The Metamorphosis-Kafka
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- Rachel Gough
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The Metamorphosis-Kafka
With that said, tell me your interpretations of the story, and how it made you feel. Did you enjoy it, or like me, did you hate it? Was this a story that can resonate with people on a psychological/emotional level? Finally, is this a timeless work of fiction?
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- dlachance9
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After having read other stories by Kafka, The Metamorphosis is actually one of the ones I connected with the least. The premise the reader is supposed to connect to in the story is a matter of feeling like an insect and having all of the people that you love shun you for being this way. It is the epitome of shame and loneliness. While many of us have felt that way I don't think a lot of people have felt the full brunt of poor Gregor. Even with that, not being able to fully connect with his situation, as a reader, you still feel immensely sorry for him. Personally, "The Penal Colony" or the "The Hunger Artist" are stories that reached out to me on a more emotional level.
I do personally believe that this story is a timeless piece.
- DATo
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The character Max Białystok, played by Zero Mostel, is lying on a couch reading a lot of scripts looking for one which is sure to flop on Broadway. He reads aloud: "Gregor Samsa awoke to find himself transformed into an enormous bug." ... he then looks off into space and finally decides ... "Naw, too good." *LOLOLOLOLOLOL*
― Steven Wright
- Max Tyrone
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Strange to me, however, that I find the ending of "A Hunger Artist" just as depressing as it is darkly comic.
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Samsa's plight, as it gets worse and worse, made me feel...well, alienated. It made me feel alone.
- David Bowman
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Same for me, too. Kafka has a lot of autobiographical elements in his story - some of them like "The Judgement" have a lot to do with his controlling father. It not only adds to the stories he wrote but the symbolic significance of his animals. Think of the mouse folk in "Josephine the Singer" or, obviously, Gregor Samsa's horrible transition in "The Metamorphosis." They're all brilliantly written.dhaller wrote:You can practically tell Kafka hated his life just from reading it.
Samsa's plight, as it gets worse and worse, made me feel...well, alienated. It made me feel alone.
- godreaujea
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- ChristopherRadebaugh
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(Ivan asks his brother, the pious Alyosha): "Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature — that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance — and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth.”
(Alyosha): “No, I wouldn’t consent,” said Alyosha softly.
(Ivan): “And can you admit the idea that men for whom you are building it would agree to accept their happiness on the foundation of the unexpiated blood of a little victim? And accepting it would remain happy for ever?”
(Alyosha): “No, I can’t admit it."
This is one of the most powerful critiques of Christianity I have ever heard and quite compelling (and let's not forget that Dostoevsky was a fervent Christian): that whatever end God has in mind, the price to be paid that one must consent to in order to receive it is far too high for any being who considers himself or herself to be moral to agree to.
Kafka is a great writer. I highly recommend his work. And if you don't agree with my opinion, it's no big deal, there are enough interpretations of his story to conflict heavily with mine, I'm sure. Sorry for the long-winded response, but I hope it's helpful.
-Chris