Daddy Issues

While we may be reading Song of Solomon, I think it’s time we have a little bit of a refresher on what it means to suddenly turn into a bug and eventually die alienated from your family. I’m speaking, of course, about The Metamorphosis. My research paper focused on the relationship between Gregor and the father and how it parallels Kafka’s real life relationship with his father, Hermann Kafka. Now, for a limited time only, I’ll provide a quick look into the similarities between the father in The Metamorphosis and the man that raised the author himself.

To begin with, the physical resemblance itself was a strong indicator of similarities between the father and Hermann Kafka.In the case of Hermann Kafka, he was known to be a large and overbearing businessman who even intimidated his son physically. In Kafka’s own words,

“There was I, skinny, weakly, slight; you strong, tall, broad. Even inside the hut I felt a miserable specimen, and what's more, not only in your eyes but in the eyes of the whole world, for you were for me the measure of all things.” (Letter to My Father 4)

The awe that Kafka has for his father is clearly present and you can easily find reflections of this in Kafka’s work. In addition, his work as an independent retailer and as a successful businessman allowed him to have a large amount of control over the family which further contributed to the amount of power he had over the family. His superiority over his son definitely contributed to Kafka’s later insecurities and Gregor’s role in The Metamorphosis.

Meanwhile, the father in The Metamorphosis started out as a weak individual, but once the father donned a uniform, he transformed into this big, powerful man. For instance,

“Now he was standing there in fine shape; dressed in a smart blue uniform with gold buttons, such as bank messengers wear; his strong double chin bulged over the stiff high collar of his jacket; from under his bushy eyebrows his black eyes darted fresh and penetrating glances; his onetime tangled white hair had been combed flat on either side of a shining and carefully exact parting.” (Kafka, The Metamorphosis 121)

It is clear to the readers and Gregor that this man is physically imposing and dominates the scene. Similarly, the connection between the uniform and the power of the father tells us how having a job equals power in this family dynamic. While it might be a plain job (in the book, he was bank messenger), it’s more important to realize that this job serves as a sign of status in Gregor’s eyes. The father becomes the head of the house, replacing Gregor, as a result of his role as financial provider.

From the father towering over Gregor when he enters in his uniform to the power that the father demonstrates when he is beating Gregor, the physical superiority of the father to the son is apparent in reality and in fiction.

There are many other parallels between the father and the son (both real and non real) that I would love to go into further, but I’ll have to save that for another day. If you want to know more about the father-son relationship and how it relates to Kafka, I would be glad to share it with you! For now, all we can do is reconsider Gregor’s position in the family and how much of the father was inspired by real life.

Works Cited:

1. Kafka, Franz. The Complete Stories. Ed. Nahum Norbert Glatzer. New York: Schocken, 1971. Print.
2. Kafka, Franz. Letter to My Father. Trans. Ernst Keiser and Eithne Wilkins. Ed.

DDDDDArthur S. Wensinger. N.p.: Schoken, 1931. Google Docs. Schoken

DDDDDBooks Inc. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CK480j6khmHzAZYdR26Zu1Iu064uCo32JnESIulbFYw/preview>.

Love Potion No. 9

“ ‘Hush up,’ she said. ‘ If the man don’t love you, I can’t make him love you.’

‘Yes, you can, I know you can. That is what I wish and that is why I came here. You can make people love or hate. Or...or die.’” (Rhys, 102).

This is a small snippet of the conversation between Christophine and Antoinette about Antoinette’s relationship with Rochester. In this scene, she is trying to convince Christophine to give her a love potion so that she can trick Rochester into falling in love with her. At first, Christophine is reluctant to help her since the stuff she uses is not meant for love nor is it used on gentlemen like Rochester, but eventually Antoinette persuades her to make the potion. Antoinette’s desire to make Rochester love her despite the fact that Rochester married her for money and constantly calls her “Bertha” indicates Antoinette’s desperation for company and emotional fragility. Yet, it is this desperation that ultimately causes Rochester to separate himself from Antoinette. Shortly after the potion takes effect, Rochester goes into full desire mode and, like Christophine said, have sex. After the potion wears off, Rochester still doesn’t love Antoinette and, on top of that, Rochester suffers a major reaction from the potion.

“I woke in the dark after dreaming that I was buried alive, and when I was awake the feeling of suffocation persisted. [...] I was cold too, deathly cold and sick and in pain. I got out of bed without looking at her, staggered into my dressing-room and saw myself in the glass. I turned away at once. I could not vomit. I only retched painfully.” (Rhys, 124).

Rochester’s physical rejection of Antoinette’s love potion demonstrates the intensity with which he rejects Antoinette’s love. He purges himself of his desires for Antoinette and actually runs away from her and into the arms of another woman. The irony of this situation cannot go unnoticed. The very thing that Antoinette used to try and win back Rochester was also the thing that pushed him away the most. Furthermore, once Rochester realizes that he has been poisoned, he stares at Antoinette as she sleeps and, “ ...drew the sheet over her gently as if I [Rochester] covered a dead girl.” (Rhys, 125). Not only is his love for Antoinette gone, but actually views her as a corpse. With the addition of the affair, there is pretty much no chance for Antoinette and Rochester reuniting happily. While there are plenty of other factors contributing to this troubled marriage, this scene represents a changing point in Antoinette and Rochester’s future and at this point, it’s not especially bright.

Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. New York: Norton, 1982. Print.

Meursault is a Psychopath

What is a psychopath? According to Psychology Today, a psychopath has a certain number of characteristics such as being uncaring, shallow emotions, irresponsibility, insincere speech, overconfidence, narrowing of attention, selfishness, violence, and inability to plan for the future. Hmm, doesn’t that sound familiar? From the very beginning of The Stranger,  Meursault demonstrated at least half of these characteristics yet he seems like a normal guy. He goes about his day without feeling the urge to bear ill will against anyone nor does anyone suspect he’s anything but ordinary. Compared to sociopaths, who are much easier to spot in society, the psychopath has the benefit of being able to be a part of the masses without being detected.

Additionally, psychopaths are much more common in society than you think. In one study, while it is incredibly hard to measure, they estimated that about 1 in 100 people are psychopaths. Before you go and invest in a full armor body suit, it’s important to note that not all psychopaths want to murder you. In fact, much like Meursault, they deal more with management/office work and are people who are just not capable of feeling empathy for other people. They tend to be focused more on themselves and see people as things that are designed to give them pleasure.

Thinking about this, we can easily see this in Meursault's reaction to his mother’s death. While everyone who attended the sigil was crying or showing some degree of grief, Meursault wasn’t really feeling any sadness. Of course, you could say he was in a state of shock, but even the days following the death, he doesn’t think of his mother in a way that follows normal grieving patterns. He instead returns to his normal lifestyle and focuses on what to do with his extra days off from work. Earlier, I mentioned how psychopath’s don’t care about what happens to other people. Well, if we go back to the funeral scene, we can see this in action when Meursault is holding sigil with his mother’s friends. When one of them starts crying, Meursault is annoyed and wishes for them to stop. This is a perfect example of the psychopath's inability to feel empathy for other people.

Furthermore, psychopath’s see people as something to use for pleasure. Soon after his mother’s death, Meursault enters a relationship with Marie. We all know what’s going on there and that there isn’t any real love between the two (maybe with Marie but definitely not Meursault). Meursault makes it extremely clear that he does not love Marie and that she is there for more physical reasons. He repeatedly says that he “wants her”, but that’s really just him using Marie as a source of pleasure.

Even Meursault’s relationship with Raymond highlights Meursault’s psychopathic personality. From how Raymond treats his girlfriend to when Raymond is attacked by an Arab, Meursault doesn’t show any emotion or react in any way. Similarly, the murder of the Arab wasn’t inspired by his thirst for vengeance but rather it just happened. Meursault isn’t sad that it happened but he is upset that his freedom is taken away. A psychopath only cares for him/herself and no one else. While Meursault may seem like a normal guy in a terrible situation, there are several clues that reveal his true nature as a psychopath in the end.

What does it take to get a little appreciation around here?

           I can honestly say I’m glad I’m not in Gregor’s situation. Transforming into a giant bug overnight does not appeal to me in the slightest. I’d probably die of fear from myself before anything even happened in the story. In contrast to my severe entomophobia, Gregor remains relatively calm and even finds pleasures in his life as an insect (e.g. crawling on the wall and whatnot). Yet, this new life comes with a pretty steep price tag. Along with his humanity, Gregor discovers just how much his family has been using him and how easily they are able to move on without him. In my opinion, the greatest tragedy to befall Gregor is his realization that his family had manipulated him into thinking they couldn’t live without him then abandoning him as soon as he becomes a burden.

In the beginning of the story, we are introduced to the family. The father who can’t work due to his age and has crippling debt yet enjoys languish breakfasts. The mother who, besides being one of the more sympathetic characters, actually doesn’t do too much besides feel stress over Gregor’s new state. And finally, Gregor's sister, Grete, a girl who loves her brother but is introduced as someone that is relatively frail and shy. Now, after multiple discussions in class and readings, we can identify that Gregor’s family heavily relied on Gregor for money. Even Gregor believed himself to be the only solution to absolve his family’s debt. With this in mind, let’s look back at the first scene.

At the beginning of the story, as the family began to recognize that something is wrong with Gregor, they surrounded his room and began badgering him about his work. When they finally realize that something has happened to Gregor, the mother immediately sends for a doctor.

“You must go to the doctor right away. Gregor is sick. Hurry to the doctor. Have you heard Gregor speak yet?”  (20)

Yet, once Gregor emerges, he is quickly forced back into his room and left alone. Never once does it occur to the family to find someone to help Gregor after this incident. They seemingly accept that Gregor is a bug (or dead) and that they can do nothing to change the situation. Much like earlier, when Gregor believed himself to be the sole solution, the family believes that there is nothing to be done about their ~new~ roommate. What is really astonishing to me about this scene is that the family does absolutely nothing in response to Gregor’s new body. You could draw the comparison between Gregor’s non reaction to his new form and the family’s acceptance of the bug, but that’s not what I want to focus on. Instead, this lack of acknowledgement suggests that the family, now rid of their only source of income, do not want to go to the effort of figuring out the mystery of the bug. Their new goal is find another stable source of cash and latch their parasitic claws onto that.

But, wait, doesn’t the family end up having to work to provide for themselves? In a perfect world, that could mean they’re finally realizing the true value of all that Gregor did for them. Yet, that wouldn’t explain the parents new fascination with Grete at the end of the book. Throughout the story, Grete is the one who begins to become the financial provider of the family. While the father definitely contributes to this role, let’s be honest he won’t last nearly as long as Grete could. The final paragraph of The Metamorphosis especially highlights the moment the family begins to recognize Grete as not only a woman but as someone capable of being successful. This realization immediately changes the focus of the story from Gregor’s struggle with his humanity to Grete’s transformation in the story. All of Gregor’s labors are forgotten and the family moves on.

Gregor, throughout this entire process, is torn between appreciation for his family’s (very little) effort to accommodate him and anger at not being able to work and provide for the family. While it is kind of noble for Gregor to think so kindly of his family, it is a little unjustified. All Gregor did was work and provide for the family, but when times get rough, his family deserts him. I think Gregor was never really in it for the money or getting rid of his father’s debt. Instead, all Gregor really needed was some appreciation for what he did. After all the years he put in for his family and only to be rewarded by abandonment must have hurt. Being acknowledged for his dedication would have prevented a lot of the guilt that plagued him by the end of the story, and possibly, could have prevented his death. Ultimately, a little appreciation may have gone a long way in the life of Gregor but his family wasn’t able to view Gregor as anything other than a bug, and as a result, treated him like one.

Kafka, Franz, and A. L. Lloyd. Metamorphosis. New York: Vanguard, 1946. Print.

Lady Ashley and The Times

To say The Sun Also Rises focuses on the masculinity of its characters would be an understatement. However, I would argue that this book does more to introduce the rise of feminism and to make the world more comfortable with the term than on masculinity. The primary example, of course, being Lady Brett Ashley. Within the 1920s atmosphere, Brett embodies the individual, free thinking woman and continuously defies female restrictions. From her physical appearance to her sexuality, Hemingway created a character that has truly influenced the original audience’s view on women.

To start, Brett follows the fashions. She wears the latest clothing and sports a short haircut, a haircut reminiscent of a more masculine style. If she were to be a part of today’s society, she would definitely be a part of the high fashion society in France or New York or whatnot. Yet, at the time, this stylistic approach to female dress represents more than simply looking good. The 1920s fashion was a way of expressing a woman’s independence from former oppressions (such as the corset). In Brett’s case, she not only uses her style to establish her independence but also introduce her more masculine traits.

For example, Brett drinks with men and does not shy from alcohol that may be deemed more “manly”. Along the same lines, we always see Brett hanging out with men. In one of the first scenes we see her in, Brett is partying with a large group of men and for the rest of the novel there isn’t any reference to her female comrades. This suggests that she is truly a “man’s woman” and combined with her promiscuity, suggests a freedom from society’s expectations of a “pure” woman. Especially in the scene with the bullfights, Brett’s ability to withstand the brutality of the fights also proves Brett’s ability to assert herself into masculine society. Compared to Cohn’s inability to watch the violence, this points out the inconsistency in the perception that all women are faint of heart and opens the door to finding other things that women can do just as well as men.

Hemingway does an excellent job of portraying Jake’s surprise and introduces the concept known as feminism without explicitly saying so. The interesting thing about The Sun Also Rises is that it not only explores the idea of gender equality but it also goes into further detail about what it means to be a woman with desires and anxieties. Throughout the novel, we see Brett’s aggressive sexual antics and high level of “activity” which wasn’t a subject that was often explored at the time. However, this subject has faced backlash. Some say her power over her lovers contributes largely to the argument that Brett is a “bitch” who seeks to use these men before ultimately throwing them away. Yet, her ability to control her relationships (she is the initiator/terminator of all her relationships) shows that the relationship is based on her terms and gives Brett power over her affairs. So while her actions may not be accepted by everybody,  Brett’s dominance in the relationship not only threatens men, but also threatens the patriarchal order.

As a result, Brett epitomizes the 1920s woman and the growing popularity of the independent woman. While it may not be a main focus of the novel, Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises broadcasts the changing role of women in society and introduces the concept of feminism to many of its readers. Although many people  may find Brett annoying or “bitchy”, her character continues to explore female independence and equality in a way that continues to impact readers of the current generation.

The Hours: Critical Analysis of Laura Brown

The Hours is a film not only based on Virginia Woolf’s personal life, but it also explores the themes of her one of her most famous novels, Mrs. Dalloway. Does it succeed? Personally, I thought the film was extremely well done (I mean, it has Meryl Streep). It really helped me understand the effects of mental illness and the oppression of women during various time periods. Especially Laura’s character, played by Julianne Moore, who uses Mrs. Dalloway to escape reality and actually shares several aspects of Clarissa’s life. For example, she finds herself in the role of a common housewife and has to hide her feelings of unhappiness from society. Similar to Clarissa from the novel, Laura finds herself escaping her oppressive surroundings by retreating to Mrs. Dalloway and using it as a literary advisor. If you read my previous blog post, you could make the connection that Laura is using the book to blend fiction with reality. This demonstrates the fragile balance between sanity and insanity and how it affects those we might deem normal. Laura uses the book to as a physical metaphor for her emotions much like Clarissa uses her parties to reflect her thoughts on life. Anyway, it’s a good film but its heavy themes make it a movie that might be hard to watch twice.

Exploring the Sanity of Clarissa and Septimus

According to Virginia Woolf, she to wanted to create a world that put “the sane and insane side by side”. In Mrs. Dalloway, it is suggested that Clarissa, a party hostess, represents the mentally sound while Septimus, a shell shocked World War I, struggles with reality and shows signs of schizophrenia. However, both are not as different as they may seem. They both show signs of depression, feel repressed by their surroundings, and blend fantasy/memory with reality. So, what truly separates the sane from the insane?

The key difference lies in Mrs. Dalloway’s ability to function in society while ignoring her internal turmoil and emotional fragmentation. Similar to Virginia Woolf’s dealings with mental illness, Mrs. Dalloway goes through the motions of life but is constantly grappling with an invisible enemy. Likewise, Virginia Woolf may have had bouts of hysteria but she was able to interact with human society during times of lucidity. Meanwhile, Septimus is trapped within the confines of his mind and his inability to tell separate fantasy and reality labels him insane. This line between sanity and insanity centers around the individual's perception of the real world.

In the case of Septimus, he experiences vivid visions and  translates his emotions into physical metaphors. Similarly, within Mrs. Dalloway, we often find instances where Clarissa experiences moments of “insanity”. For example, “Since she was lying on the sofa, cloistered, exempt, the presence of this thing which she felt so obvious became physically extent; with robes of sound from the street, sunny, with hot breath, whispering, blowing out the blinds” (122). Her emotions take on physical meaning and perfectly blend the external and internal.

As a result, neither Clarissa nor Septimus fully represent the sane or insane. While I didn’t fully explore Septimus’s sanity, he and Clarissa both share qualities that make it hard to clearly label one normal and the other crazy.

Source:

Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1925. Print.