On Wednesday night, I made the mistake of reading the Metamorphosis right before going to sleep -- bad idea. I had some real crazy dreams involving public embarrassment, shifting realities and extremely large purple tigers. I woke with a distinct sense of displacement, as if the dream had never really ended. I think my strange dreams were a direct result of reading Kafka.
So why does reading Kafka evoke such a strange mess of emotional responses, both conscious and unconscious? In the Metamorphosis, Kafka is playing on humans' deepest fears. Humans typically want to be understood, loved, and comfortable within themselves. Gregor's transformation renders him utterly incapable of normal human communication, unlovable even to his closest family members, and disgusted by his own insect-like form.
While this kind of transformation is (hopefully) not an experience that many readers have suffered, we can instantly relate to Gregor's struggles because we've all experienced feelings of displacement and loneliness at some point in time. When reading about Gregor's extreme emotional discomfort, readers can recall the instances when we felt the same way, though to a decidedly lesser extent. By seeing those painful emotions magnified in the form of a gigantic cockroach-beetle-bug, readers are forced to confront their profound insecurities and fears.
When I revisited my weird dreams, I noticed a clear theme of alienation and emotional distance that is also reflected in Kafka's works. I find it remarkable that Kafka can so clearly capture humans' most confusing and uncomfortable emotions in his writing. While Kafkaesque reflections aren't pleasant, I think it can often be healthy to contemplate our definitively unpleasant emotions in order to better understand why they have such power over us. Like both Woolf and Hemingway, Kafka encourages readers to think more deeply about our life experiences. I believe that such introspection and self-reflection is why literature is so compelling and important to us as human beings.
I definitely think that Gregor's predicament is very related to his isolation. I was thinking about this in class the other day, because humans are very social creatures and as you point out, companionship is very important to someone. I think this underlying fear of isolation and being alone is definitely something that many if not all readers can relate to and therefore could very well be a reason that we all find Kafka's writing so disturbing. I would say that Kafka is definitely playing a mind game with us, having us feel this way, we feel sympathy for Gregor, despite the fact that most of us would recoil or have a similar reaction as his family does if we were to encounter him in real life.
ReplyDeleteI think what you're saying makes a lot of sense, even if I don't like it. Kafka makes us uncomfortable because he does capture those unpleasant and confusing emotions we all have and makes us confront them. We can't avoid them when reading Kafka because it's just impossible. There's certainly a lot to unpack with Kafka's uncomfortable emotions, like why they have power over us like you said or why they make us so uncomfortable or have a slight stigma. But I'm not sure if I like that. I don't really want to confront these kind of things. Yes, introspection is good for us as human beings, but do I have the time for that? More importantly, do I have enough time to deal with the emotional baggage that comes along with it? No, not really. So for now, I'll just enjoy a story about a guy that turns into an insect and not apply it to myself.
ReplyDeleteKafka scares me too, but like you said self reflection is important! In addition to the isolation you talked about there is also the surreal aspect/Kafkaesqueness. The fact that some parts of this book seem so ludicrous makes us reevaluate many of the emotions. For example the odd reactions to gregor's transformation make us look again and see the isolation, family dynamics, anger of the dad... which wouldn't be as apparent if he woke up screaming.
ReplyDeleteThe story of The Metamorphosis is really creepy and too was freaked out while reading parts of the novel. Kafka's writing is so utterly bizarre that reading it closely gives me an uneasy feeling. It seems like the more you think about his writing the scarier it becomes. At first glance it is a fairly simple story, but even a little bit of thought about any of the details show how completely alien and nightmarish it is.
ReplyDeleteYou’re right, this book is weird. It’s interesting to think how we can all relate to something even though it has never personally happened to us. It’s sad to think that we all have a fear of not being loved.
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