Saturday, January 30, 2016
Bugs vs. Mammals
I think it's crazy how meaningless bugs are to most people. Don't get me wrong I'm the same way but it's just insane to think about. Gregor's dad has absolutely no problem trying to kill him as a bug and it's his own son! Also if you think about how humans react towards the death of mammals vs the death of bugs. Personally I legitimately cry anytime I pass an animal that has been hit in the street but I will voluntarily kill a bug (or preferably nominate someone else to) and I think most people would agree with me. For some reason people just don't care about bugs but other animals are much more of a big deal. It's a very strange concept to me.
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6 comments:
I agree. I feel like after reading "The Metamorphasis," I've learned to appreciate more of the smaller forms of life in the world. I now am reminded of Gregor when I see a cockroach or other nasty little beetle bug. Though I'll still kill it if it's in my house, I can say that I do think about the little creature more than I would have two weeks ago.
Personally if I see a dog size bug I might think twice before trying to kill it out of fright that it's a person. Now little bugs on the other I will kill without second thought because they could lay eggs in your ears. On the topic of eggs, what were those random white spots on Gregor's tummy? Maybe eggs, as some of us thought,but the book never addressed them, which I found strange. What do you guys think those specks are?
I think that one of the reasons that we feel no remorse when we kill bugs is because none of us have actually seen a bug's emotions/personality. I mean personally I don't even know if a bug can have either of those things. But I definitely believe that most animals do. We have been able to bond with certain animals (a prime example being dogs and cats). We can see when they are happy, confused, or in pain. We can't see these emotions from bugs, so we are unable to develop a bond with them. The only reason we feel anything towards Gregor is that we have an insight to his thoughts and emotions. If we were to just read the book from the families perspective, without the insight into what Gregor is thinking/feeling, we would most likely feel differently about Gregor as well.
But in response to your question, Anastasia, I have no idea what those specks could be. At first I did think about them being eggs, but Gregor is a boy so I am assuming that is not it? He described them as itchy so I also thought that maybe it is just some nasty thing beetles develop. Possible some sort of beetle disease? But after looking on Google for quite a while to try and find an answer I have come up with nothing. I wonder what inspired Kafka to include that part though. I would like to know if there is really a scientific explanation for the white spots, or if Kafka simply made them up.
I think part of the reason that we can kill bugs with so much ease is because we think of them as insignificant because they are so much smaller than us and there are so many. There's a ton of bugs. Way more the humans. Therefore we think that they don't really have much emotion or feeling and are completely fine with killing them. Poor Gregor, I would want to kill him too.
I think it's interesting that you said mammals instead of just humans. I totally agree though. Whenever a dog dies in a movie I cry like a baby but I don't have any issues killing a bug by myself. The other day there was a cockroach on my ceiling and my first instinct was to just smash it. But if I found a random cat in my house I would try to find it a good home not kill it! I just think it's very interesting you brought this up because I agree completely the double standard for animals.
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