Saturday, February 20, 2016

Gregor lives in a Wasteland

Ms. King brought up the interesting point that Gregor's room, in the Metamorphosis, was kind of like a wasteland since that was where the family shoved everything unwanted, including their son. I've always bad for Gregor but when Ms. King pointed this out it made me feel even worse. Can you imagine being shoved in a room all by yourself, left to die,  because you are unwanted by your family? This is the ultimate waste land. Gregor is literally wasting away in his room. I just think it is interesting that no matter what we read there is always a connection. But cockroaches do belong with the trash anyway so I guess it makes sense ;)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Gregor's room is defiantly a form of a wasteland for the many reasons we listed in class. First of all there is a lack of necessities such as food and water, as his sister stopped feeding him. He is also isolated, which I think would be one of the key aspects of a wasteland. It is also filled with everything rejected, including Gregor and is probably gross and smelly. It is weird to think that such a wasteland can exist within a world that isn't a wasteland though. If Gregor was able to leave his room, he would no longer be in a wasteland.

Jack Zheng said...

@madison it's interesting that you bring up that "it is weird to think that such a wasteland can exist within a world that isn't a wasteland." We are all aware that most of the world is a terrible place filled with misfortunes, but we choose to pretend that suffering does not exist so we don't torture ourselves with moral considerations.

Unknown said...

I think that's a pretty interesting comment too. In so much of what we read (it is really prevalent in The Waste Land), the author aims to explain to the reader the hopelessness, lack of motivation, and inability to find beauty belonging to the human condition. (It relates to the whole thing you mentioned about a wasteland in a world that isn't a wasteland). I'm not at all saying I don't recognize the talent and genius that went into all these works, but I kind of find it hard to come to terms with the fact that there's nothing left worth living for. I think there's beauty and purpose everywhere in the world, and to me, it's impossible to ignore it all.

Jac said...

It is honestly so sad to think about Gregor and his little room withering away. I explained the Metamorphoses to my cheer friends earlier and they felt so bad for Gregor! Gregor's room, basically a trash heap, is definitely the definition of a wasteland. He is completely abandoned and forgotten in there by his family, just like a wasteland. Gregor's existence is defined as wasting away.