Gregor’s image in my head:

Okay, maybe he doesn’t look that angry or could stand upright like that with his little legs. But I didn’t feel like searching up a picture of a real giant cockroach though because I don’t want to freak out like Gregor’s mother.

At the beginning of the novel, I was really shocked at Gregor’s concern about his job as a traveling salesman rather than his transformation. I find it hard to picture how someone could remain that calm after waking up as a cockroach. I thought of him as a robot because he just kept working and working until he couldn’t work anymore. Also, I felt like his character never developed throughout the novel.

The train represents the importance to Gregor of getting to his job on time. Notice how there’s no one at the platform (not many people take the 5:00 train to work like Gregor does).

When Gregor attempts to explain himself to his manager, I pictured Gregor’s voice/noise as this:

This is an excerpt from the famous piece of electronic music Professor Wollman showed to us in class on Monday called “Poème électronique” by Edgar Varése.

And this is his yawn:

When I think of Gregor’s situation, I feel trapped, helpless and dispirited because Gregor has no reason to live anymore.  I felt really bad for him when he hid under the couch on purpose so his sister didn’t have to see him because it makes me feel like he doesn’t exist. Also, his strong desire to take a peek at his sister shows that he really wants freedom but has no choice but to stay trapped under the couch.

 ^Instead of a cat, imagine that as a cockroach.

After seeing Gregor’s deep concern for his job and his family’s financial situation despite his current state, I felt really bad for Gregor when his father threw the apples at him, when Grete and his mother took away his furniture, and when Grete stopped taking care of him like she used to. Instead of seeing Gregor as an integral part of their family, they view him simply as a burden. When Gregor eventually dies of starvation, his family felt relieved instead of sadness. Even though Gregor really was a huge burden to their financially troubled family, I felt like his family acted out of selfishness. After all the hard work Gregor has done for his past years to support his entire family, I don’t think a “Hooray! We can relax and move on now” after his death was appropriate. He should be given respect for what he did during his pre-metamorphosis life rather than complete negligence.

What really amazed me though was the cleaning lady’s calmness and apathy towards the sight of Gregor at the end of the novel.  That’s like walking calmly through an explosion.

An image from a song called “Cool Guys Don’t Look at Explosions” by the Lonely Island.

Before I end my blog, I just wanted to say that I enjoyed the book although it was depressing to see his family abandoning him. Also, I wish Kafka gave some sort of explanation to why Gregor turned into a cockroach and provided us with a happy ending but I guess Kafka had to get his message across, no matter how depressing that is.