Symbolism, Character, and Irony - Part 2

I am posting another blog, since I had a hard time getting into the blog the first time and didn't get to finish typing. This is my first time, so it's very interesting and also stressful at the same time with the time limitation.

The chats were very interesting, but they were also fast, so it was challenging with trying to keep up with folks.

The first chat room that Symbolism and we the majority of the folks discussed the following:
Gregor's nightmare, how he wakes up with it and it lasts through the end.
Transformation, his looks and the way he thinks.
The woman in the picture and what she represents to him.
He locks himself in the room in the beginning and his family puts in back in.

The second chat room was Character. Almost everyone agreed that Gregor was a hardworking person that supported his family. Even when he was the bug, he did not harm his family. He also was worried about his families needs over his situation. The big question and concern was how Gregor's  family was treating him like the way they did throughout the story? Also why did he turn into a bug? What was significant with it? People also didn't get why no one took that apple out from his back?

The third chat room was Irony.
Some were some examples of irony that we chatted about was:

He provided for the familly and was mistreated and undervalued. (He took care of them for five years and they couldn't for three months).
Ironic that his sister is the one that turns on him.
He was working to pay his father's debt off and his father was the first one to hurt him.
When he needed his family, they were not there for him for support and guidance.
He saved money for Grete to go to school, but she never gets it.
His family only joined the workforce when they were completely broke.

We were trying to figure out how old Gregor was? 

Charcters and Potpourri

In the character chat room we started out talking about the functions and personalities of the characters.  Most people were upset with Grete for turning her back on Gregor.  Some people weren't certain that Gregor ever actually turned into a bug.  I felt there was enough evidence to indicate that he had indeed turned into a bug.  There was also a lot of disgust for the family turning their backs on Gregor despite the fact that he was single handedly supporting the family and paying off his fathers debt.  We started talking about parallels between Gregor and Kafka, there was also some talk about tuberculosis.  Someone suggested that the borders could symbolize society.  Everyone seemed to hate the father.  We talked about how creepy the charwoman was.  We wondered what ever happened the doctor after Grete went to get him.  Everyone agreed that Gregor probably didn't steal from his work.

In the potpourri chat room we talked about how everyone felt about the story.  It seemed like a 50/50 split on whether people liked it or not.  We talked a little bit about how the mothers job was sewing lingerie for a clothing store.  We talked about how odd it was that at the end of the story everyone liked their job even though none of them wanted to work.  We discussed how hard it would be to take care of someone in your own family everyday if they were unable to take care of themselves.  Everyone was disappointed that the family was happy when Gregor dies.  We talked about if the story had been different had the borders not seen Gregor.

Symbolism, Character, and Irony

I chatted with my classmates about symbolism, character, and the irony of the story. 

Confinement, Loneliness and Isolation.. Gregor never goes outside and stays in the house. The closes thing to getting out seeing the world is by the breeze that comes through the window.  

Although Gregor’s outward appearance changes, he is still the same person inside. When he finds out that he turned into this big insect, it doesn’t even bother him. Going to work late bothered him more. His mind was still the same as before.  He was a hard worker for the family and they did not appreciate him for everything that he did for them before and after he turned into the insect. 

The irony is that he was alone when he changed in the beginning in the room and in the end he also dies there alone. He was always a loner.

Blog post for Metamorphosis

       In the setting group for part one of the discussion, I learned of a greater meaning from William that Kafka was trying to relate the philosophic thought of existentialism to Gregor's character.  Through this, Kafka was trying to show the absurdity of the life that Gregor leads and that he was "morphing" away from that life.  I didn't quite understand what William meant at first, but after discussing with others in the irony group for part two, I think I gained a greater meaning.  In the irony group we talked about how ironic it was that prior to his metamorphosis, Gregor was the primary provider for his family and when he turned into a bug his family looked at him as a great burden.  In the beginning of the book, I think that Kafka was trying to show the absurdity of Gregor's life in that he was so worried about money and providing for his family that that was the only purpose to his life.
       I think that Gregor began to morph away from that purpose when he began to realize that his family took everything he had done for granted.  When his family figures out that he is an insect, their first thought is how are they going to support themselves?  When they finally do get jobs, it becomes a nuisance for them to take care of Gregor in a time period of less than a few months.  Gregor knows that he has taken care of his family for the last five years and by being a burden to his family in such a short period of time, the existential thought of alienation kicks in and he goes through his metamorphosis.  One question that I felt went unanswered was why Kafka chose to use an insect and why he did not specify which insect Gregor had turned into.  When I think about it, it kind of makes sense, as all insects go through a metamorphosis between the different cycles of their life.  Because all bugs do that, he did not necessarily need to specify which insect Gregor had turned into!  

In part two of the Irony chat room we talked about how ironic it was that Gregor devoted his life to taking care of his family and how he did all he could possibly do to provide and give them a comfortable life. Then when Gregor transformed into this bug like state most of the family just sort of abandoned him. Even at the end Grete totally abandons Gregor and ultimately wants to get rid of him. I understand that maybe Grete could've live with the fact that this was her brother and he was never going to change back ever to what she knew him to be before. I feel like Kafka felt abandoned by his family as well, because he didn't live up to his fathers expectations of him. It's ironic or probably made to be that Gregor and Kafka are one in the same. Kafka probably was writing in a descrete way to the reader unknown of his background how he was feeling in his life. Maybe Kafka felt like he wished for just one break in his life. One handout that he could work off of that would open a door to a new/different life then the one he was living.

My learning experience

     In the lecture chat room for part one, we discussed some of the parallels between Kafka and Gregor. The irony between the relationships with people in their lives, as well as feeling alienated from the rest of the world. One thing that really stuck out to me was when someone stated, "There is some purpose to why this novel was simple yet so complicated." It got me thinking, the idea of the novel was so simple, but I feel it really gives you a completely different perspective, a sense of being part of the book. I felt the emotions expressed when Gregor felt alienated from the rest of the world, how it feels to be an outcast. I admit that there have been times in my life where I've felt like the outcast, but I never necessarily felt that's its ever a bad thing. It made Gregor depressed, and he felt like he didn't have a purpose. In the chat, one person said, "You feel sad for Gregor because he isnt worth much, his only point in the family was to work harder and harder to provide but never really give any emotion. When he wakes up as a bug, he is unable to provide, thus becoming even more worthless." There was also a discussion between the nihilistic view of the book, and the view of existentialism. I felt that the novel was more of a existentialistic in the beginning, but post-metamorphosis, Gregor takes on the view of nihilism. He figured out what he enjoyed in the beginning, what he liked to eat and do, and attempted to find his purpose in my opinion. But based on his situation with his family, I feel that he lost sight of that perspective and eventually felt there was no purpose, he was just a burden.


     In the present-day chat room for part two, there was a discussion of how Gregor may suffer from a terminal illness and feels somewhat disabled from communicating with people. Someone also brought up the idea that maybe he just woke up and had a realization. The idea of nihilism and existentialism was also brought up here as well. I learned a lot of different and alternate view points on how everyone else felt about the book. In my opinion, I felt that he actually did turn into a bug in a sense. Mental disorder or not, he turned into what he felt like. He experienced the physical characteristics of a bug, the struggles, and the alienation from the rest of the world. When people put it in terms of Gregor being "alienated" from the rest of the world, I thought of it in terms of almost extra terrestrial. In my opinion, I do believe that aliens exist somewhere in the universe and have came to our planet and had some something to do with our creation and our development as a species. But in reality, not many people believe that perspective. Even if you don't believe that may be true, think about it as a hypothetical situation. If we were aware of alien presence on our planet, would they feel how Gregor felt, or would they feel they have a purpose? If we were in that position, but surrounded by aliens, would we feel alienated? Would we still have a purpose? I guess that is one question I still have when it comes to the novel. If Gregor would have not died and been stuck in that predicament, would he still have a purpose? Would he have been successful in doing so, or was he just doomed into a nihilistic view on life?
     

metamorphosis

    What I liked about this book was that it was full of science fiction and that made it difficult to discover the possible meanings. It was very complex and definitley made me think. I think that some of the meanings could be that his condition was a metaphor and something that is assumed. In the discussions I joined we talked about if Gregor was a bug at all, or if he was just socially isolating himself. This explanation makes a lot of sense to me because it gave a sort of realism to the book. We also discussed how this metaphor could be used today with how we treat sick loved ones. These people are sent to live with help or if they live at home they could be seen as a burden becasue they need constant care.
          Another thing we discussed was the similarities between Gregor and Kafka. The father figure was similar in both Kafka's life and Gregor's life. Another similarity is that Grete is a big part of both of their lives. In Kafka's life, Grete was his girlfriend and in Gregors life, Grete was his younger sister. I also thought that both men felt isolated in their situations. Gregor felt like he was an outsider in his family because of what he turned into and wanted to be a part of something but couldn't. I believe that Kafka must have also felt this way when he had tuberculosis because he might have less physical contact because he was sick. One of the last similarities was that they both died early and in a horribly painful way.