Stream of Consciousness

Gregor reminds me of my friend Eddie. Eddie is a marine who was stationed in Iraq, who has seen a land mine blow up the tank in front of his, who dashed and leaped ten yards to escape a grenade bombing, who crouched right beside his best friend, who was killed by six bullets. He's suffered many traumatizing moments, and witnessed many inhumane acts. When he came home to visit me, things were not the same. My mother actually met him first at a super market- she saw he was slim (toned), very tan, and sported a buzz cut. My mother did not recognize him. In fact, she was wondering why a "black" man was waving hi to her. (Please don't take this as a racist remark, it's not, but there's rarely any African Americans in San Jose so my mom was pretty shocked) Later that evening, Eddie visited our house and my mom was once again shocked that the man she saw earlier was actually Eddie. We politely asked how he was doing, and if he suffered any injuries- luckily he did not, only a few scars here and there. Then, "BAM!" Eddie crouched down and put his arms over his head faster than lightning and I responded with, "Eddie.. it's just my dogs.." He looked nervous. He apologized for his rapid movement, but I said no worries, I understand. Then, he continued on with his war stories and how much it's afffected him.
I won't go on, but the point of this story was to show how Gregor was like Eddie. In our discussion, we related Gregor to a soldier- lost in his own world, unable to communicate, depressed, has a pessimistic worldview, and so on. But what angers me the most is Gregor's sister. She chose to complete destroy Gregor, rather than try to relieve his suffering. He's still his brother, like Eddie is still my friend. She didn't try to understand him, while Eddie actually inspired me. I know this is such a lame inspiration but whenever I had to run a "circuit" (2 laps, 10 pushups, one huge lap around the field, then up and down the bleachers, which were really tall), I always thought of Eddie and how many miles he had to run and that would not just keep me going, but make me run faster. It amazes me that Gregor has sacrificed his entire life, and continues to devote his efforts to his sister by planning to earn enough money to send her to the conservatory, only for her to completely abandon him. She thought of him as such a burden, her inability to live her own life, her efforts hindered by the thought of Gregor. I asked Eddie why he wanted to join the Marines (seemed like a death sentence to me), and he replied, "so that you, my friends, and my brother wouldn't have to." I wasn't sure why he thought this way, or why he would make such a huge sacrifice, or if there were any other reasons, but I always respected him.
Anways, I was reading David Dressor's post, and I have to disagree with him (sorry!!). I thought this book was quite captivating, and very depressing. It made me think how inhumane people can be. Actually, I was talking to one of my friends who is Korean, and she informed me that it was law in Korea for a child to bury their own parents when they turned sixty years old. How cruel... people obeyed, out of fright, and because it was law. I guess since it was law, they grew accustomed to it and continue to practice such a ritual . Oh wait, I forgot to mention, bury them ALIVE. So many depressing thoughts... I guess the book to me was just very depressing in general. I hate insects, so this book grossed me out since the beginning. However, Gregor's stream of consciousness constantly reminded me of Eddie.