Name: In the Penal Colony
Author: Franz Kafka

In the Penal Colony is a short story written by Franz Kafka and originally published in 1919.

The story is set in an unnamed penal colony. There, they have developed a complex torture and execution device that engraves the entire sentence on the skin of the condemned. This causes horrible pain and a slow death as the hours pass.

As the story progresses, the officer in charge of the execution provides more details about its origins and offers a justification for its use, even going so far as to try to convince the reader of this punishment with some fervor.

The story contains many of Kafka's characteristic elements, as it features a helpless protagonist, an abuse of the law, and a certain degree of surrealism in the situation.

For this edition of the story In the Penal Colony, the English translation by Ian Johnston has been used.

"“It’s a peculiar apparatus,” said the Officer to the Traveler, gazing with a certain admiration at the device, with which he was, of course, thoroughly familiar.

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In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka is believed to be out of copyright restrictions only in the United States. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not located in the United States, you must check your local laws to make sure that the contents of this eBook are free from copyright restrictions in the country where you are located in before downloading In the Penal Colony in PDF or ePub.

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Readers interested in existential and philosophical themes Fans of speculative fiction Students of modern literature Readers of classic literature

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