The Arts in New York City

I found Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis to be a story that the reader can visualize and interpret in many different ways.  As I read Metamorphosis, I thought of certain images and music that I know of.  Here are several images and music that I thought of while reading:

 This piece of classical music is called “Montagues and Capulets” from Prokofiev’s ballet, Romeo and Juliet.  I thought of this piece of music as Gregor awakens from discovering that he had transformed into a giant vermin.  The dramatic explosions of sound at the beginning represent the shock that I personally would have felt if I were him.  The famous dance around 1:34 reminded me of Gregor struggling to move out of his bed.  The melodies played by the brass (notably trumpets and horns) can be visualized as  Gregor’s parents and the Chief Clerk pressuring him to open the door.

Although this may be a little bit exaggerated, I felt that the impact of the kick Gregor’s father executes is a turning point at the end of the first part.  It is the kick that shuns Gregor into his room and marks the beginning of his eventual loss of humanity.  Like the kick of this Hitmonlee (if anyone watched or played Pokemon), it is a powerful and decisive hit on Gregor as an individual.

As I continued to read about Gregor and his struggle, I find that a fear that him and I have is isolation.  Behind closed doors, Gregor continued his pathetic existence as a vermin incapable of normally interacting with his family.  He lived in constant shame of himself and was afraid to show himself to his loved ones.  Like Gregor, I have the same fear.  Being unable to express myself would be rather depressing and I would go mad from the lack of socializing.  This image perfectly displays  what I visualized as a read about Gregor’s isolation:

This image is a perfect example of isolation in Gregor’s case.    The man in the photo looks lonely, the room he is in is unintended too, and there is a lone window that the man can look out of into the world.  Gregor is alone in his room for the most part, his room eventually becomes neglected by his family, and he has a window that he tries to look out of during the early days after his metamorphosis.

This series of audio clips is what came to my mind as Grete played the violin for the three men.  Kafka writes in Metamorphosis how Grete had a passion for music and how Gregor was trying to earn enough money to send her to a music conservatory.  I could imagine that Grete was then a rather good violinist, so the famous violin solos of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade came to my mind.  The first solo is enchanting and like Gregor, I would be drawn to the sound of it.  the beauty within its notes could tame such an animal like the one that Gregor had become.

The first thing I thought of when I started reading Metamorphosis was an abandoned house that looked worn out and dark.

I connected Gregor’s situation to this image, because he was trapped both inside his room and inside his mind. He had no way to escape and he held in all his emotions and buried them deep inside his heart. This image, while looking creepy, also represents how his family cannot go anywhere near Gregor and cannot understand the position he is in. He feels abandoned and helpless with no hope of going back to his normal life.

The relationship between Gregor and his sister made me think of this image:

Grete constantly tried to make the effort to help Gregor, whether that was giving him food a cockroach would normally eat or moving the furniture to give him room to crawl. She was extending her hand out, offering her help. Although Grete helped as much as she could, she was never able to truly reach Gregor’s grasp as his humanity slowly crept away. Every time I read a part where Grete and Gregor interacted, I felt a deep sadness for them because I knew that they cared about each other deeply, but there would be no solution to the situation. It was nice to see a true sibling relationship develop, even in a short story.

Each time I read the mother’s reactions to Gregor, I thought of the sound of rain:

The mother was being suffocated by the idea that her son had completely transformed into a different being. She constantly felt a deep pain in her heart because she knew she lost her first child and that she could do nothing about it. When I thought about her, I imagined her stuck in the rain with no where to go. I felt sorry for the mother and couldn’t picture her anywhere else other than caught in a bad storm without an umbrella. She slowly came to accept the situation, but I know she was the character filled with the most sadness.

As a commuter, traveling to school in the morning is as dreary and dreaded as one can imagine.  When I take the train, the car is packed with professionals, everyone with the same expression, or lack thereof, the same glazed-over look.  This sleepy mood, repeated every workday of their existence, is what I pictured in the opening of the novella. This mood is the same for Gregor’s father as he adopts the role of caretaker in the novel. 

Gregor is a diligent worker that seems to live only for his work and supporting his family. Despite his changed condition and the narrator’s suggestion that he is not passionate about being a salesman, he wants to return to work.  The need to work and to support ones family is a huge theme in the novella.   The responsibility, once laid solely on Gregor, turns to the rest of his family.  I thought it was interesting how the toll of working played such a large role in the decaying of their family, particularly in the Father.  Both the father and Gregor lacked passion and love of their jobs, thus it took its toll. Like Gregor, we often do what we do (go to school, get a job, etc.) out of social expectation and necessity.

Metamorphosis is defined as the “process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form,” so I thought it was interesting how of all things, Gregor’s adult state is a cockroach.  Through this transformation, he remains human in his mind but his differences are highlighted by his physical change.  This alienates him from his family and his inability to fit in causes the events that lead to his death. I thought it was interesting to see how alienation and straying outside the limits of social acceptability can impact an individual and burden a family of community.