For Kafka, paradise wasn't a place where people lived in the past and of which a memory has survived, but rather a perennial, hidden presence. In every moment, an immense, encompassing obstacle prevents us from seeing it. That obstacle is nothing other than the expulsion from paradise-a process Kafka called eternal in its principal aspect.
In Franz Kafka's view, paradise is not merely a distant memory or a past existence; instead, it represents an everlasting and concealed reality that continually exists around us. He believed that this ideal state of being is obscured by a profound barrier, which he identified as the consequence of humanity's expulsion from paradise. This removal creates a persistent struggle to perceive the divine or blissful elements of life.
Kafka emphasizes that this expulsion is not a singular event but an ongoing process, suggesting that our distance from paradise is something we grapple with continually. The idea reflects a deep existential understanding of human experience, where the longing for paradise remains ever-present, yet perpetually out of reach due to the obstacles that define our reality.
