Amerika: The Missing Person

When Karl Rossmann leaves his suitcase with a stranger in Chapter 1, the German stoker informs him that “different ports have different morals” (5): In Prague, his suitcase would’ve been safe, but America is different. Karl is uncertain how to handle himself in a new country, and while he wants to belong, he also doesn’t want to lose his tenuous connection with his cultural identity.

Karl’s first confrontation with police is in front of Brunelda’s apartment—one that echoes other scenes in which he is judged and deemed suspicious. Such scenes are often linked to his status as an exile. Fearing that the policeman will take him back to the Hotel Occidental, Karl does not answer his questions; the policeman then requests immigration papers. Karl does not have them, so the policeman says he will have to take him to the police station. This situation is linked to both Karl’s immigrant identity and behavior, as the policeman describes him as “a surly fellow” (144). Karl attracts unwanted attention because he does not yet understand America’s cultural customs. Whether it is for obvious or subtle reasons, Karl does not naturally fit anywhere.

Karl’s interactions with Therese provide a different perspective on the difficulties that many immigrants face. This contrast emphasizes how sheltered Karl was in his first few months in America due to his fortunate encounter with his uncle. Therese’s traumatic past provides a foil to Karl’s arrival. On a freezing night, a homeless Therese and her mother wandered the streets for hours—with “the only explanation [being] that her mother was trying to run away from her” (103). Therese cries when she recounts her mother’s death: She was climbing onto a scaffolding that “soared up into the blue sky” (104) when she fell. This tragic tale presents a more realistic take on impoverished immigrant life.

However, the novel does not delve into this sort of tragedy, with its focus being on Karl. Franz Kafka instead focuses on the realities of exile, instability, and isolation through the absurdity of Karl’s life. The absurd scenarios that Karl finds himself in offer a simplified, symbolic vision of America in the 20th century.