Homecoming (Kafka short story)

"Homecoming" (German: "Heimkehr") is a short story by Franz Kafka.^[1] 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.^[2]

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.

[1] 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.

[2] 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.

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