While reading the novel, Metamorphosis, by Kafka, I noticed that there was something off about the protagonist, Gregor. Gradually, He seemed to change personality, being influenced more and more by his family's words and actions. Gregor seems to think that the people around him are always right, and he is in the fault. If his family gets mad at him, he tries to think of ways to change himself instead of considering that he might not be the one at fault. Maybe there is a relationship between the way Gregor views his environment, and how we view society.
I think that Gregor slowly loses his individuality. Throughout his life as a bug, we see him slowly make less and less decisions based on his thought alone. For example, when his family is moving out his furniture from his room, he is actually pretty happy. He knows that this means that there will be more space for him the crawl around. His perspective on the situation changes when he overhears his family talking about how Gregor must sad to see all his childhood furniture go. Immediately, he becomes really protective over the last piece of furniture in his room; the picture. This is just one of the many instances in which Gregor displays his inability to make decisions himself. I think that this occurs a lot in modern society. People often choose to follow the belief of the majority, instead of making informed decisions on their own. An example of this is a survey conducted by the American Culture and Faith Institute which shows that 40 percent of Americans believe that socialism is better than capitalism. This is surprising, since socialism is a complete garbage political and economic theory of social organization. I think the reason why so many people are in favor of socialism is because other people are too. Since a large group of people believe in someone, they lose their individuality and act as a group.
Despite this book being really wacky and abnormal, It still motivates people to think about the underlying messages of the text. There is so much room for speculation since everything is so random and different from orthodox novels. Did you guys like the book? Do you think Kafka is depicting our society? let me know!
I think that Gregor slowly loses his individuality. Throughout his life as a bug, we see him slowly make less and less decisions based on his thought alone. For example, when his family is moving out his furniture from his room, he is actually pretty happy. He knows that this means that there will be more space for him the crawl around. His perspective on the situation changes when he overhears his family talking about how Gregor must sad to see all his childhood furniture go. Immediately, he becomes really protective over the last piece of furniture in his room; the picture. This is just one of the many instances in which Gregor displays his inability to make decisions himself. I think that this occurs a lot in modern society. People often choose to follow the belief of the majority, instead of making informed decisions on their own. An example of this is a survey conducted by the American Culture and Faith Institute which shows that 40 percent of Americans believe that socialism is better than capitalism. This is surprising, since socialism is a complete garbage political and economic theory of social organization. I think the reason why so many people are in favor of socialism is because other people are too. Since a large group of people believe in someone, they lose their individuality and act as a group.
Despite this book being really wacky and abnormal, It still motivates people to think about the underlying messages of the text. There is so much room for speculation since everything is so random and different from orthodox novels. Did you guys like the book? Do you think Kafka is depicting our society? let me know!
Okay, first off; "since socialism is a complete garbage political and economic theory of social organization"? You can't just say that and not back it up! I know that blog posts are supposed to be more on the books we're reading than politics, but even if you were being sarcastic, you should give at least some reason as to why you say that. Anyways, I agree with your analysis of Gregor the bug and how easily swayed he is by his family's opinions. Though, it seems as though even before his transformation, he was always looking to appease them however he could. Even though he hated his job, he continued working for his sake. If we take your proposition (that Kafka's trying to depict our society) and apply it, then perhaps Gregor's transformation is some sort of tale of warning? That if you try to conform too much instead of doing what you actually want, that it's going to turn you into this even less individualistic and opinionated thing?
ReplyDelete*their sake, not his sake
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