The Refusal

Short story by Franz Kafka

For the 1721 play by Colley Cibber, see The Refusal (play).

"The Refusal" (German: "Die Abweisung"),[1] also known as "Unser Städtchen liegt …", is a short story by Franz Kafka. Written in the autumn of 1920,[2] it was not published in Kafka's lifetime.

## Overview

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The story of "Die Abweisung" 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-collectors 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."

## References

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1. ^ Richard T. Gray; Ruth V. Gross; Rolf J. Goebel; Clayton Koelb (2005). A Franz Kafka Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 21\. ISBN 978-0-313-30375-3.
2. ^ James Rolleston (2006). A Companion to the Works of Franz Kafka. Boydell & Brewer. p. 13\. ISBN 978-1-57113-336-6.

## Further reading

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* Kafka, Franz. The Complete Stories. New York City: Schocken Books, 1995. p. 263-268.

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Franz Kafka (works)

Novels|

* The Trial
* The Castle
* Amerika

Short stories|

| 1902–1912|

* "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"

|

1914–1917|

* "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"

1917–1923|

* "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"
* "Homecoming"
* "First Sorrow"
* "The Departure"
* "Advocates"
* "The Married Couple"
* "Give It Up!"
* "On Parables"

Short story
collections|

* Contemplation
* A Country Doctor
* A Hunger Artist
* The Great Wall of China
* The Complete Stories
* The Sons
* The Penal Colony
* Parables and Paradoxes
* Dearest Father
* Description of a Struggle

Diaries and
notebooks|

* The Diaries 1910–1923
* The Blue Octavo Notebooks
* The Zürau Aphorisms

Letters
and essays|

* Letter to His Father
* Letters to Felice
* Letters to Ottla
* Letters to Milena
* Letters to Family, Friends, and Editors
* The Office Writings

Plays|

* The Warden of the Tomb

Related|

* Ottla Kafka (sister)
* Franz Kafka and Judaism
* Richard and Samuel
* Franz Kafka Museum
* Franz Kafka Society
* Franz Kafka Prize
* Kafka Project
* Head of Franz Kafka statue
* Statue of Franz Kafka
* Kafka's Dick (1986 play)
* The Loves of Kafka (1988 film)
* Kafka (1991 film)
* Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (1993 film)

* Category

Authority control databases: National |

* Germany

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