The Silence of the Sirens

"The Silence of the Sirens"
Author	Franz Kafka
Original title	"Das Schweigen der Sirenen"
Language	German
Genre(s)	Short story
Published in	Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer
Media type	book (hardcover)
Publication date	1931
Published in English	1933 (1933) London, Martin Secker 1946 (1946) New York, Schocken Books

"The Silence of the Sirens" (German: "Das Schweigen der Sirenen") is a short story by Franz Kafka.^[1] It was not published until 1931, seven years after his death. Max Brod selected stories and published them in the collection Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer. The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections (New York City: Schocken Books, 1946).^[2]

The story briefly discusses and re-analyzes the famous journey of Ulysses in which he confronts the deadly Sirens. Canonically, Ulysses tied himself to his ship's mast so that he could experience the Sirens without being driven mad and jumping into the sea. He ordered his crew to stop their ears with wax, so that they would not be tempted by the siren song to steer the ship into the rocks on which the creatures perched. In Kafka's version, however, Ulysses puts wax in his own ears, and is then tied to the mast. Kafka's telling asserts that the Sirens' silence is an even more deadly weapon than their song, and further states that the Sirens fell silent when they saw the expression of "innocent elation" on Ulysses face. Yet because his strategem involved stoppering his ears to block out their singing, Ulysses didn't realize that the Sirens were silent. Finally, Kafka mentions an additional possibility that has been "handed down": that Ulysses knew the Sirens were not singing, but pretended not to notice it in order to protect himself from divine wrath over his victory. But Kafka admits that the human understanding is beyond its depths on this issue.

The story can be interpreted as a commentary on the futility of complicated approaches to daunting problems.^[3] Kafka himself (in English translation) introduces the story as, "Proof that inadequate, even childish measures, may serve to rescue one from peril."

References

↑ The Complete Stories and Parables, Franz Kafka - 1983
↑ The Great Wall of China: Stories and Reflections. Franz Kafka - 1946 - Schocken Books
↑ Franz Kafka: The Silence of the Sirens. S Moses - The Denver Quarterly, 1976

Works by Franz Kafka

Novels

Short stories

1902–12	"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"

1914–17	"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"

1917–23	"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" "Home-Coming" "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

Authority control	GND: 7528982-9

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