Homecoming (Kafka short story)

"Homecoming" (German: "Heimkehr") is a short story by Franz Kafka. A young man returns home and finds that his father does not express any feelings towards him. He recognizes the familiar terrain, such as his family's farm, but feels like a stranger. He stands at the door waiting, and feels a dread as it becomes apparent that he will always be on the outskirts both of his family and of his community.

It has been suggested that the story is essentially the Parable of the Prodigal Son inverted.

References

Richard T. Gray A Franz Kafka Encyclopedia 0313303754 2005 Page 119 - "Heimkehr" ("Homecoming"). Short parabolic story, most likely written, according to the editors of the Kritische Ausgabe (Critical Edition) toward the end of Kafka's life, between November 1923 and January 1924.
de Visscher, Jacques (2001). "'The Longer One Hesitates Before the Door, the Stranger One Becomes'". Journal of Phenomenological Psychology. 32 (2): 118–130. doi:10.1163/156916201760043199.

Franz Kafka (works)

Novels

Short stories

1902–1912	"Shamefaced Lanky and Impure in Heart" "Description of a Struggle" "Wedding Preparations in the Country" "The Judgment" "The Stoker" The Metamorphosis "The Aeroplanes at Brescia"
1914–1917	"In the Penal Colony" "The Village Schoolmaster" "Before the Law" "Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor" "A Country Doctor" "The Hunter Gracchus" "The Great Wall of China" "A Message from the Emperor" "A Report to an Academy" "A Dream" "Up in the Gallery" "A Fratricide" "The Next Village" "A Visit to a Mine" "Jackals and Arabs" "The Bridge" "The Bucket Rider" "The New Advocate" "An Old Manuscript" "The Knock at the Manor Gate" "Eleven Sons" "My Neighbor" "A Crossbreed" "The Cares of a Family Man"
1917–1923	"The Refusal" "A Hunger Artist" "Investigations of a Dog" "A Little Woman" "The Burrow" "Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk" "A Common Confusion" "The Truth about Sancho Panza" "The Silence of the Sirens" "Prometheus" "The City Coat of Arms" "Poseidon" "Fellowship" "At Night" "The Problem of Our Laws" "The Conscription of Troops" "The Test" "The Vulture" "The Helmsman" "The Top" "A Little Fable" "Homecoming" "First Sorrow" "The Departure" "Advocates" "The Married Couple" "Give It Up!" "On Parables"

Short story
collections

Diaries and
notebooks

Letters
and essays

Plays

The Warden of the Tomb

Category

v t e The Parable of the Prodigal Son in arts and culture
Source	Luke 15 Parables of Jesus
Art	The Wayfarer (1500s) The Prodigal Son in the Brothel (1637) The Return of the Prodigal Son (1660s) The Prodigal Son (1922)
Film	L'Enfant prodigue (1907) The Prodigal (1955) The Gospel (2005) The Prodigal Trilogy (2008) The Imposter (2008) Preacher's Kid (2010)
Stage	The London Prodigal (1605 play) Prodigal Son (1929 ballet)
Opera	L'enfant prodigue (1850) The Prodigal Son (1968)
Music	The Prodigal Son (1869) L'enfant prodigue (1884)
Songs	Symphony No. 4 "Walkin' to Missouri" (1952) "Prodigal Son" (1994)
Album	Ants'hillvania (1981) The Prodigal Son (1983)
Literature	Tears of the Prodigal Son (1622) Le retour de l'enfant prodigue (1907) "Home-Coming"
Papal	Dives in misericordia (1980) Reconciliatio et paenitentia (1984)
Other	Fatted calf The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's (2007) "Michael" "The Burglar's Christmas"
See also	The Prodigal Son (disambiguation) Return of the Prodigal Son (disambiguation)

Category:

Short stories by Franz Kafka