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The Metamorphosis
novella
Parable Existentialism (philosophy)
Eponym
An eponym is similar to an allusion, referring to a well-known person to link his or her attributes Meaning is usually known to educated people Comes into language from a person's name
What does it tell us that Kafka (and his writing) has been labeled with an eponym?
By the end of the period, you should be able to construct a definition of Kafkaesque based on your understanding of form and author.
What do these two lines have in common? (Compare the beginnings of the sentences to the endings)
They initially describe normal, everyday, almost boring events, only to disrupt this sense of normalcy at the very end. The disruption of readers expectation is called a defamiliarization effect in German, Verfremdungseffekt, which translates as alienation
effect.
Why would Kafka (or any author) want to alienate his audience? (Keep in kind that that Kafka is eponymic = highly regarded piece of literature and he is a highly regarded writer) Why does Kafka (in a non-science fiction piece of writing) have a human being wake up as an insect?
It enhances our perceptions of the familiar This gives an aesthetic affect = literary art
This story is a parable . What is this a parable of? How would you define parable based on this example? Why do you think the author told the story of the Holocaust in this symbolic way?
Why
Definition of Parable
At its simplest, a parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought.
Takes the familiar and applies it to the unfamiliar Makes the unfamiliar more comprehensible
How might the Kafkas life and times have affected his writing?
He was a meek and sickly Developed MANY, many, many, many intense relationshipswas engaged MANY times but could never follow through Suffered from clinical depression, social anxiety, and several other illnesses triggered by stress Contracted tuberculosis in 1917 and was supported by his sister and parents Died in 1924 from starvation when his tuberculosis worsened and he could not swallow
Felt he was an outsider Feared being perceived as both physically and mentally repulsive Jewish in Catholic Prague Sickly Lonely Perceived human beings as being trapped by authority in a hopeless world Became frustrated with having to support his family Had to work in a meaningless job for which he was overqualified just another pencil pusher Took time away from his writing
As a result
Franz Kafkas writings often dealt with loneliness, isolation and alienation, all of which are aggravated by the social and economic systems that structure human relations.
Based on your understanding of eponym, defamiliarization, parable, and Kafkas life, create a rough definition of KAFKAESQUE
Kafkaesque =
Used to describe something horrible and beyond the restraints of logic characterized by surreal distortion and a sense of impending danger Is a very interesting and identifiable style because its created out of psychoanalytic and formalist approaches to analysis
The protagonist of the story is Gregor Samsa, who is the son of middle-class parents in Prague. Gregors father lost most of his money about five years earlier, causing Gregor to take a job with one of his father's creditors as a travelling salesman. Gregor provides the sole support for his family (father, mother, and sister), and also found them their current lodgings in Prague. When the story begins, Gregor is spending a night at home before embarking upon another business trip. And then. . .
Writers often use fantastic events to signify additional levels of meaning beyond the literal. Thus, we need to ask ourselves what Gregors metamorphosis signifies in terms of larger issues.
Full of SYMBOLISM
Doors Picture of the woman The number three Gregors fathers uniform ??????
Meaninglessness
Awkwardness Ugliness
The ending:
The greatest immediate improvement in their condition would of course arise from moving to another house; they wanted to take a smaller and cheaper but also better situated and more easily run apartment than the one they had, which Gregor had selected. While they were thus conversing, it struck both Mr. and Mrs. Samsa, almost at the same moment, as they became aware of their daughter's increasing vivacity, that in spite of all the sorrow of recent times, which had made her cheeks pale, she had bloomed into a buxom girl. . .
They grew quieter and half unconsciously exchanged glances of complete agreement, having come to the conclusion that it would soon be time to find a good husband for her. And it was like a confirmation of their new dreams and excellent intentions that at the end of their journey their daughter sprang to her feet first and stretched her young body.
How good is your memory? Aristotles Poetics? Unity of Action? Apply it to The Metamorphosis
Once
he sheds his previous self, Gregor begins to delve into his own unconscious and confront the truth of his life. Gregor evolves from psychological immaturity to the courage of self responsibility. For the very first time in his life, Gregor becomes blissful and becomes a mature person. Gregor dies with this realization, a transformed human being
Gregor
Samsa represents a specific type of behaviorthe fear of being alive with all of its risks/rewards and the embrace of an inauthentic code of behaviorwhich, in the end, is transformed into the acceptance of life with all of its vicissitudes.
How