When he did choose to use it, the humor brought out the absurdity of the situation and thus helped to heighten the tension. It was also used to create even greater contrasts both in scene and story line, to further emphasize the darkness felt in so many of his stories. In closing, I would like to turn to one of Kafka's fellow writers who first met Kafka at the age of 16, only four years before Kafka's death from tuberculosis. Gustav Janouch had been very impressed by Kafka's work The Metamorphosis and was somewhat taken aback at their first meeting. The two became friends in spite of the almost twenty year difference in their ages.
Every defence is a retreat, a withdrawal.
A blow at the outside world is always a blow at oneself. For that reason every concrete wall is only an illusion, which sooner or later crumbles away. For Inner and Outer belong to each other. Kafka saw humor not only as a defense against the pain and anguish he felt inflicted upon him by the outside world, but also against the pain he rained upon himself. This was a man who chose words carefully and used humor sparingly.