During our student-only discussion on Friday of last week, we briefly talked about Gregor's relationship with the world around him. I mentioned how it reminded me of Frankenstein, and didn't really think about it that much then, but now I'm gonna think about it that much.
In Frankenstein, we see the monster as a creature; not alive, not dead -- not human, but undeniably a human. An incredibly important part of understanding the creature, as mentioned by Mr. Mitchell, is keeping in mind that he read Milton's Paradise Lost, another story about punishment, tragedy, and the delicacy of creation, which was a major inspiration for Shelley when she wrote the novel. The monster's ability to articulate his feelings through the language of Paradise Lost is a crucial part of the comparison I'm making; the monster can speak in sophisticated English; to observers, his humanity is apparent in his language, but not beyond that point. He is still, outwardly, a creature. Victor even refers to his creation as a "vile insect" at one point.
We can see a strong connection between Gregor and the monster in a few ways. Gregor has a human psyche. As he dies, he thinks tenderly of his mother and father, his sister. There is a vital part of his existence that is human, yet from his family's perspective that is not apparent. To them Gregor is simply a giant insect. Like the monster, Gregor has a deep inner sense of humanity, but cannot communicate that; is never given the chance to show the world what he truly is.
I found all of this to be interesting when considering Kafka's own personality. Like Woolf, he is an author that, I think, is best read while knowing a bit about his background. Kafka was German and Jewish, born and raised in Prague. It is widely accepted that he suffered from depression, and even social anxiety, which are evident within the novel. Being Jewish in Prague made finding a place difficult, between the German-speaking community and the Czech-speaking one. Here, we see the first real feeling of isolation in Kafka's life. Within the novella, there are signs of depression I picked up on almost immediately. Gregor feels separated, as if he cannot relate to the modern world around him. A classic symptom of depression, the feeling of watching the world pass by through a pane of glass, is taken literally in The Metamorphosis, not only when Gregor stares longingly out of the window as it fogs over, but with the majority of the story taking place as Gregor listens to his family continue with their lives through the closed doors of his bedroom. Gregor's room becomes dusty, they move furniture in around him, they essentially act like he's not there; there are so, so many ways to look at this story through the lens of depression and mental illness.
As I mentioned a second ago, Kafka was also thought to have social anxiety. This is shown in Gregor's constant need to please and his worry about his family only. He dies to please them, LITERALLy. Also, a point I find to be pretty important is that no matter Gregor's state, he cannot connect to the people around him. When in human form, the truly insectoid aspects of his personality are blown up; he only focuses on work, making frames, and looking at train timetables. He doesn't socialize, isn't really there. When an insect, he is an insect. Though his psyche is human, he cannot reach out and seek human contact, because he might get murdered if he tries to. At all times within this novel, he is an other.
This ties to Shelley in an interesting way. Though Frankenstein was perhaps not as reflective of her personality, Shelley was also prone to bouts of depression, and this can somewhat be seen in her novel. However, Frankenstein was written at a time when mental illness was less talked about. I'm just speculating here, but perhaps The Metamorphosis is a modern reflection of Frankenstein, in a society where mental illness was felt and explored in a more direct way. With Freud and other psychoanalysist's works becoming very popular in the early 20th century, as well as Kafka's known interest in spirituality, reincarnation, etc., one could argue The Metamorphosis was a giant reflection of Kafka's own mental state. I'm not sure if the novella was intended for the world, but it seems so much more personal than Frankenstein; Gregor has major daddy issues, the whole insectoid thing can be taken in SO many different ways, and the story is essentially one big psychiatric analysis wet dream.
Basically, Gregor = Frankenstein of the modern era (?)
This is a really interesting connection, I can definitely see how Frankenstein and Gregor are related. Both are trying so hard to communicate their humanity to others, but because of their appearance and undeveloped/nonexistent communication skills they're ultimately rejected. Your point about mental illness is also something I hadn't thought of before, I guess because Gregor seems pretty optimistic about a lot of things, at least at the beginning, and he's so attached to his family. But the symptoms of depression are definitely there. Gregor is kind of self-deprecating as a bug, always acknowledging what a nuisance he is and not really complaining about the abuse he gets. He loses the only purpose he had which was supporting his family, and the idea of watching other peoples' lives go by through a glass pane is a very poignant image. It's definitely a tragic story, especially when viewed through Kafka's own struggles.
ReplyDeleteThis analogy makes a lot of sense to me, especially the aspect of communication and how "humanity" depends on an ability to articulate a self in some way. For readers of Shelley's novel, the creature's "humanity" is beyond dispute; Victor only refuses to recognize it out of a sense of his own guilt, and his own failure to face the responsibility of a creator of life. In Kafka's story, we perceive Gregor's humanity through the representation of his consciousness, but others in the novel cannot. In a sense, they can be forgiven for being so "cruel" to Gregor, since his humanity and identity are nowhere in evidence.
ReplyDeleteA crucial difference, reflecting in some ways the move from a romantic to a modern setting, is that in Shelley, the responsibilities of the creator are central--the creature's demands are reasonable and sound, and Victor is the tragic hero at the center of the story who has overstepped his bounds. In Kafka, there is no "creator," no one to blame for Gregor's metamorphosis. It's just this absurd joke on the universe's part. He can't speak, and there's no creator with whom to petition for clemency. Just the cold, indifferent universe. _Frankenstein_ is a pretty bleak story, but at an existential level, Kafka is far bleaker.