-
- Gregor was just another ordinary person going back and forth from work each day
-
- The Samsa’s had a very simple and “one-way” lifestyle
-
- Things began to speed up
-
- There was a lot of confusion and mayhem
-
- Gregor had completed his metamorphosis into a bug
-
- Relief at last
For me, Metamorphosis could be split into three sections. Part A, Part B and Part C. In the beginning (Part A), Life for the Samsa’s, and especially Gregor, could not have been more simple. They all had their routines that they performed day after day. This idea of this was epitomized in the opening scene of the dance, The Metamorphosis, that we saw in the Joyce Theater. What disrupts this precise schedule is Gregor’s sudden transformation into a cockroach.
Enter Part B. Part B to me started off as just a mess of confusion and mayhem. Everyone was just so stressed out and confused by the entire situation. I think that this part hit its peak during the scene towards the end when Gregor escaped from his room and scared the three men.
Finally, in Part C after all that had happened, Gregor dies. I couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief for the family, knowing that there is no longer a giant bug living just a few feet away from them. That final scene of the story served as sort of closing for Gregor’s life as well as permission for them to finally move on with their own.
Credits: Michael Goldberg, Joeleen Moy, Nicolette Belitsis, Adona Pjetergjoka, Marc Saadia
I really liked how you organized the photos you chose. it puts the story in perspective; from his mundane life to the chaos that ensued following his transformation to a sort of tranquility that seemed to exude from his death.
In addition, you mentioned the Joyce Theater performance and how they depicted the routine turn of Gregor’s life. I think the performance helped the audience visualize much better just how large and disrupting the metamorphosis was to Gregor and his entire family. From the apple, to the coffee, to the train, to the vodka, to dinner; his entire day-to-day schedule did not change one bit. It was only after turning into a bug that we saw the family start to struggle because nothing was for certain anymore. They each had to devise methods to stay afloat financially and find the best way to take care of Gregor.
I think that you have a very strong point in your dividing of the book especially part a. From what you state about part a, that the family was just living life by going through a routine really hit home for me. A lot of times isn’t that what we want something that gives us security or at least a routine that we can depend on. I feel like that routine was vaguely good for Gregor because he was able to complete his tasks and at one point he even wanted to get his sister the opportunity to go to boarding school, a vastly rich expense. I think that when Gregor did transform he lost that routine, but he also gained a new one. The only difference is that he was being provided than being the provider.
Your separation of themes within the book is very clever. There is movement in your setup of the pictures, as well as within the pictures themselves. It causes me to the bug-like movements of Gregor in the ballet and his struggles in Kafka’s work to move. The final picture, relief, sums up the families frame of mind. They are struggling without the human Gregor but had no need for the newly transformed cockroach Gregor.