Thursday, October 8, 2015
A Bug's Life
Is it wrong that I can almost relate to Gregor's situation? To be clear I've never been a roach, beetle or any other type of arthropod but the way he reacts to the transformation doesn't feel too far off from how I feel on an terrible bad day. The feeling when you wake up and you can't get out of bed but you gotta start moving because you're about to miss the bus. Meanwhile, everyone in the house seems to be storming the doors complaining about this or that. It's a terrible feeling of despair where you feel powerless but I don't think people should be feeling this way all the time. There's days when I wake up and feel like a majestic lion I'm the king of my domain and nothing I do can go wrong. Gregor doesn't have days like this, its just a submissive bug working day in and out. Since the reason behind the transformation hasn't been explained yet I've come up with a theory. If Gregor wasn't going to put his foot down like a normal person and just let people walk over him like a bug, then he might as well become one. It's like for some reason he became so identical with his spirit animal that he subconsciously and then physically transformed into it. Now I'm not saying that everyone should just go turning into peacocks over night when they're feeling beautiful but Gregors situation is the result from bug-like behavior. As we discussed in class, he has completely submitted himself to his job and family so he’s basically already a hardworking drone like an ant before the actual change takes place. At the same time he's working everyday and studying timetables to pay off his father's debt, his dad is just sitting there eating massive meals and reading newspapers. A quote from Jonah in class pretty much sums up what's happened to Gregor: “He was a roach before he became a roach”.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with your theory of how Gregor was transformed into a bug. I mean with his laser focused mindset on work, he was basically an insect in a human's body. So why not just be turned into an insect in an insect's body. It kind of reminds me of the phrase "you are what you eat." In this case, it's not really about food yet the idea still applies. I can see where you are coming from when you talk about how you wouldn't really react to being turned into a bug if you were having a bad day. Maybe everyday is kind of a bad day for Gregor because he goes to a job he doesn't really like, where he is underapperciated and comes home just to focus on more work. And his entire life is centered around this. So yes, it also does make sense why he wasn't really fazed by his transformation. At this point, I kind of see him as a zombie just going through the same boring thing everyday for years. Not many changes in his schedule, and if I lived like Gregor does, I probably wouldn't care if I was a bug or elephant or human or whatnot.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this book has been kind of reminding me of like, the classic signs of depression. Like, Gregor can't get himself out of bed (literally), he only focuses on work, he's hearing all these pressures from his family and boss (the door scene at the very beginning), yet he's cut off from them by being locked into his room -- besides his sister, who comes in but still can't look at him. Kafka def likes to look at mental things being taken into physical contexts, so I think the way he portrays Gregor as a LITERAL bug is interesting, especially if you look at how the idea of depression or other mental illness could be physcially manifested in the book too
ReplyDeleteThe differences between human Gregor and roach Gregor are not apparent. Like you said, they both focused almost solely on work and completing the task before them. With the addition of the family's parasitic relationship with Gregor, the entire novel has laid out some heavy themes about the role of the cockroach in the human world. While Gregor definitely has the work mentality down, he never explores other options. It seems like he thought that working is what he had to do and there was no other way around. Yet, I get the feeling this always work no play mentality was never something he intended to do. His family took advantage of his personality and almost manipulated him into thinking that he was the only one capable of providing for the family. As he began to feel the pressure of this role, he morphed more and more into this drone-like figure, unable to escape the debt that haunts his family and his work life. As a result,allowing people to walk over him may have caused his full metamorphosis into a bug, and at this point, it might be too late to turn back.
ReplyDeleteAt the begining of the book, we see how dedicated Gergor is to his work. He can't stand missing the train to work in the morning, or disappointing his father and boss. It honestly seems like his work means more than life itself to Gregor. But, as the book progresses, we see a change in Gregor's character. I mean, physically, he's dead by the end. But he also stops eating and becomes more sluggish. Although this could be attributed to being pelted with apples and being forced to stay cooped up in his room 24/7, it can also be seen as if life has finally worn Gregor down. He hasn't missed a day of work in a number of years, which means that Gregor has been working his tail off, day and night, non-stop. Finally, after missing a few months of work, Gregor has slowed down. (In the worst way possible, though). It seems as if he suddenly aged tremendously is those past few months, and in the end, fell asleep for the last time in his monsterous, bug form.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! This is one of the many ways I see this book in a dream-like character. I sort of feel like he was roach-like in the way that he was in his real life, he fell asleep and "woke up" a roach. You could imagine a human being concerned about his job but not after something ridiculous like this happens to him. This is some absurd dream logic but I totally see where you're coming from.
ReplyDelete