Jackals and Arabs by Franz Kafka
"Jackals and Arabs" is a parable by Czech writer Franz Kafka that unfolds in a desert oasis where a narrator encounters a pack of jackals while traveling with an Arab caravan. As night falls, the howling of jackals disrupts the narrator's attempts to sleep, leading to a surreal interaction with the oldest jackal, who claims his kind has awaited the narrator's arrival for generations. The jackals express their enmity towards the Arabs, portraying themselves as persecuted beings longing for a savior from the North to help them eliminate their foes. The narrative explores themes of violence, identity, and the complex relationships between oppressor and oppressed, as the jackals implore the narrator to commit acts of violence against the Arabs.
However, the caravan leader intervenes, revealing that the jackals' hope for a savior is ultimately misguided and that their desires are rooted in a desperate need for survival, not realization. The story culminates in a poignant demonstration of the jackals’ grim fascination with death, as they abandon their lofty aspirations for the immediate gratification of carrion, highlighting the fleeting nature of their ambitions. Through its allegorical tone, "Jackals and Arabs" invites readers to reflect on the cyclical nature of hatred and the futility of seeking liberation through violence. This narrative serves as a contemplative piece on the human condition, resonating with themes of desperation and the moral dilemmas faced in conflict-ridden contexts.
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Jackals and Arabs by Franz Kafka
First published: "Schakale und Araber," 1917 (English translation, 1946)
Type of plot: Parable
Time of work: Unspecified
Locale: An oasis in the North African desert
Principal Characters:
The narrator , a European manAn old jackal , the spokesperson for the packAn Arab caravan driver
The Story
At night in a desert oasis, the narrator, traveling with an Arab caravan, tries to get to sleep. The distant howling of jackals causes him to sit up again, and in no time the pack is swarming around him. One of them presses close against his body, then stands before him and speaks. It is the oldest in the pack, and it assures the narrator that his arrival here has been awaited for a long time, by countless generations of jackals, in fact. This sounds curious to the man, as he has only come by chance and on a short visit to the African desert.
As if to cast the newcomer in the role of a messiah or liberator, the jackal explains that he and his race are the persecuted enemies of Arabs and place all their hopes in a "Northerner," whose intelligence far exceeds that of an Arab. The blood enmity between jackals and Arabs requires the extinction of one or the other. The narrator at first thinks the jackals mean to attack the Arabs sleeping in the camp, and he warns that they themselves would undoubtedly be shot down in dozens. Meanwhile, two younger beasts have set their teeth into his coat and shirt and are holding him down.
The old jackal corrects the man's misunderstanding and tells him that jackals have only their teeth for weapons and that to attack and kill the Arabs would make the animals unclean forever—a kind of unpardonable sin. To be rid of Arabs is what they desire, to return their territory to the natural order of cleanliness: "Every beast to die a natural death; no interference till we have drained the carcass empty and picked its bones clean. Cleanliness, nothing but cleanliness is what we want." Their wish is for the man to slit the Arabs' throats for them, and to facilitate the deed they now present him with a small, ancient, rusted pair of sewing scissors.
At this point the leader of the caravan appears from downwind, cracks his whip over the jackals, and sends them fleeing. He knows what has been going on and explains to the narrator that the jackals regard every passing European as their chosen savior and entreat him to kill the Arabs for them. The rusted sewing scissors follow his people like a curse until the end of their days, he says. For the jackals it is a vain, foolish hope, and that is why the Arabs like them. To demonstrate his point, he has a dead camel carried up, and the jackals abandon every thought but that of the carrion. They approach, their fear of the whip forgotten, and soon they are swarming over the carcass. Now the caravan driver begins to lash them with his whip, bringing them to their senses and driving them off in pain and fear. However, they have tasted the blood and flesh and are drawn irresistibly back. The Arab raises the whip again, but the narrator grasps his arm. It is enough; the demonstration is clear. "Marvelous creatures, aren't they?" smiles the caravan driver, "And how they hate us!"