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The Philosopher's Shirt

Kafka the Moth

Kafka refused to say what Gregor became, and forbade any illustration of it on the cover. Everyone ignored him. Here is a gentler guess than usual.

Melancholy rather than grotesque — closer to the book's actual tone. The full range here — tees, women's tees, sweatshirts and hoodies, all printed to order as you buy them. He woke from uneasy dreams. It got worse from there.

Questions about this design

What does the Kafka the Moth design show?
Franz Kafka’s face on the body of a large moth, drawn in fine black-and-white engraving style. It is a gentle guess at what Gregor Samsa turned into in The Metamorphosis – melancholy rather than grotesque, which suits the actual tone of the story better than the usual cockroach.
What insect does Gregor Samsa turn into?
Kafka never says. The first sentence of The Metamorphosis (1915) calls Gregor an ungeheueres Ungeziefer – a monstrous vermin, a word for unclean creatures in general. Later the charwoman calls him an old dung beetle, and Vladimir Nabokov argued in his lectures that he is a large beetle, but the popular cockroach has no basis in the text.
Did Kafka forbid drawing the insect on the cover of The Metamorphosis?
Yes. In October 1915 he wrote to his publisher Kurt Wolff that the insect itself must not be drawn, not even shown from a distance. The first edition’s cover by Ottomar Starke instead shows a man covering his face in front of a half-open door. Illustrators have been ignoring Kafka ever since – this design included, though at least it chose a gentler creature.
What is The Metamorphosis by Kafka about?
A travelling salesman who supports his family wakes up transformed into a huge insect. Unable to work, he becomes a burden; his family’s pity turns to disgust, and his death comes as a relief to them. The novella is read as a study of alienation, of being valued only for usefulness, and of guilt and family dependence.
What does Kafkaesque mean?
Kafkaesque describes situations that are nightmarishly complex, absurd and illogical, especially where an individual faces faceless, impenetrable authority – like Josef K. in The Trial, arrested and prosecuted without ever learning his crime. The word is often overused for mere red tape; the real thing adds dread, guilt and a calm, matter-of-fact tone.
Why did Kafka want his writings burned?
Kafka left instructions for his friend Max Brod to burn all his unpublished manuscripts, diaries and letters unread; he was a severe critic of his own work. After Kafka died of tuberculosis on 3 June 1924, Brod refused and published The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926) and Amerika (1927). Most of what makes Kafka famous today exists because of that disobedience.
What should I read first by Kafka?
Start with The Metamorphosis – short, funny in a dark way and the key to everything else. Then read the parable Before the Law and the story A Hunger Artist, and after that The Trial. The Castle is unfinished and best saved for later; his Diaries and the Letter to His Father show the man behind the work.
Is Kafka the Moth a good gift for literature lovers?
Yes – it suits readers of Kafka, German and literature students, teachers and anyone who has woken from uneasy dreams on a Monday. The design comes as a Unisex Classic T-Shirt, Women’s T-Shirt, Sweatshirt, Premium Hoodie, Mug and Sticker.