The Top (Kafka)

The Top (Der Kreisel) is a short story by Franz Kafka, written sometime between 1917 and 1923.

Plot

A philosopher believes that he could understand everything in the world if he were to understand a single element in it. To this purpose he tries to catch a child's top as it spins, hoping that it would continue spinning in his hand, but it always stops the moment he grabs it. [Kafka, Franz. "The Complete Stories". New York: Schocken Books, 1995.]

Interpretation

The top could be seen as a symbol of the spinning earth - the populated world which the philosopher tries to understand. The irony implied herein is that by focusing on the top itself the philosopher ignores the other forces that set it in motion - the children and the string.

Some critics have noted a correspondence between the structure and theme of the story - the circular movement of the top is echoed by the circular structure of the story, as the sentences are at first of uniform length, then get gradually longer until the last line which is meandering and prolonged, like the top's last staggering spin and final collapse. [Lawson, Richard H. "Kafka's Parable "Der Kreisel": Structure and Theme" "Twentieth Century Literature" Vol. 18, No. 3 (Jul., 1972), pp. 199-205]

Notes

A comics adaptation of the story, illustrated by Peter Kuper, is included in "Give It Up!".

References