What if Gregor was any other animal??!
In our class discussion the other day, we mentioned the possible reasoning for Kafka choosing a giant insect as the animal that Gregor was transformed into, versus another type of animal. We uniformly agreed that Kafka's choice of a large cockroach-like insect was deliberate. By choosing an insect as the new body of Gregor, it gives both the reader and the characters that Gregor encounters in the book the ultimate sense of dehumanization without leaving the realm of living vertebrate. Below I have some reasonings as to why an insect was Kafka's best choice of brute:
- bugs are the most commonly killed leaving creatures. There are insect repellents and other devices to get rid of bugs that are easily available at your local grocery store, and it is normal for a household to own one or more of these repellents. Also, an exterminator is a person whose paid occupation is to exterminate (a rather aggressively fancy word for killing bugs!) these creatures from your household. The acceptance of bug deaths is widely common. However, this statement cannot be said for many other animals, such as precious puppies or horses or sea otters or cheetahs.
- Though, some people do kill some of these animals as a hobby (which I personally find completely demoralizing but no judgment it's fine) and therefore will say that the argument of which a bug is the only living creature killed with wide acceptance is invalid. To that I'd say that the creepy-crawliness of an insect is another reason for the validity of Kafka's choice of creature. Many people generally find that the eerie crawling movement and swiftness of insects' skittering legs across the ceiling or textured bodies glistening in the light give them a sense of disgust and general uncomfortableness.
These widely agreed opinions on the idea of insects gives The Metamorphosis readers a sense of repugnance toward the transformed Gregor, despite the sympathies we feel for him as we see his struggles to communicate with his family and chief clerk. However, what if Kafka had chosen another type of animal for Gregor to live his life as? I believe that the underlying tones of his characterization would be very different, and would change both our perception of Gregor and our judgment of the family's reactions.
Here are ideas of how I think we would perceive Gregor as three specific different animals:
* Kangaroo - I imagine that Gregor would be bouncing off of walls instead of crawling on them, and would probably be knocking over all of the furniture as he tried to get adjusted to his spring-like body. Personally I think kangaroos are not repulsive (unlike a large insect), and would actually be a pretty cool pet to have in your house, if you ignore the very possible physical damage that kanGa-regor would conduct. However, the reactions from his family would probably be more rooted in surprise than in grief. A kangaroo as a brother would amuse me more than an insect brother would...
* Canary - If Gregor was a human-sized bird, I think that the story would be quite different in the way that there would not be any disgust in reactions, but rather confusion - I imagine that it would be like having a more realistic version of Big Bird living inside of your house. I don't think Sesame Street was a thing back when this short story was published, but I hope you can see the level of disorientation I would imagine this version of Gregor would create. Small birds are also usually gentle creatures, so the care-taking of bird-Gregor would be somewhat less hectic.
* Naked mole rat - A very unusual choice of animal, I know. However, I can see how there would be a level of repulsion caused by this animal, similar to the repulsion that Kafka's large-insect Gregor causes. However, I feel as though having Gregor transform into a naked mole rat would be seen more as having a peculiar pet at home, like how some households own sphynx cats as pets and some people find them really disgusting while others find them simply enthralling. Maybe Grete would enjoy having her brother as more of a pet rodent, rather than hesitantly taking care of her large insect sibling.
Overall, I think the idea of replacing the idea of Gregor as a life-sized cockroach with another life-sized animal can both humor you and also have an impact on how you judge outsider reactions on Gregor as they associate with him as said animal.
- bugs are the most commonly killed leaving creatures. There are insect repellents and other devices to get rid of bugs that are easily available at your local grocery store, and it is normal for a household to own one or more of these repellents. Also, an exterminator is a person whose paid occupation is to exterminate (a rather aggressively fancy word for killing bugs!) these creatures from your household. The acceptance of bug deaths is widely common. However, this statement cannot be said for many other animals, such as precious puppies or horses or sea otters or cheetahs.
- Though, some people do kill some of these animals as a hobby (which I personally find completely demoralizing but no judgment it's fine) and therefore will say that the argument of which a bug is the only living creature killed with wide acceptance is invalid. To that I'd say that the creepy-crawliness of an insect is another reason for the validity of Kafka's choice of creature. Many people generally find that the eerie crawling movement and swiftness of insects' skittering legs across the ceiling or textured bodies glistening in the light give them a sense of disgust and general uncomfortableness.
These widely agreed opinions on the idea of insects gives The Metamorphosis readers a sense of repugnance toward the transformed Gregor, despite the sympathies we feel for him as we see his struggles to communicate with his family and chief clerk. However, what if Kafka had chosen another type of animal for Gregor to live his life as? I believe that the underlying tones of his characterization would be very different, and would change both our perception of Gregor and our judgment of the family's reactions.
Here are ideas of how I think we would perceive Gregor as three specific different animals:
* Kangaroo - I imagine that Gregor would be bouncing off of walls instead of crawling on them, and would probably be knocking over all of the furniture as he tried to get adjusted to his spring-like body. Personally I think kangaroos are not repulsive (unlike a large insect), and would actually be a pretty cool pet to have in your house, if you ignore the very possible physical damage that kanGa-regor would conduct. However, the reactions from his family would probably be more rooted in surprise than in grief. A kangaroo as a brother would amuse me more than an insect brother would...
* Canary - If Gregor was a human-sized bird, I think that the story would be quite different in the way that there would not be any disgust in reactions, but rather confusion - I imagine that it would be like having a more realistic version of Big Bird living inside of your house. I don't think Sesame Street was a thing back when this short story was published, but I hope you can see the level of disorientation I would imagine this version of Gregor would create. Small birds are also usually gentle creatures, so the care-taking of bird-Gregor would be somewhat less hectic.
* Naked mole rat - A very unusual choice of animal, I know. However, I can see how there would be a level of repulsion caused by this animal, similar to the repulsion that Kafka's large-insect Gregor causes. However, I feel as though having Gregor transform into a naked mole rat would be seen more as having a peculiar pet at home, like how some households own sphynx cats as pets and some people find them really disgusting while others find them simply enthralling. Maybe Grete would enjoy having her brother as more of a pet rodent, rather than hesitantly taking care of her large insect sibling.
Overall, I think the idea of replacing the idea of Gregor as a life-sized cockroach with another life-sized animal can both humor you and also have an impact on how you judge outsider reactions on Gregor as they associate with him as said animal.
I think that in addition to the fact that bugs are killed without second thought, there is another reason to have Gregor be a giant bug. A bug is quite possible the least human creature that could have been chosen. Most other animals can portray some form of noticeable intelligence. I also think that the choice of cockroach is important because it means that Gregor poses absolutley no threat and is just a pest. But for other animals he could be, why stop at small animals getting larger. Personally, I think Gregor as a miniature giraffe would be quite funny.
ReplyDeleteThis was interesting to read. I can't think of anything worse than having a giant insect be in your house, even tiny ones are disgusting to me (and most people probably). Also its important that Gregor is an insect since they don't have faces and we don't normally think of them as planning or thinking at all. Kangaroos have faces and dogs have faces and since Gregor doesn't have one I think that would make it difficult for his family to relate to him at all, even as a pet.
ReplyDeleteI think you underestimate the creep factor of human sized bird legs, mixed with their jerky and sudden movements. To be honest I would probably take a cockroach over a bird. However, I see your point about Kafka's choice of animal.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting and original post! I most definitely agree that there's an automatic, visceral disgust when you imagine Gregor the big bug crawling on the ceiling or clinging to the window. Yeah a pet kangaroo would be pretty lit (probably until it started smashing your house) but the idea of Gregor as a giant bird brings to mind that one scene from Pixar's 'Bug's Life' where they all run away from the giant bird, which was terrifying to watch as a little kid. However, there's something closer to human about birds, kangaroos and even naked mole rats (really Grace where do you get these ridiculous ideas) that would make Gregor more palatable were he to transform into one of these. As written, it's nightmarish.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Kafka's choice was definitely deliberate. I think what makes it really interesting is the fact that Gregor's sister treats him not like a dog or cat (animal's that are usually household pets) but as something lesser. Instead of putting food on a plate, she starts putting it on a newspaper. She also ends up feeding Gregor literal trash. I think this adds to your argument that Gregor being another animal would change the entire story. Great blog post!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that having Gregor turn into an insect rather than a different animal dehumanizes him more and makes it more acceptable for people to hurt him. I think its interesting that Kafka didn't choose a scarier animal though. There a lots of animals (snakes and spiders for example) that typically scare people more than insects. I think of most insects as more creepy than straight up scary. I think if Gregor were a scarier, more potentially dangerous animal, his family might not take care of him at all, whereas having Gregor turn into a merely creepy animal enables Kafka to have his family put up with him.
ReplyDeleteHaha I love this post grace! It's really fun to imagine all the different animals Gregor could have transformed into. I was thinking that if he was a kangaroo it might be quite difficult for him, since kangaroos jump so often and high. So he might get really tired of his cramped space really fast. Also the canary idea-- I can just imagine his sister bringing in buckets and buckets of insects and worms for him to eat...not the most pleasing thing either. Anyway, as a whole, you did a great job pointing out how the cockroach aspect really shapes the entire story, which is quite an important observation.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of Gregor being a kangaroo is so amusing. But what is even more funny to me is the “reason” he would transform into any of these animals. We talked in class a little about how reason that he’s a bug is because of his insect-like submissive behavior in real life, and because he is a hard yet mindless worker. I wonder what human character traits would be so prevalent that they would lead a person to transform into a kangaroo? Ridiculously high energy? Or maybe he would have been an intense boxer or something? As for the canary – would Gregor have been super shallow-minded and loud? Maybe a little flamboyant? And if it were the naked mole rat, maybe he was a hermit or lovably ugly? Anyways, for all of these, the name Gregor seems a little too somber. Maybe a name like Jim or Elvis or Freddy or something more lighthearted and fun would fit Kangaroo Gregor more?
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting idea! I love it! On a slightly different tangent, consider how merely the type of bug could change the view. We have automatically assumed (due to previous knowledge or discussions in class) that Gregor is a cockroach, and yet, Grete's letter to Dr. Seuss (yes, I know it's not necessarily true, but bear with me) suggests at the end that Gregor was not a cockroach but a beetle. Somehow, the idea of killing a beetle (though the killing of Gregor as a cockroach was horrifying) seems less likely to be accepted.
ReplyDeleteThis blog post is especially funny considering the videos that we watched in class. In the video we see Kafka struggling to decide what to transform Gregor into. This post is very similar to that process, and the idea of something other than a roach is quite interesting. I really enjoyed this post!
ReplyDeleteI particularly enjoyed the idea of Gregor being a betel presented in the This American Life podcast. I thought that Gregor going through a second metamorphosis that Grete discovered through the cracked shell of the dead betel was a much more sisterly horrific ending to the story.
ReplyDeleteGrace, this is a really funny post. I definitely agree that Gregor as a different animal definitely seems awkward. However, the more I look at it, I don't think Kafka could've picked a more ironic animal than a cockroach. Compared to other insects , cockroaches are often perceived as worthless and a detriment to the world. Ironically, Gregor pre-metamorphosis was an essential part of his own family, as he was the only breadwinner. Not only did turning into an animal make Gregor useless, but turning into a cockroach made Gregor doubly useless.
ReplyDeleteI also feel like being a cockroach made the best sense in the novel, especially with Gregor being so dehumanized and rejected by everyone. I feel like bugs are one of the easiest creatures that we can just wave off as ugly and gross. If he was a kangaroo, I think his family would have tried more to find human in him, and not think of him as gross. Nice post, it was really funny!
ReplyDelete