Friday, February 9, 2018

The He(art)lessness of the Samsas

I think that Kafka's writing really evokes a sense of pity in the readers for poor, unappreciated, selfless Gregor.  Not only is he transformed into a beetle that can't even communicate properly, his entire family grows to hate him, and his beloved sister performs the ultimate act of betrayal by saying they must get rid of "it."  Obviously they haven't tried to empathize with Gregor and his predicament, and turn out to be rather nasty people while Gregor, though becoming bitter at some points in the story, remains dutiful and loving towards his family.  This situation provokes a sense that, as Nabokov said, Gregor is a human in a bug's body, while the other Samsas, who show themselves to be quite heartless, are bugs in human bodies.

I found a few pieces of art that speak to Gregor's predicament that I like.
Image result for the metamorphosis art
It's sad that you can see Gregor's human shadow (perhaps he even continues to view himself as somewhat human after his change; after all, I certainly felt like he was human just from reading his thoughts) but he obviously looks like a somewhat terrifying bug.

Also, I thought this piece was pretty emotional:
Image result for the metamorphosis art
This picture clearly speaks to Gregor's horrible situation, as a hunched-over, despondent human (Gregor) is trapped in a cage formed from a monstrous beetle's spindly legs.  I don't know about y'all, but it looks pretty disturbing to me.

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