Trapped

I did a little research on performances on A Doll's House and there was one that stuck out to me. It was done in 2008 at the Bated Breathe Theater Company, and even though it didn't get the greatest reviews, I thought the director took an interesting twist to the story. I think she went a little over the top, but at least it was something original. Instead of having a "comfortable" house, like the one Ibsen describes, the director strips away all of the knick-knacks and carpeting and instead has only a few white blocks that double as chairs and tables. The most interesting part of the set I thought were the walls. In the beginning on the play there are plush, yellow-ish walls but slowly as the play progresses the walls change to grey. The room moves from being warm and welcoming to cold and dark and the idea is that it's supposed to feel like an insane asylum, and Nora is the patient.

The director even went far enough to have Nora wear a hospital bracelet, hinting at her being a patient. Torvald moves away from being her huband, and instead acts like her doctor. Even when he is calling her pet names, it is without love or heart, it is simply showing that she belongs to him. There is a "frigid chemistry" between the two, and the director wanted to show from the start that the marriage is fake and has no love behind it.

I think it's an interesting idea to focus on Nora being trapped, but I also think it moves away from Ibsen's original ideas. I like the idea that the house looks comfortable and some place where the audience would want to live and then we can join Nora on her journey as her story unravels. I think it would have been better if the house starts out as Ibsen describes it and then slowly gets darker, but not to the gloomy place that this version ends up. I also think it's better for the audience to believe in Nora and Torvald's relationship in the beginning, because it makes it more interesting when it slowly breaks apart.

Jesus-like?

I was originally going to write about something completely different, but I read Dexter's post below and it got me thinking about what characteristics Gregor possessed that were similar to Jesus and how he was different. To me, the most Jesus-like quality that Gregor has is his total acceptance of his horrible situation. Just as Jesus accepted his fate as one who was to be tortured and sacrificed, Gregor accepts his life as a bug. He wakes up worrying about work and about money and the train, but not once does he ask, "Why the hell am I a bug?" or wonder how he may become human again. Throughout the whole book, this concept kept throwing me off. I just didn't know what it meant that the author made sure never to show Gregor as being in opposition to his condition. He speaks about it objectively as if someday it will no longer exist, but if I was a bug, I would be freaking out. Just saying.

While Gregor is accepting of his fate, I'm not sure if he is accepting with the same awareness that Jesus was and consequently, I don't agree that Gregor's death was a self-sacrifice. It just seemed as if he was really hurt and knew his family didn't want him around and went into his room because it was the thing to do. He died that night because he was so hurt and had a short life-span as a bug, not because he made some sort of altruistic and self-sacrificing decision in order to benefit his family. However, I do think that a sacrifice took place. Even though "Vermin" is meaning "not to be sacrificed", it seems as if Grete makes a conscious decision to sacrifice Gregor for her own benefit and for her family's future. She was ready to put Gregor out to pasture at the time of his death and his deterioration in health was a direct result of her recent lack of care. At the end of her story, she is finally able to shine as an individual because her brother, even as an insect, overshadowed her contributions to the family.

Self-sacrifice

In class last Thursday, there was debate on whether Gregor was sacrificed and if so, for whom? In my opinion, Gregor eventually rots away in his room to relieve his family of the duty, tension, and strain that is put upon them by boarding an insect. His death is met with more celebration and rejoice than mourning for the end of the burden that Gregor, their son, had put upon them. While Gregor lived in the house, each family member had to take on a job, be extremely wary of entering Gregor’s bedroom, and rent out a portion of the house to a group of three men. Just as Jesus had sacrificed his Earthly body to forgive mankind’s sins, Gregor sacrificed himself to ensure a better life for his family.

"Just from each other's glance and almost without knowing it they agreed that it would soon be time to find a good man for her. And, as if in confirmation of their new dreams and good intentions, as soon as they reached their destination Grete was the first to get up and stretch out her young body.” This marks a pivotal moment in the novella in which, through Gregor’s sacrifice, allowed his family to travel to the country, move to smaller quarters, and save money. All this without worrying about a giant insect living in the adjacent room.

Sacrifice: to surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else. In the last scene of the novella, Gregor’s family debates ending Gregor for the sake of improving their own lives, without consideration for his. Their argument was that Gregor would have wanted it this way. No matter the reason for Gregor’s death, his family sacrificed the insect, with rooting flesh and broken legs to improve their own lives.

Plagued by Relentless Duty

The Metamorphosis revolves around the notion of duty. Family duty enslaves Gregor from the time before his metamorphosis to his death. He removes his own interests from a situation and acts in accordance with those of his family when he is able to do so. Gregor despises his job and the trek he must embark on every day to get to and from his job. “There’s the trouble of constant traveling, of worrying about train connections, the bed and irregular meals, casual acquaintances that are always new and never become intimate friends” (68). However, he continues working at this job in order to financially support his family.

When Gregor is no longer able to work due to his metamorphosis that was out of his control, he is plagued by guilt for not being able to fulfill this particular duty. “Whenever the need for earning money was mentioned Gregor… felt so hot with shame and grief” (97). In not being able to provide for his family, Gregor feels as though he is failing his family. Despite the fact that his parents and sister are perfectly capable of putting in the effort to work, Gregor finds humiliation in his inconveniencing them.

Gregor further feels the need to protect his family emotionally. They are clearly repulsed by his appearance and react poorly to it each time they are forced to encounter it. Gregor sees it as his duty to hide under the sofa whenever one of his family members walks in so as to not upset him or her. Although this may seem like an immensely courteous gesture on Gregor’s part, I find it to be far more sad in the sense that he needs to hide his true self in order to maintain his family’s acceptance.

Family duty is also prevalent in the case of Gregor’s family members. However, they fulfill their duties only so far as is necessary. After Gregor’s metamorphosis, his sister proceeds to feed him twice a day and cleans his room. As time goes by, she does just enough to claim that she has fulfilled her duty, as she no longer cares what food she brings him or cleans his room. “We’ve tried to look after it and to put up with it as far as is humanly possible, and I don’t think anyone could reproach us in the slightest” (124). At this point she sees her duty to him as a sister as being fulfilled.

Kafka’s characters are plagued with the feelings of duty to their family. Gregor acknowledges his duty to financially and emotionally support his family members whereas Gregor’s sister solely sees it as her duty to physically care for him in return. Thus I would argue that Gregor spent too much of his life supporting a family that refused to reciprocate his effort and devotion.

Jose's Post

In the New Testament, we are introduced to various stories of “unclean” and “unholy” people. For example in the book of John 8:1-11 we are introduced to Mary Magdalene, a woman who is consider unclean because she is a prostitute. In the book of Mark 1:40-45, a man with leprosy is also presented as unholy because of his incurable skin disease. The commonalities between these two stories is that both present individuals that are rejected by friends, family and community. Similar to Mary Magdalene’s and the leper’s exile, Gregor’s life in Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” parallels their struggle and alienation. The significance of these struggles is that they serve as a sacrifice to the redemption of people in this world. For instance, Gregor’s transformation serves as the pathway to the unification of his family and friends. As Gregor tries to cope with his transformation, he feels reconnected with his family and community. Since he was unable to attend work, his family, as well as his manager, become extremely concern with what they refer to as his “illness”. Through the conversational interactions that Gregor has from within the room, he is able to feel appreciated and loved. Gregor states that “at least now that people knew that things were not completely all right with him…[they] were prepared to help him.” The significance of this is that his struggle has opened the doors for others to acknowledge his presence in the world. The notion that people were prepared to help him symbolizes the hope that Gregor had in feeling reconnected with his family and the community that surrounds him. Moreover, Gregor goes on to say that “the confidence and assurance with which his [parents sought help]… made him feel good. He felt himself included once again in the circle of humanity…”.Hence, even though the metamorphosis that Gregor underwent incapacitated many freedoms, it allowed him to recover his family, as well as the satisfaction of feeling loved.

              Throughout the story, Gregor, is confined to the similar acts of rejection that Mary Magdalene and the leper confronted including being “stoned” with apples, being exiled from the rest of the world due to his “deformation” and etc.

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.

Gregor and Jesus

In this post, I will expand on the idea of Gregor symbolizing Jesus. One of the similarities between Gregor and Jesus are the sacrificial natures of their lives. Jesus spent his life teaching and performing miracles for the good of others. Gregor spent his life working so that he could support his family. Even though he was still young man, he spent his life at the office so that his parents and his sister wouldn't have to work. He hated his job, yet he still went to it everyday so that his family could continue their lifestyle. The idea of timed life was also mentioned in class. Because Gregor transformed into a bug, he now had a limited lifetime. In the same way, Jesus had a limited lifetime because he was destined to die at a certain date. I think the most significant similarity between Gregor and Jesus was their deaths. Both their deaths were acts of sacrifice. Jesus was killed on the cross to save humanity, while Gregor, after over hearing his family complain about him, died so that he would no longer be a burden to his family. Because of his death, his family could go on with their lives. They all get jobs, and Gregor's parents even think about finding his sister a husband. The most significant acts of both Gregor and Jesus' life were their deaths, which is why Gregor is thought to symbolize Jesus. Gregor's dad throwing apples at him also parallels the way humanity crucified Jesus. Gregor was working at a job he hated to support his father and the rest of his family, but once he turned into the bug, his father can't accept him anymore and begins hurling apples at him. Likewise, Jesus was teaching and performing miracles for humanity but they eventually killed him on a cross. Both of them were killed by the people they were trying to help. Many people think that the title "Metamorphosis" references Gregor's transformation from human to insect. However, after seeing the similarities between Gregor and Jesus, I think the title references his death. The word metamorphosis means change, and Gregor's death was the thing that brought significant change to his family's life. Because of Gregor's "metamorphosis", his family could now get jobs and continue with their lives. In the same way, Jesus' brought "metamorphosis" to mankind through his death.