Later in this story Kafka brings in a new metaphor; an apple. You may be thinking, "what the heck does an apple have to do with anything in this beetle story?" Well it actually stands for wisdom and understanding strangely enough. His dad "was throwing apple after apple. These small red apples rolled around on the floor, as if electrified, and collided with each other. A weakly thrown apple grazed Gregor’s back but skidded off harmlessly. However, another thrown immediately after that one drove into Gregor’s back really hard" (Kafka 18). After this apple is thrown, it starts to slowly kill Gregor. I believe that this resembles "realization" because once this apple is lodged into Gregor, he and his family both realize he is completely worthless now that he can't make money for their family. His only job in life was to get his parents out of debt. This understanding took place because "Gregor later earned so much money that he was in a position to bear the expenses of the entire family, costs which he, in fact, did bear. They had become quite accustomed to it, both the family and Gregor as well" (Kafka 12). Gregor has basically turned into their families personal bank account, and once he couldn't do that anymore, he was of no use to them. They finally realize this, and once they do, they all go against him and think of ways to get rid of this "vermin". Luckily he dies before they can do something about him still being an inconvenience to them. Right after his death, the whole family can once again unite in Gregor's room, "In spite of the early morning, the fresh air was partly tinged with warmth. It was already almost the end of March" (Kafka 25). This is quite strange because all throughout the whole story Gregor's room has been depressing to everyone who enters. I think that this is symbolizing that once Gregor died, a huge burden has been lifted from his family, and they are real people now; not just lazy jerks who feed off their family member. They have transformed into the better side of society because of their loss of family. They have had a family wide metamorphosis.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Reflection On That There Metamorphosis
This short story is not one to take easy. Kafka's Metamorphosis has so many metaphors it's insane. Obviously the biggest metaphor is Gregor (the main character) waking up in the form of a huge beetle. Gregor is first described in a way like this: "a monstrous verminous bug. He lay on his armor-hard back and saw, as he lifted his head up a little, his brown, arched abdomen divided up into rigid bow-like sections. From this height the blanket, just about ready to slide off completely, could hardly stay in place. His numerous legs, pitifully thin in comparison to the rest of his circumference, flickered helplessly before his eyes" (Kafka 1). One can already see just how genius Kafka is with just the first few sentences of this masterpiece. Kafka has described Gregor as a filthy, giant bug. At the moment we do not know why he has been turned into a bug; all we know is that he is probably turned into this bug for something he did in life. This whole piece honestly reminds me of the afterlife and how the soul changes, like in What Dreams May Come because Gregor is "dead" on the outside, but his soul inside his bug cage is still the same. Gregor is the only one that knows he is still alive on the inside. His dad is the first of his family to give up on him as "Gregor", and assumes all of Gregor is gone, "his father clenched his fist with a hostile expression, as if he wished to push Gregor back into his room, then looked uncertainly around the living room, covered his eyes with his hands, and cried so that his mighty breast shook" (Kafka 6). Gregor's dad completely and only thinks of this huge bug as a pest. Gregor is no more in his eyes, and this vermin left over means nothing to this father. Next, Gregor's sister starts to turn to his father's side as-well: "In the midst of minor attacks of asphyxiation, he looked at her with somewhat protruding eyes, as his unsuspecting sister swept up with a broom, not just the remnants, but even the foods which Gregor had not touched at all, as if these were also now useless, and as she dumped everything quickly into a bucket, which she closed with a wooden lid, and then carried all of it out of the room" (Kafka 11). At this point in the story it seems that Gregor is completely doomed. His only ally was his sister, and now she even thinks everything he touches, or does, is poisoned. Ever since Gregor has been turned into a cockroach, he has been treated more and more as one, not the brother and son they once knew.
Later in this story Kafka brings in a new metaphor; an apple. You may be thinking, "what the heck does an apple have to do with anything in this beetle story?" Well it actually stands for wisdom and understanding strangely enough. His dad "was throwing apple after apple. These small red apples rolled around on the floor, as if electrified, and collided with each other. A weakly thrown apple grazed Gregor’s back but skidded off harmlessly. However, another thrown immediately after that one drove into Gregor’s back really hard" (Kafka 18). After this apple is thrown, it starts to slowly kill Gregor. I believe that this resembles "realization" because once this apple is lodged into Gregor, he and his family both realize he is completely worthless now that he can't make money for their family. His only job in life was to get his parents out of debt. This understanding took place because "Gregor later earned so much money that he was in a position to bear the expenses of the entire family, costs which he, in fact, did bear. They had become quite accustomed to it, both the family and Gregor as well" (Kafka 12). Gregor has basically turned into their families personal bank account, and once he couldn't do that anymore, he was of no use to them. They finally realize this, and once they do, they all go against him and think of ways to get rid of this "vermin". Luckily he dies before they can do something about him still being an inconvenience to them. Right after his death, the whole family can once again unite in Gregor's room, "In spite of the early morning, the fresh air was partly tinged with warmth. It was already almost the end of March" (Kafka 25). This is quite strange because all throughout the whole story Gregor's room has been depressing to everyone who enters. I think that this is symbolizing that once Gregor died, a huge burden has been lifted from his family, and they are real people now; not just lazy jerks who feed off their family member. They have transformed into the better side of society because of their loss of family. They have had a family wide metamorphosis.
Later in this story Kafka brings in a new metaphor; an apple. You may be thinking, "what the heck does an apple have to do with anything in this beetle story?" Well it actually stands for wisdom and understanding strangely enough. His dad "was throwing apple after apple. These small red apples rolled around on the floor, as if electrified, and collided with each other. A weakly thrown apple grazed Gregor’s back but skidded off harmlessly. However, another thrown immediately after that one drove into Gregor’s back really hard" (Kafka 18). After this apple is thrown, it starts to slowly kill Gregor. I believe that this resembles "realization" because once this apple is lodged into Gregor, he and his family both realize he is completely worthless now that he can't make money for their family. His only job in life was to get his parents out of debt. This understanding took place because "Gregor later earned so much money that he was in a position to bear the expenses of the entire family, costs which he, in fact, did bear. They had become quite accustomed to it, both the family and Gregor as well" (Kafka 12). Gregor has basically turned into their families personal bank account, and once he couldn't do that anymore, he was of no use to them. They finally realize this, and once they do, they all go against him and think of ways to get rid of this "vermin". Luckily he dies before they can do something about him still being an inconvenience to them. Right after his death, the whole family can once again unite in Gregor's room, "In spite of the early morning, the fresh air was partly tinged with warmth. It was already almost the end of March" (Kafka 25). This is quite strange because all throughout the whole story Gregor's room has been depressing to everyone who enters. I think that this is symbolizing that once Gregor died, a huge burden has been lifted from his family, and they are real people now; not just lazy jerks who feed off their family member. They have transformed into the better side of society because of their loss of family. They have had a family wide metamorphosis.
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