, then breaks his sword into pieces and throws them
Traveler smiles and says he is not an expert in judicial in also.
processes. He suggests that if the New Commandant is
determined to end the procedure, it will end, regardless of the The Traveler reasons that the Officer is following the proper

Traveler's opinion. The Officer counters that the Traveler has course, given that the judicial process he clings to will soon be

more power than he realizes because he is "to a certain extent cancelled. The Soldier and the Condemned Man begin to fight

innocent." over the discarded handkerchiefs. When the Officer is naked,

they begin to pay attention. The Condemned Man imagines
The Officer begs the Traveler for his public support. that the Traveler has sentenced the Officer to the procedure
Throughout this entire discussion, the Condemned Man and that he was supposed to undergo. The Condemned Man feels
the Soldier are eating the Condemned Man's rice pudding. a sense of glee at being avenged in this way.

The Officer lies on the bed and does not strap himself. He will

The Judgment submit to the process voluntarily and sets it in motion. The
Condemned Man and Soldier, however, strap him into the
apparatus. Now he cannot crank the Inscriber, but the machine
In a lengthy monologue, the Officer describes how the Traveler
works on its own: "The Bed quivered, the needles danced on
can make sure he is invited to a meeting "of all the higher
his skin."
administrative officials" planned for the next day. The Traveler
should not express any view about the procedure but should The Condemned Man is fascinated with the machine. The
seem bitter about what he has seen. Then he is sure to be Traveler is embarrassed by the man's interest and tells him to
invited to the meeting. When the Officer gives a report on the go home, but the Condemned Man begs to stay. Suddenly, the
execution, the Commandant is sure to ask the "great explorer" lid of the Inscriber opens and the gear wheels begin to fall off
for his opinion of it. The Traveler should deliver his opinion very the inscriber. The Harrow is now stabbing rather than writing.
briefly, then yield to the Officer, who will thoroughly convince The Traveler wishes to stop the apparatus, because he knows
the New Commandant of the value of the procedure. this is not what the Officer intended. The Harrow moves the
"skewered body" as it is supposed to do at the end of the
The Traveler is clear in his decision and says he cannot help
procedure. As blood flows from the Officer in hundreds of
the Officer. He says that he opposes the practice, but finds the
streams, the body hangs over the pit. The Traveler cries out for
Officer's "conviction genuinely moving." The Traveler intends to
the other two to help, but they fail to come. The Traveler drags
share his opinion in private with the Commandant and leave
the Condemned Man over to help. When he looks at the dead
the next morning on a ship. During this conversation, the
face of the Officer, "he could discover no sign of the promised
Soldier and the Condemned Man seem to be becoming friends.
transfiguration." The Officer has not changed at all; he is
The Officer is surprised that he has not persuaded the merely dead, an iron needle piercing his forehead.

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Plot Analysis 9

German-language readers, he is also European. The reader

The Departure shares his confusion in the beginning and his horror by the end,
as the nature of the machine and this system of "justice"
The Traveler, the Soldier, and the Condemned Man leave the become clear. He also mirrors the reader's questions: Can this
scene, walking past the "first houses in the colony," and find a be stopped? What responsibility do I have as a witness?
teahouse. They venture into "a deep, low room, like a cave,"
where the Traveler is "struck by the impression of historical The Old and New Commandant are the two characters who
memory," feeling "the power of earlier times." The Soldier have the most power, even though neither is part of the action
reveals that the Old Commandant was buried here after being of the plot. They mirror the way in which power is both
denied a place in the cemetery by the chaplain. The Traveler contained within human hierarchies, and also invisible. Those
asks the Soldier to show him the grave. They walk past the with the most authority may command it even when not
patrons of the teahouse who are "dockworkers, strong men" present. Others will follow their orders. Their presence in the
whose shirts are torn—"poor, oppressed people." The story is a critique of the authority of bureaucracies that
gravestone, located under a table, reveals that the Old perpetuate themselves through the submission of others.
Commandant had loyal followers. They are not permitted to
have a name. The stone reveals that there is a prophecy that
he will rise again and tells the followers, "Have faith and wait." Language
When the Traveler sees that the other men in the room are
The story begins with the Officer saying, "It's a peculiar
smiling, he thinks they find this prophecy ridiculous. The
apparatus," a phrase that has both a literal and metaphoric
Traveler leaves the teahouse. The Condemned Man and the
meaning. The apparatus refers specifically to the brutalizing
Soldier run after him. He is boarding a boat that will take him to
machine, but it also refers to the way the penal colony is
a steamer and assumes they want to go with him. The boat
organized. The straightforward language that Kafka employs,
begins to pull away from shore. The Traveler threatens them
with few figures of speech, makes a horrific execution seem
with a "heavy knotted rope" to prevent them from jumping
ordinary. The Officer describes the apparatus's sadistic parts
aboard.
and processes with precision: "Its purpose is to prevent him
screaming and biting his tongue to pieces." This is a
mechanistic world of "barren slopes," where there is little
c Plot Analysis emotion, save for the excitement of the Officer.

The narrator emphasizes the importance of language through

the repetition of the word sentence, which also has two
Characterization meanings. A sentence in the sense of a judgment specifying
the punishment for a crime is the engine of the plot—the
Franz Kafka chooses not to give specific names to his reason that the execution is taking place. It is a case of
characters, and instead emphasizes their role in the story as dramatic irony, in which the reader knows more than the
the Officer, Condemned Man, Soldier, Traveler, and character, that the Condemned Man does not know his
Commandant. The choice gives the story the quality of a sentence. He cannot understand French, the language the
parable, and it suggests that these roles, the story, and the Officer uses. There are repeated instances where the narrator
theme are universal. By being stripped of their names, the points out that the Condemned Man cannot understand what
characters are denied any personal identity. They have is being said. It is language that confers power and reduces
become cogs in a machine, performing their jobs. This is people to categories, and the powerful share a language that
underscored by the fact that the machine has three parts, and facilitates their domination.
there are three characters involved in the execution—the
Soldier, Condemned Man, and Officer. A sentence is also a group of words that begins with a capital
letter, ends with a punctuation mark, and follows a particular
The Traveler is a proxy for the reader, as he is new to the arrangement of word parts (such as nouns and verbs)
penal colony, an outsider, and an observer. Like Kafka's original depending on its meaning. For instance, a sentence can be a

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Plot Analysis 10

command, an assertion, or a question. The characters' death is viewed by the Traveler as proof of his belief in the old
judgments (sentences) are expressed as commands ways—the ultimate consummation of beliefs and practice. It
(sentences): "Honor your superiors." "Be just!" Thus, for the also shows how even those who believe they are controlling a
Condemned Man, his crime and his punishment are both system are, in fact, controlled by it.
contained in language. He is guilty of talking back, and his
punishment will be written in words on his body. This The middle part of the story continues as the machine

association suggests that language is another tool that is used malfunctions, and the Traveler seeks to stop what is an even

to imprison and punish the characters. more brutal process than the Officer anticipated. The
Condemned Man and Soldier stand by watching this grisly act
Kafka wrote in his journals about his frustration with the limits of self-sacrifice and share the same desire for revenge.
of language and its ability to define reality. Humans are all
"sentenced" to be limited by language as an organizing The third part focuses on the Traveler. As he finds the grave of

principle. the Old Commandant inscribed with the words that he will
return, there is the suggestion that the violence of the old
order always has a way of reappearing. In the final scene, the

Arc of the Story: Two Readings Traveler threatens the Soldier and the Condemned Man with a
heavy rope as they try to get on the boat that is leaving the
colony. Their fate is unclear. It is possible that they will be
The way in which the plot unfolds subverts readers'
subjected to a brutal form of justice in the wake of the Officer's
expectations. The story has three distinct parts, and the three-
death.
part structure presents two possible interpretations. In the
first, the characters can be seen as doomed by their own The characters' failure to act, their willingness to witness
primal urges to replicate a brutal system—whether that system violent cruelty, and their thirst for revenge means that the
is the penal colony, the colonialism from which it stems, or any penal colony system—and other brutal practices of
bureaucracy. In the second interpretation, the three-part colonialism—will be perpetuated. The Old Commandant will
structure presents a Christian allegory of self-sacrifice that the always have followers, as his tombstone promises. The
Traveler ultimately rejects. haunting of the Old Commandant and the fact that the dead
Officer's body is not buried can be viewed as the way
colonialism will continue to exert its power of thought long
The System that Shapes a Society after its practice is dead. The same can be said of any system
of bureaucracy that exists to subdue its members: it will
In the words of critic Alexander Provan, Kafka's "singular
perpetuate itself through ideology even after its political power
insight" in the story was that "the 'rationalization' of society,
is diminished.
with the bureaucracy as its engine, was increasingly shaping
individuals and relations between them." In this reading, the
three-part structure underscores not just the violent "engine"
Rejection of Christianity
of the penal colony system and colonialism in general but the
deadening effect of law, punishment, and bureaucracy that The three-part story also emphasizes the religious undertones
Kafka saw and experienced in his own life. in one of the story's themes: the prominence of guilt and
suffering within Christianity. In the words of critic Kurt J.
The story's beginning focuses on the apparatus, presided over
Fickert, "the central and principal event" in the story is the
by the all-powerful Officer in his role as judge and executioner.
"dying of one man, an innocent man, in place of another." The
The Condemned Man is in chains, and it is natural to assume
death echoes the death of Jesus in the Bible's four Gospel
that he will be put to death.
narratives: Jesus dies in order to redeem the sins of
However, there is a reversal because of the intervention of the humankind. The skeptical Traveler, in Fickert's words, rejects
Traveler. Once it becomes clear to the Officer that he does not "a religion based on guilt and suffering." However, he flees
have the support of the Traveler, just as he lacks the support from the Officer's death scene only to be confronted by a tomb
of the New Commandant, he decides to execute himself. His promising the return of the Old Commandment. The old ways,

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Plot Analysis 11

too, must be rejected. Fickert suggests that in throwing the

rope at the Condemned Man and the Soldier at the story's end,
the Traveler breaks his "last ties with traditional religious
beliefs."

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Plot Analysis 12

Plot Diagram

Climax

7
10 Falling Action
Rising Action
6
11
5

4 12

3 Resolution

2
1

Introduction

Introduction Climax

1. The Officer explains the apparatus to the Traveler. 9. All three who are left go to a teahouse.

Rising Action Falling Action

2. The Condemned Man lies down on the bed. 10. They see the Old Commandant's grave there.

3. The Traveler disagrees with the execution. 11. The Traveler boards a boat to leave the colony.

4. The Condemned Man is set free from the apparatus.

5. The Officer lies naked on the apparatus.

Resolution
6. The machine starts to work but malfunctions.
12. He threatens the Condemned Man and the Soldier with a
7. The Traveler asks the Condemned Man and Soldier to help. rope.

8. The Officer is killed by the machine.

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Quotes 13

body with the Harrow."

g Quotes
— Narrator
"'It's a peculiar apparatus,' said the
Officer to the Traveler." The Harrow is the part of the machine that inscribes the
condemned man's sentence on his body. It symbolizes the
violent way in which a culture impresses its values on its
— Officer
citizens in order to achieve conformity.

In the opening line, Kafka establishes that the machine is an

apparatus that is strange and yet common, like the culture in "Guilt is always beyond a doubt."
which it exists. The quotation suggests the way in which laws
and customs are made and perpetuated even when they don't
— Officer
make sense. No one questions how they work.

The Officer's statement points to the lack of any fair trial in the

"'These uniforms are really too penal colony. The guilt to which the officer is referring carries a
biblical implication. It is the guilt that all humanity shares for its
heavy for the tropics,' the Traveler sins.

said."

— Traveler
"This process and execution ...
have no more open supporters in
The Traveler is observing the Officer sweating in his uniform. our colony."
Impractical uniforms were a byproduct of colonialism in
tropical regions. By clinging to impractical vestments of power,
— Officer
the Officer shows his inflexibility and the way in which customs
from one culture do not translate in another.
The Officer's words mark the way in which the old system is
giving way to a new one. His revelation also underscores how

"'What is the sentence?' the the violence still in place in the colony is happening in isolation,
away from view. Many of Kafka's works explore what happens
Traveler asked." away from the public eye.

— Traveler
"How we all took in the expression
The Traveler begins this line of questioning, and it is significant of transfiguration on the martyred
because it reveals the arbitrary nature of the penal system.
The accused does not understand either his sentence or his face!"
punishment, so he can't defend himself.
— Officer

"The law which a condemned man The Officer is talking about a previous execution here. The

has violated is inscribed on his "transfiguration" can be interpreted through both a religious

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Symbols 14

and a secular lens. In the Gospel accounts, transfiguration, a Commandant's "palatial structure." Cultural change is slow, and
spiritual change, is what happened to Jesus while praying. The the impact of a culture's laws on its citizens is a lingering one.
Christian imagery in the word transfiguration also shows how
those punished are suffering for the sins of the penal colony.
From a secular perspective, the institution of colonialism was
justified by a belief in reform. Thus, the "transfiguration" here l Symbols
can be seen as emphasizing the relationship between
punishment and reform.

A Peculiar Apparatus
"It operates on its own even when
it is standing alone in this valley." The "peculiar apparatus" refers to the machine used for
executions in the penal colony. Its many parts symbolize the
— Officer way that cultures are made up of customs, laws, and language,
all of which work in unison to control the individual.

The "it" in this quotation is the execution machine. Its qualities The Harrow works with the Inscriber to write the Condemned
suggest that the mechanisms of power are automatic and Man's sentence on his body. A harrow is a farm implement
often perpetuate themselves once they have taken root. used to break up topsoil for uniformity. As a part of the
machine, it symbolizes the violent way in which a culture
imprints its values on its citizens, resulting in conformity.
"'Be just!' it states."
The Condemned Man is laid out on the bed in a way that
mimics a crucifixion, suggesting the story's theme of the
— Officer
inevitability of guilt. Despite Christian belief that Jesus died on
the cross for humankind's sins, there is no relief or redemption
This is the phrase that the Officer wishes to have inscribed on from sin and the guilt that results from it.
his back during his execution. It is an example of dramatic
irony, because there is nothing "just" about this system. This The script is the specific words to be imprinted on the body,
"sentence," both a judgment and a literal command, raises the and it has so many "embellishments" that it is impossible for
question of whether human justice is possible. the Traveler to read. It represents the intricate ways in which
power expresses itself, preventing those outside its bounds
from understanding how it is exercised.

"The Traveler was struck by the

impression of historical memory,
The Condemned Man
and he felt the power of earlier
times."
Typical of Franz Kafka's work, the Condemned Man can be
— Narrator seen from various perspectives. From a religious perspective,
he symbolizes the common man who carries the burden of
original sin shared by all humanity. The burden is the result of
This quotation describes the teahouse in which the Old
the transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis in
Commandment's grave is found. The Traveler finds little
the Old Testament. Like these first humans, the Condemned
difference between the teahouse and the other dilapidated
Man's sin is disobedience. His strange threat to the captain
dwellings in the colony, with the exception of the New
who whips him for sleeping on duty is "Throw away that whip

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Themes 15

or I'll eat you up." The reminder of eating is one of several in humanity is condemned to guilt and suffering, with the body as
the story, evoking the inevitability of the body's desires and the site of humiliation. The Officer exclaims, "Guilt is always
hunger. beyond a doubt."

Critic Kurt J. Fickert says the story begins with the premise In the Old Testament's Book of Genesis, Eve's sin centers on
that "God created the world as a penal colony," where men appetite, a carnal desire for the apple that symbolizes
must suffer in order to find redemption. The Condemned Man's forbidden knowledge. Both Adam and Eve recognize shame in
actual sin is insignificant, because according to the Officer, their nakedness. In the story, two of the characters are
"Guilt is always beyond a doubt." He is simply doomed to sin reduced to the shame of nakedness. The Condemned Man's
and suffering. However, at the end of the story the Traveler crime evokes this same drive for appetite through his words of
rejects the idea that suffering brings redemption, and in fact, protest. As he is being whipped he says, "I'll eat you up." The
the Condemned Man goes free. strange quality of this threat underscores the carnal appetite
for vengeance that the entire penal colony is founded upon.
Through another reading, the Condemned Man can signify the References throughout the text to tongues, eating, and
dominating presence of legal systems and the way in which the sucking associate guilt with the body and its drives, located in
guilty are caught up in the incomprehensible machinery of the the mouth.
law. As critic Walter Benjamin, writing in the mid-1930s, pointed
out, Kafka's own world was dominated by a "vast machinery of The ritual of offering the dying man rice pudding reinforces this
officialdom whose functioning is directed" by shadowy theme. Even in the throes of suffering, the body will betray
authorities. Kafka's work in general, Benjamin said, presents a itself through its desire. This is symbolized in the Condemned
"sickness of tradition." This sickness can be seen in the Man vomiting. It suggests the many ways that the body chokes
presumption of guilt in the Condemned Man and the down its various insults. The crime must be inscribed "on the
monstrously inhumane punishment that he faces as a result. body" because it is the site of the offense. The body is both the
crime and the punishment, as humans are trapped by its needs.

As the story progresses, it moves to New Testament themes.

m Themes The Condemned Man now appears to be a Christlike figure,

suffering for the sins of all in the penal colony. His torture is a
kind of crucifixion on the bed, suggesting the "sins" performed
in bed. According to the Officer, the man becomes quiet at the
No Redemption from Guilt "sixth hour," the hour of prayer and divination, achieving
understanding with a look that might tempt others to lie down
on the bed. The man can no longer eat or speak, renouncing

Franz Kafka's writing is preoccupied with questions of guilt and the pleasures of the mouth. These details suggest a spiritual

innocence. Scholars often attribute this preoccupation to his transformation through suffering. This image is reinforced by

relationship to his father. The author once wrote in a letter to the Officer's description of one particular execution in which

his father, "Because of you, I lost my self-confidence and the witnesses took in "the expression of transfiguration on the

acquired a boundless feeling of guilt in exchange." Kafka martyred face." The blood that spews forth when the Officer is

generalized this feeling as an essential part of the human executed is the blood on the hands of all humanity.

experience. He also read both Christian and Jewish philosophy

However, the narrative undercuts the notion of redemption.
widely, and these texts influence the images and themes of
When the Officer's body is viewed in death by the Traveler, he
this work. The allusions in his writing evoke both the Old and
observes, "It was as it had been in his life. He could discover no
New Testament.
sign of the promised transfiguration." This suggests that

The story begins with a central character who is condemned spiritual purification through suffering is an illusion. The felt

for crimes that are not directly understood or explained to him. that the condemned men must bite is "something that a

This suggests the Old Testament–based concept of original hundred men have sucked and bitten on"—a universal

sin and asks the reader to consider the extent to which all condition. The Officer's body hangs over a pit, guilty and

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Themes 16

trapped. Humans are doomed by their primal urges, and The parts of the apparatus demonstrate how culture inscribes
religion offers no relief from guilt and suffering. Kafka would its rules on the bodies and minds of its citizens. The Harrow
continue to explore the conflict between the body's appetites works slowly, so that the Condemned Man doesn't realize what
and the quest for spiritual transformation in his last published it will do to him. By the time the accused realizes the meaning
work during his lifetime, "A Hunger Artist." of the Harrow's writing, it is too late to change his fate. The
fact that the Traveler cannot read "the Script" of the inscriber
suggests the way in which outsiders cannot understand a
culture to which they don't belong. Only those in power truly
Free Will versus Determinism understand how the institutions work slowly, through repetition
and violence. While it may appear that the Officer has control
of the system in the beginning of the story, it becomes clear
In the opening paragraph, the narrator compares the that he is being controlled by the Old Commandant and his
Condemned Man to a dog who could be set "free to roam" but attachment to the past. This fact is ultimately symbolized in his
would be easily called back by a whistle. This man is so attempt to take control of his own death by jumping onto the
conditioned by the system that he doesn't even need a leash to bed; however, the machine brutally destroys him.
be pulled back to his own demise. This analogy suggests that
man has very little free will. Rather, his decision-making is
determined by external forces. He is conditioned by a vast
array of institutions, including the memory of the Old
Colonialism
Commandant who still looms, fatherlike, over the colony. In the
days of the past, he created and administered rules and
punishment; he dictates policy even after death. Kafka's works are often viewed as prophetic for their ability to
predict psychological and historical trends. Through this lens,
The Traveler seems to be the one character who may have a "In the Penal Colony" can be seen as a critique of colonialism
degree of free will; he is not a product of the institutions that and as a predictor of its eventual demise and lingering effects.
have created the colony's mindless brutality. He tells the Penal colonies represent one of the most extreme forms of
Officer "No," and he yells "Help" in an attempt to stop the silent subjugation. They mirror the types of humiliation that was a
but brutal workings of the machine. However, he fails to stop part of the colonial system—the exploitation of bodies through
the machine's own will to enact violence. Although he is not a work, punishment, and hierarchy. The presence of the word
part of the penal colony, in the final scene he threatens those colony in the title places an emphasis on colonialism.
who are trying to escape. He seems to be exacting revenge for
their failure to help the dying Officer. In this way, he Although there are few markers of place in the story, those
perpetuates the existing social order, leaving them to their fate that exist evoke European colonies. The first reference comes
in the colony. in the form of the uniform that the Officer is wearing. It is too
hot for the "tropics," one of the major sites of colonial
exploitation. The practice of wearing heavy uniforms even in
excruciating heat was a well-known part of the British protocol
Institutionalized Violence in India.

The Officer's stubborn insistence is indicative of the broader

European assumption of superiority: "We don't want to lose our
In his opening statement, the Officer defines the machine as "a
homeland," he tells the Traveler. There is an inflexibility of
peculiar apparatus," but the narrator finishes the line by telling
thought and practice and an unwillingness to adapt to the
the reader it is "thoroughly familiar" to the Officer. This opening
existing culture, no matter how irrational or impractical clinging
sentence is intended to convey the paradox of culture and
to the old order may be.
institutions: they are both strange and ordinary in the way they
imprint in people's consciousness. Even the strangest practice The reference to the "cane chair" that the Traveler sits on is
can become acceptable and mundane through repetition. also a nod to colonialism. The cane chair was a piece of

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In the Penal Colony Study Guide Themes 17

furniture strongly associated with British colonialism. The

nearness of a pile of dilapidated cane chairs to a pit suggests
not only that the executions are no longer supported or
attended, but also that the system has fallen into disrepair. The
"teahouse" in the story's third section is also a reference to
one of the enduring exports of the colonial system: tea.

The Traveler is referred to later in the story as "a Great

Western explorer." The trading that began as a consequence
of European exploration grew into colonial conquest that was
reinforced by a military presence. This reference to exploration
and the ranks of the characters suggest the historical arc of
colonialism. The execution is the symbol of the violence done
to a colony's native population for no justifiable reason. The
Officer has participated in his own dehumanization through his
celebration of this brutality. The system he supports eventually
destroys him from within.

The decay and the silence of the machine suggest that the
downfall of this system is approaching. There are several
reasons that the executions no longer hold sway over the
public. A voice of resistance comes from the Traveler, who
says, "No." By the end of the story, he is returning to his home
country, where he will presumably report his findings. The
change from an Old Commandant to a new one also
represents this shift.

Although the fall of colonialism will happen decades after

Kafka's death in 1924, the plot suggests some of the reasons
for its ending. One of the Officer's biggest complaints against
the New Commandant is that he no longer fills the cash box, so
the funding and parts that are needed to maintain the torture
device are unavailable. This detail gestures toward the idea
that colonialism will fall not just because of its brutality or the
voices of resistance, but also because of the cost of
maintaining it. In fact, in the wake of two world wars, the
European powers would lack the financial reserves required to
keep a hold over their colonies.

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