The Refusal
The Refusal (Die Abweisung) is a short story by Franz Kafka. Written in the autumn of 1920, it was not published in Kafka's lifetime.
The story involves the narration of a young boy living in a small town that is fairly distanced from its capital. The boy reflects on how the town's inhabitants humbly submit to orders issued by the capital and are led by the tax-collector, a man with the rank of colonel. The boy goes into great detail describing the soldiers that uphold the tax-collector's law, and how they appear inhuman to the public and seem unable to speak their language. In times of crisis, the town always appeals to the colonel for government aid, and if it is anything serious, it is always refused. The final paragraph describes the narrator's observation that it is due to this situation that '...young people roughly between seventeen and twenty.' begin to feel discontent and find revolutionary ideas because they are incapable of foreseeing the consequences.
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by Karnivool
The Refusal
by: KarnivoolWE ARE A BROKEN WRECK
WE'VE BOTH GOT PILES OF REGRETS
There ain't nothin' you can say or prove
I held the rope that let you down
As we crash into the waves and drown
This is impossible
So if there's any doubt
I will throw you a line
Excuses, excuses
Don't ever remind me
How it is and always will be
There ain't nothin' you can say or prove
That I held the rope that let you down
As we crash into the waves and drown
This is impossible
You've been this way before
Shadows here all know you
I don't know what you've heard
Or what it is inside you
We are all around you
We are all around you
We are all around you
If love comes first
Maybe our lives will dissolve
Young fruit, still not bruised
Hey, maybe, just maybe,
We all made our moves
And mine could've helped you
I could've helped you
WE ARE A BROKEN WRECK
WE'VE BOTH GOT PILES OF REGRETS
WE ARE A BROKEN WRECK
WE'VE BOTH GOT PILES OF REGRETS
There ain't nothing you can say to prove
That I held the rope that let you down
As we crash into the waves and drown
This is impossible!