VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 22:08:49 04/06/08 Sun
Author: tsawyer
Subject: Re: Gregor the bug
In reply to: Manuel 's message, "Re: Gregor the bug" on 21:25:45 04/06/08 Sun

Amen, Manuel. I was thinking the same thing and I almost posted it, but I figured I'd find out what the person prior (turned out to be you) had to say. When I read about Gregor, I don't actually think of a bug at all; I find him to be far more human than any of the other characters within the book. As you said, he certainly is a cog, but if he were to be anything other than a cog, he would ignore his family. It seems like the only way to avoid being something gross, despicable (buggish) is to serve those you love, in this case is family. Cog != bug. (Translation: Cog does not equal bug).

It seems like the biggest wrong (irony?) in this story is that the character of Gregor seems to be the least-bug like. Next in line is his sister who, as we see at the end of the bug, is poised to become just as much of a cog as Gregor has been. In fact, the logic here (if Kafka's universe gets the privilege of having logic, even to a minute degree) would argue that in order to be a cog, one really cannot be a bug. Cogs serve the purpose they are intended to serve. Cogs sacrifice their pride to love those important to them, even if that love is not returned. Cogs do not rebel against the part they are to play. Gregor is a cog, but he certainly is not a bug. He is not despicable or gross; he is not dependent on other people.

I started talking about Grete and then distracted myself. Let me get back to that. She also seems very un-buglike at the beginning of the play, though she seems to progress into the bugness common to her family as the play goes on. The story actually seems to tell of her turning into a bug, even though Gregor is the bug. At first she serves him out of compassion, then out of need for control. Finally she decides he is no longer necessary, no longer even himself. She stops serving her purpose and her family. She loses her cogness and begins to gain bugness.

In that light, it seems like Gregor only becomes a bug because he is, in fact, not a bug. Kafka's arbitrary world demands such improper fates and all Gregor can do is fill his position (loving his family) as best he can. That is why he dies. He becomes a bug precisely because he alone isn't one already.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Post a message:
This forum requires an account to post.
[ Create Account ]
[ Login ]
Forum timezone: GMT-5
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.