"Metamorphosis" traces the physical, emotional, and intellectual dehumanization of Gregor Samsa. I therefore most agree with the illustrious Expert #3. Though this lauded expert expresses that Gregor’s dehumanization is foreshadowing of dehumanizing events in the twentieth century such as the Holocaust and the two World Wars, I think that Gregor’s transformation from a human to an insect is particularly symbolic. Kafka is demonstrating the loss of humanity through servility and blind submission to authority and circumstances.
Before he is an insect, Gregor behaves in a very insect-like manner toward both this employer and his family. He allows his employer to treat him appallingly and does little to defend himself when he is accused of embezzlement for merely being late for work. His family lives off of his salary like parasites and though Gregor may or may not recognize it, he willingly allows it to occur for fear of losing their approval. Since his family shows no apparent emotional connection to him, he appears more insect-like and thus less human to the reader. By behaving in such a cowardly and docile manner, he loses his humanity both literally and figuratively. Since he does not question the authority figures in his midst and robotically obeys every order he is given, he willingly begins to surrender his soul. When he is literally no longer human, he does nothing to attempt to correct the situation and does not question why such a thing has happened to him.
When he is alienated from his essential humanity (in the wise words of the glorious Expert #3) he is able to see the emptiness of his former ambition and how little he meant to his family. His humanity slips away almost entirely when he loses the ability to feel any joy and sinks into the symptoms of depression. Before his transformation he had no will to live his life as his own and for himself. Thought he eventually loses his will to live entirely, he did not have much of a life to give up anyway. In this way, Kafka is using "Metamorphosis" as a cautionary tale against living one’s life in order to avoid the wrath of authority figures. Doing so removes the meaning from life and can even literally destroy one’s humanity. (377)
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The Light At The End of The Tunnel
Ivan Ilych’s illness and eventual slow, painful death begins when he falls while hanging draperies in his new house. He behaves very ostentatiously when relating the incident to his family by saying that such a fall would have killed an average man but he survived because he is “a bit of an athlete”. The narrator describes the grandeur of Ivan Ilyich’s home in great detail and then concludes that the house had “all the things people of a certain class have in order to resemble people of that class.” In all of Ivan Ilyich’s endeavors throughout his life until his final months, he tries only to do what society requires of him and advance his social position. It is quite ironic that the source of his eventual death results from his most visibly grandiose attempt at living in a manner that he thinks best suits him.
His illness intensifies his life so that the things that had once been symbols of his success become overbearing burdens. The already quarrelsome relationship he had with his wife became more poisonous as his illness progressed. Before he became ill, attempting to minimize his time with her was sufficient for retaining his sanity. Once pain in his side and bizarre tastes in his mouth began to plague him, his muffled dislike for her progressed into unabated hatred. He initially found his work invigorating and exciting because of the sense of dignity and authority that it brought him. However, long sessions in court soon became tiring and embarrassing when his thoughts became clouded and his exacting judgment dulled by agony.
His physical pain draws attention to itself because Ivan Ilyich realizes that it is meaningless and prevents him from resuming his normal thought patterns. In an effort to comfort himself and relieve potential brooding on his physical suffering, he thinks about his childhood. Nostalgia forces him to retrace the steps of his life and leads him to ponder the meaning of his existence. He is perplexed at how his life began so simply and pleasantly and is about to end in anguished suffering. When others around him such as his wife and the doctor inquire about his health, he becomes aggravated with them because he feels that they do not understand what he is enduring. He longs for someone to understand him so that he can be pitied. He begins to find the pity he is seeking in his servant, Gerasim, because he does not begrudge doing the most unpleasant tasks to keep him comfortable.
Gerasim realizes that Ivan Ilyich is dying and is trying to make the end of his life more tolerable. Since he has no selfish motives in helping him, Ivan Ilyich plunges into deeper anguish at the realization of his own selfishness. Relief comes to him at the moment of his death because he realizes that those around him do not need to understand the mental gymnastics of the end of his life or the extent of his physical suffering because “He whose understanding mattered would understand”. His realization that approval and understanding from others is ultimately meaningless allows him to accept his mortality and thus end his suffering.
His illness intensifies his life so that the things that had once been symbols of his success become overbearing burdens. The already quarrelsome relationship he had with his wife became more poisonous as his illness progressed. Before he became ill, attempting to minimize his time with her was sufficient for retaining his sanity. Once pain in his side and bizarre tastes in his mouth began to plague him, his muffled dislike for her progressed into unabated hatred. He initially found his work invigorating and exciting because of the sense of dignity and authority that it brought him. However, long sessions in court soon became tiring and embarrassing when his thoughts became clouded and his exacting judgment dulled by agony.
His physical pain draws attention to itself because Ivan Ilyich realizes that it is meaningless and prevents him from resuming his normal thought patterns. In an effort to comfort himself and relieve potential brooding on his physical suffering, he thinks about his childhood. Nostalgia forces him to retrace the steps of his life and leads him to ponder the meaning of his existence. He is perplexed at how his life began so simply and pleasantly and is about to end in anguished suffering. When others around him such as his wife and the doctor inquire about his health, he becomes aggravated with them because he feels that they do not understand what he is enduring. He longs for someone to understand him so that he can be pitied. He begins to find the pity he is seeking in his servant, Gerasim, because he does not begrudge doing the most unpleasant tasks to keep him comfortable.
Gerasim realizes that Ivan Ilyich is dying and is trying to make the end of his life more tolerable. Since he has no selfish motives in helping him, Ivan Ilyich plunges into deeper anguish at the realization of his own selfishness. Relief comes to him at the moment of his death because he realizes that those around him do not need to understand the mental gymnastics of the end of his life or the extent of his physical suffering because “He whose understanding mattered would understand”. His realization that approval and understanding from others is ultimately meaningless allows him to accept his mortality and thus end his suffering.
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