At first I was not very impressed with this novel. After listening to Brian's lecture on Kafka and having some background knowledge about who he was and his family life my views changed. Gregor and Kafka have many similarities and I am a little saddened by both of their family lives. I feel as though they were both taken advantage of some what. Like Brian stated in the lecture Kafka felt as though his had such high expectations of him and wanted him to take up a profitable business career as did Gregor was a traveling sales man who provided for his whole family. In a way I feel like Kafka felt like he was a failure because he never did live up to his fathers expectations and this came out in Gregors character. Gregor transforms into this bug like insect and fails to be the sole provider for the family. It's hard to take on such a huge burden to be the sole provider but Gregor did it because he loved his family so much and wanted to do all he could for them. Kafka I feel like if given the chance or an opportunity would've done the same for his family but in the end felt like a failure because he couldn't do so.
One question that I think we talked about and tried to answer is WHY an insect/bug? Is this maybe how Kafka felt of himself? Like he was some sort of useless vermin? Did Kafka feel as if he had nothing to give?
I think Kaftka chose a bug because they are a burden to people. They don't really bother us that much, but when they are in our homes we wish they were gone. I think that is how Kaftka felt with his family, that he was a burden on them.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I agree the comparisons to Kafka, it really changed my perception of the book. However for some reason I don't feel like Gregor is necessarily hurt by his benevolence to his family. It is something that few people could do, and the fact that he did and believed it was the right thing until the end (even when his family was taking advantage of him and dehumanizing him) really speaks loads about the character of Gregor. Maybe this is some more insight into Kafka's mind.
ReplyDeleteI think the father-Gregor and Kafka-father links are indeed interesting. Your last question provokes some thinking, especially--this novel could be seen as Kafka's manifestation of his feelings about his relationship with his father. His father has made him feel like a useless bug, and perhaps that's coming through in this novel.
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