How might the personal history of an author have a significant

influence in their writing? Comment on specific instances of such

influences in two literary works

The personal history of an author often has a significant influence on their writing, especially
if the work at hand is fantasy literature or poetry. This influence can range from subtle and
unconscious to authors writing almost autobiographically, be it knowingly or not, works that
have underlying similarities or themes that have been present in their lives. In many cases, it
is almost unavoidable, as any piece of writing that has been written by a human is influenced
by the opinions, biases, and experiences of the author. We can read the works and look back
on the lives of many authors and in retrospect find various similarities between the two,
although the author might have not intended it to be so.

These influences and similarities can be vividly seen in the works of Franz Kafka, a 20th-
century novelist and short-story writer, who throughout his life was plagued by feelings of
alienation due to the ever-deteriorating relationship with his family, community, and even his
own body (“…naturally I became unsure even of the thing nearest to me, my own body”).
Alienation is a theme that runs throughout various, if not all Kafka’s works, but one that
explores the feeling exceptionally well is his novella “The Metamorphosis”. In it, he tells a
story of a traveling salesman named Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one morning to find
himself having transformed into a “horrible vermin”. Being unable to go to work,
communicate with his family, and overall live like a human being, he finds trouble adjusting
to his new life and the way that he is forced to get by. As the story progresses, he becomes
more of a burden to his family and his health quickly deteriorates due to his inability and his
family’s unwillingness, especially his father’s, to do anything about it, resulting rather
quickly in him passing away on the floor of his room.

As mentioned, Kafka’s relationship with his family and especially with his father was
strained due to their different views on life and work. Kafka despised his job that he had at an
insurance company, the only thing that he enjoyed doing was writing (“My occupation is
intolerable to me because it contradicts … my only occupation, which is literature”). This led
to conflicts between him and his father, who was a successful shopkeeper, highly motivated
by social and financial advancement, and disapproved of Kafka very harshly due to his
interest in literature. This relationship created a lasting impact on Kafka, who was greatly
disturbed by the feelings and actions of his father, the effects of which can be seen in “The
Metamorphosis”.

In the novella, much like in real life, Gregor’s father was an unkind and stubborn man,
concerned primarily with money, having no sympathy for George and his interests, especially
after he transformed into a vermin, hurting him on both of the occasions that they came into
direct contact throughout the novella (“…he lifted his feet unusually high and Gregor was
astonished at the gigantic size of his boot soles. But Gregor did not dwell on this; he had
known from the very first day of his new life that the father considered only the strictest
measures appropriate when dealing with him”). The uncaring attitude of Kafka’s father
towards him can be seen to be reflected on multiple occasions, for example, the instance of
the charwoman trying to explain more about Gregor’s death to Mr. Samsa, where he makes it
clear that he does not care and that the fact that Gregor is dead is not of much importance to
him (“Herr Samsa, who realized that she was eager to begin describing the details, cut her
short with a definitive gesture of his hand”).

As a whole, the story of Gregor Samsa is deeply reflective of the relationship with Kafka’s
father. In a letter to him, Kafka wrote: (“My writing was all about you; all I did there, after
all, was to bemoan what I could not bemoan upon your breast”). Due to this, it may be said
that had it not been for Kafka’s father and his actions, this and many of his other works
would not have come into existence as they were very much written on the basis of that
relationship.

Another example of the personal history of an author influencing their writing can be found
in the works of the Austrian poet and novelist, Rainer Maria Rilke. In comparison to Kafka,
Rilke was on much better terms with his father (Josef Rilke), although, in a similar way to
Kafka’s father, Josef Rilke never understood his son’s insistence on becoming a writer, which
to him seemed frivolous compared to a “real” job. Despite this, he supported his son’s
endeavors and left a lasting positive impression on Rilke, to the point of him saying that his
father was of “unspeakable goodness”.

Rilke’s father died when he was thirty, and although they were on good terms and supported
each other, neither ever fully understood the other due to their differences. This gap in
understanding is well reflected in the poem “Portrait of My Father as a young man.” In the
poem, Rilke describes his father through a photo, emphasizing the distance between them,
both physically now that his father was dead, and mentally, in their understanding of the
world (“Oh quickly disappearing photograph in my more slowly disappearing
hand”). Furthermore, in the poem, there is solely a description of the father’s physical
appearance, how his face looks, what clothes and accessories he is wearing, and how he is
posing. Any deeper understanding of the figure in the photo seems to not be possible for the
writer (“…the rest so curtained within itself, so cloudy, that I cannot understand this figure
as it fades into the background—“). This further symbolizes their differences in worldview
and Rilke’s feeling of never fully being able to grasp who his father was.

In both texts, it is apparent that the personal histories of the authors have had a great
influence on their writings. These works came out to be what they are due to the author’s
experiences and relationships with other people which in a wider sense have influenced who
they are as human beings and thus have been carried into these and many, if not all of their
writings.