On "The Metamorphosis" -- Abigale Bell

 


"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect" (Kafka, 1). 

If first lines say anything about a story, this line says it all. What an unbelievable story! The reader is plunged into what seems like a strange nightmare. Kafka's writing seems to be intentionally harsh and unsettling. I am led to question the nature of such an absurd plot. Whose metamorphosis is the focus of the story? It seems, aside from the strikingly obvious change that he undergoes, Gregor's family undergoes a metamorphosis of similar magnitude, though not simply in appearance. 

The beginning of the story sets the stage for the family's state of affairs. They have been living on the income Gregor can provide. He seems to have willingly given up his life to support his family. His parents and sister have led a relativley easy life. One has the sense that theirs is a humdrum existence. Suddenly, their fortune changes... for the worse? 

Overall, the story has been cast under a shadow of melancholy. Only at the very end of the story does the reader catch any glimpse of light. "The car...was filled with warm sunshine. Leaning comfortably back in their seats they talked over their prospects for the future..." (23). The trouble and discomfort felt in the beginning of the story is replaced by language that brings forth feelings of hope and contentment.

Something that struck me while reading this story were the extremes to which the family changed. Gregor turned into a giant cockroach and died. From Gregor's metamorphosis and eventual death came the maturity of his sister, Grete, and the newfound confidence in his father to regain headship of the family; essentially, newfound life. The idea that there is a traid-off in good fortune was emphasized by the absurd plot, and, to the author's credit, made it all the more memorable. 

Commented on Emmett's and Joshua's posts. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A House Divided//Emily Otts

The words Jesus spoke in Matthew 12 remind me so much of this play: "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand." (Matthew 12:25) King Lear, at the end of the day, is about a family being divided multiple ways. These divisions arise over greed and hatred for one another and cause the whole family to be ruined because of it. King Lear first divides the kingdom after his daughter Cordelia does not proclaim her love to him, so he banishes her. Later, his daughters go against him for not doing as they asked, believing he is unfit and unworthy to be king, secretly plotting against him. But all of this comes to a head in Act 5. After capturing King Lear and Cordelia, Edmund plans to have them killed. You would believe the sisters would be able to work together because their plan is working, but an even greater division has risen between them. Both of them wish to have Edmund for themselves, and they plot against each o...
Read more

The Plague in Everyone// Emily Otts

     In part 4 of the Plague , Tarrou tells Rieux about how he has had the plague forever. Except, this is not the same plague as the one ravaging the town. Tarrou speaks of how his father was a lawyer who believed in the death penalty, how he saw so many people support it and be comfortable about it, and how he had to witness the executions of prisoners. He explains how this sort of mindset is a plague itself, one Tarrou had been fighting for a long time. " That's why everybody in the world looks so tired; everyone is more or less sick of plague. But that is also why some of us, those who want to get the plague out of their systems, feel such desperate weariness, a weariness from which nothing remains to set us free except death" (Camus, part 4, chapter 6). Tarrou wants to desperately not submit to such awful ways of thinking.      Tarrou does not realize it, but the plague he is talking about is sin. Everyone has it, some people give in to it and let...
Read more

The Thirst for Knowledge

     With Book Seven of Milton's Paradise Lost, Raphael is continuing his exposition on Satan's apostasy. The plan is to expose Adam and Eve to the wretched fate of those who cross God's will. The more he shed's light on the subject, however, the more Adam is inclined to ask for more information. He wants to know everything about the subject, as well as God and His creation.      However, while the taste of such knowledge leaves Adam yearning for more, there are boundaries. It is like a toddler eating a cookie... and eventually begging her mother for the rest of the jar. Is it a coincidence that the one thing Adam and Eve are not to touch is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil? Most readers know how the story ends: these toddlers are never going to be content with a few cookies. They're going in for the jar.   There is a statement in the Bible that is constantly being repeated throughout the Old Testament: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of ...
Read more