More on Red Peter

Reporting to the academy, Red Peter goes through his new repertory of acquired skills such as walking, speaking and drinking. He does this all this for a 'way out';

interesting also are the problematics of these skills and capacities. Distortion of space and time reoccur in Kafkas's work as do the responses of the characters (human and animal) to these distortions. Against this background being able to routinely speak and walk cannot be assumed. Suddenly losing abilities and being arbitrarily assigned new and alien ones is Samsa's lot. Time can stretch out without limit so a journey cannot be completed even in a life time. So there is an account: in one column a set of time/space problems; in the next column a range of possible responses. Kafka's figures burrow, wait in corridors or squeeze into corners. It is not clear who is lost or saved. Benjamin reckons the Nature Theatre Actors to be saved. How so? Surely they, like many other Kafkan characters are trying to respond to the dilemma. After all they are not informed what is expected of them; they simply have to be in the theatre as themselves ie to carry on speaking/walking as if these abilities, tacitly, are problematic (might be lost).