As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was lying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his dome-like brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.
These lines from Franz Kafka’s sobering (and, frankly, nauseating) The Metamorphosis tell the story of a normal working man who wakes up one morning to find that he is a dung beetle. He has been supporting his parents and sister but is obviously unable to go to work as long as he remains a beetle. At first, the family cares for him. Then, it’s only his sister. Finally, they give up on him and he dies of starvation.
It is one of the most tragic stories I have ever read. Yet there is an important observation here. As long as we are productive, we are valuable. As soon as we are unable to produce, however, we lose our value. We die, so to speak. Kafka (in my interpretation) was lamenting this. I suspect this is true because, at the close of the story, he writes these lines:
While they were thus conversing, it struck both Mr. and Mrs. Samsa, almost at the same moment, as they became aware of their daughter’s increasing vivacity, that in spite of all the sorrow of recent times, which had made her cheeks pale, she had bloomed into a pretty girl with a good figure. They grew quieter and half unconsciously exchanged glances of complete agreement, having come to the conclusion that it would soon be time to find a good husband for her. And it was like a confirmation of their new dreams and excellent intentions that at the end of their journey their daughter sprang to her feet first and stretched her young body.
Brilliantly, Kafka moves from the male source of productive identity (profession) to the female source (physical beauty… certainly in 1915, when the story was published and, from any observation of pop-advertising, today as well). She is now their source of production. She is now of utmost value whereas Gregor had lost his. And the cycle continues.
Some questions that may arise: Am I a machination in society (the free market or the collective) or am I the object of love apart from what I produce? Am I a replaceable cog or am I a person? Am I valuable? Really?
Speaking with a psychologist friend of mine recently, I learned that the children of alcoholics often display an uncanny ability to self-destruct throughout their lives. I suppose I had seen it but never made the connection. Addicts themselves lose the ability to function as they dig their well to the bottom. I have known divorced people who have slept for two years straight from grief. Have they lost their value? To the outside world, they have. And perhaps to their family. Make no mistake about it.
I personally remember a conversation with a past boss of mine that was along these lines. I had made a mistake, and he came into my office. He said to me, “I want you to know that I totally support you…” (a wave of relief overtook me) “… as long as you produce.” I felt like my chest was caving in. Then, it occurred to me. Life is quid pro quo. All the time. Your worth is directly correlated to the quality of your output.
But, for all the production and its costs, after the lights go off, come back on again, then go off for good, we see, in the pages of the New Testament, a Man who is addressing Himself to those who have been ejected by the centrifuge of society and history. The otherwise anonymous, ignored, and reviled. The ones contributing very little, if anything, “of value.” That Man happened to be God Himself. And that turns everything on its ear.
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16 responses to “Your Value: How Kafkaesque!”
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Can I just add:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEyFH-a-XoQ
Stunning post, Browder.
Awesome post, Browder.
It is one of the worst things in the world to derive my value by what I can accomplish. I hate it, and yet I cannot stop. You can see this here in NYC all the time, tons of young, motivated people pushing to earn that value, that respect, that success. None of it lasts.
This post is the best! There is such a tension, especially in a professional workplace, between valuing people as people and valuing them for what they can produce. On the one hand, you don't want to say that anyone is worthless, on the other there is actually a very real need for everyone to be productive in order to keep any business viable.
Some months ago I was forced to fire an employee here, after multiple warnings, for chronic absenteeism and poor work ethic. It was impossible for me to let him know that he had value as a person since I was clearly telling him that I did not want him here anymore. It was and is a difficult thing to process. I don't really know how to operate as a Christian professional when it gets to that point.
browder…wow wow wow! Out of all the authors I've read lately (and, trust me, it's A LONG list) you are my favorite. This was simply wonderful…
Good post, David. My life is composed of filling out time sheets in .10 hour increments for legal work, which no one wants to pay for and everyone wants to complain about. And then getting evaluated for how much I can bill and then be able to collect. So far, Jesus hasn't changed that one iota. It seems that my archeology IS my teleology after all, to misquote a phrase. My heart keeps hoping for a gospel Jesus fix, but my reality is all Ted Hughes and "Song of a Rat". But maybe a rat beats a roach. What I'm trying to say is, Jesus really doesn't change anything. He just loves me and that is enough.
Daniel, one of the astute people in my Sunday School class here in Columbia asked: "What about the new man?" in response to some things I was saying about the human condition.
My response was that Psalm 51 is the new man. As a Christian, you are given the Holy Spirit but that seems to make matters worse. That is because a sensitivity to love develops and there is a noticeable lack of love in the world and in ourselves. Therefore, there is a great deal of mourning (Matt. 5).
One of the things Christians need to process, I believe, is that they weren't masters of their own domain before their conversion and they are certainly not masters of their own domain after conversion. In fact, they had a better chance of kidding themselves into believing it before they were converted, a la Mad Men.
There is a great little essay on Tolstoy's view of history called The Hedgehog and the Fox. What it (Tolstoy) basically says is that "supermen" such as Napoleon really believed they were captain of their own fate when, in fact, an invisible stirring in history created a wave on which Napoleon himself was carried along. Like a piece of driftwood on a wave at the beach.
All of this to say, Daniel, is I have no answer to your question on how one should be a Christian boss. The world we live in and Christ Himself are such opposites that the world regurgitated Him after only three years. That's probably a bleak word, but the fact that you see the tension speaks extremely well for you.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
Holy Crap! That was so good…can anyone say, "sermon illustration."
I take that back. Christians are just as likely to be deluded into believing they are masters of their own domain. Maybe even moreso because it is spiritualized.
Amen, David, to that last point. Totally giving up on "change" from without or within, for myself and for all others: that is where love is.
Reminds me of that classic scene from The Squid And The Whale…
Sophie: [about The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka] Yeah. I mean, it's gross when he turns into the bug, but I love how matter of fact everything is.
Walt: Yeah, it's very Kafkaesque.
Sophie: [She looks at him oddly and laughs] 'Cause it's written by Franz Kafka.
Walt: Right. I mean, clearly.
Hey Daniel. Of course, you are right, it totally TOTALLY sucks when you have to fire somebody. But I think it sucks for MOST bosses full stop: Jewish bosses, atheist bosses, Wiccan bosses, etc. Bottom line is that it's just an intensely uncomfortable message to have to deliver, especially given the economy and the job market and such.
That said, I wonder whether, if we imagine that we as Christians should have a special difficulty with this, over and against nonChristians, that perhaps this means that we are not properly separating the Law and the Gospel (the corresponding Lutheran idea of the Two Kingdoms is also a help).
You mention that "It was impossible for me to let him know that he had value as a person…." (by which you are meaning I think let him know that he was loved and so on). But maybe that's not your role here. That's your role if you are his friend, if he's visiting your church, and so on.
But your role at work is to help the company be productive. That's your job. And it is an important vocation and one blessed by God. (Of course, if you were to feel that the company is an evil company than that's a different issue — you probably need to not work there at all.)
So take farming for example. God likes farms, and wants them to be good and productive so that they can feed people and so on. That's necessarily going to involve — and not just in a fallen world — some person at the farm realizing that some people aren't the right fit for being a farmer and the people harming the farm's success are going to have to find some other line of work.
Or consider a bank teller, or a waitress, or a player for the NBA. Their job (blessed by God) is to get people their money or food quickly and courteously, or to help the team win games. Their job is NOT to help people feel deeply loved. Luther once said that he'd much rather have a pagan prince who was good at his job than a goodhearted but incompentent Christian who knew the Gospel. And surely the same is true in many vocations. When I hire a plumber, I need a guy who is good with pipes, not somebody who can help me feel loved or understand the Gospel. And if he is bad at fixing pipes somebody's going to have to push him into getting other work.
So given all that, maybe the right thing to do for any boss in the You're Fired conversation is just stay very focused on behavior. Tell the guy you are REALLY sorry to be delivering this news, stay on message about why the company feels that the guy has got to go, tell him this is not about him as a person, just about him not being the right fit for this job.
It's still going to suck for both parties! But there shouldn't be an especially CHRISTIAN reason why it is sucking.
"As a Christian, you are given the Holy Spirit but that seems to make matters worse. That is because a sensitivity to love develops and there is a noticeable lack of love in the world and in ourselves".
The words of a favorite Amy Grant track immediately spring to mind:
"We are all the same, it seems, behind the eyes, broken promises and dreams, in good disguise,
all we're really looking for is somewhere safe and warm, the shelter of each other in the storm".
It's looking towards the one who places eternity in our hearts that can help us, at least, to see the beauty, even amidst the broken shards.
The reminder that we are valuable because God really does love us must be drilled, so thanks; after that, or rather because of that, I’m free to do the work even if my velocity is zero.