Please post a question about Metamorphosis for me to answer. Anything about the book that has you confused. Now is your chance to make me do the work of explaining it! And just for fun, I thought I would post a picture of a cockroach. Enjoy! Looking forward to seeing what questions you come up with.
9 comments:
Why do you think that Gregor didn't question or give his deformity a second thought?
What I kind of wonder about is why Gregor never went out and interacted with his family. He constantly stayed in his room, away from any people. I would think he could have somehow played a board game or something. If he had tried to do things with the family, that would have proven to the family he wasn't just your basic cockroach.
Why do you think Gregor's sister changed her mind about him so quickly? I didn't think that she would be the first one to give up on his recovery.
Oh my goodness these are good questions!! I really like the way you are all thinking about the book. Excellent work. I will post my answers in the next few days. I'm going to really have to think about these questions....
Tyler,
I think this is the question that puzzles every reader. It is a great question, and I think by pondering it, we can understand the purpose of the book more. Kafka could have easily focused on the "why" aspect of the story. And I like to think that he did, and resisted the temptation to make it part of the story. By not making it part of the story, he is doing so intentionally. I think the primary reason he does not have Gregor question the transformation is because he is making a point about society. We do not question our status in society. Our place or role in society goes unquestioned. As does our dislike of entire groups of people, based on race, religion, and economic status. As society we have established stratas or castes, as they are called in India. We do not question these stratas. Much intolerance and hatred is directed towards aspects of a person that are beyond their ability to control. Such as race and gender. In Kafka's case he experienced this based on his race, which was also his religion. The hatred people felt towards him was unquestioned by society.
I think by Gregor not questioning his transformation, Kafka is making a point about societies inability to question its prejudices. That is my opinion, yet I'm sure you could as many people this same question, and they would all have a different answer. What do you think?
Daniel,
I like the way you are thinking in this question. Gregor, being able to think like a human, should have conveyed that to his family. I couldn't agree more. In so doing, he could have possibly saved himself. At the very least, he could have tried to create a way to communicate with his family. I think there are a few reasons why he did not do this though.
First, on a basic level, he could not physically do so. He did not have arms to reach things with, fingers to move things with, or the ability to sit in a chair.
Second, his family found him too repulsive, and he knew this. His mother faints when she enters the room to move furniture with his sister. He hides himself under the bed, because the sight of him is disgusting. Imagine every time a person looks at you, they flinch, cover their eyes, look away, faint. After a while, you would not want to be seen by anyone. We see this happen to Gregor. At first he tries to show himself. He escapes from his room, and his father drives him back with a stick. His boss sees him and runs out of the house, terrified. Having those kinds of reactions from people when they see you, would make any of us hide in our room, under our bed.
Third, and most importantly, I think Kafka was trying to make a point about how we judge people on appearances. Things they cannot change about themselves. It is not Gregor's fault he turns into a cockroach, yet his family rejects him based on what he has become on the OUTSIDE. The reader knows that he still thinks and feels like Gregor, but his family does not consider this. Based purely on appearance, they reject him. That could be how Kafka felt about himself and others. People rejected him because he was a Jew. It had nothing to do with the type of person he was, his character, or his personality.
What do you think?
Kevin,
I too am baffled by her! She was the bright point in the story, caring for him, thinking about his comfort, cleaning his room. She could actually look at him and be in a room with him and not get angry, like her father, or scared, like her mother. I really do not have an answer to this question.
The only thing that came to mind was the saying, "familiarity breeds contempt." Since she was the one that saw him every day and fed him, maybe she came to despise him the most, because she was faced with what he had become. It seems as though the parents live in denial for a while. Well, she can't and therefore loses hope first. She also sees that he is no longer eating, and may interpret that to mean that he no longer wants to live.
Or maybe she was just tired of caring for him. Who knows! I was very surprised by the fact that she gave up hope first. What do you think?
I think your totally right. Gregor was most likely tired of being brushed off and therefore decided to not attempt any meaningful social interactions.
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