Month: November 2018

Metamorphosis:

“My dear parents,’ said the sister banging her hand on the table by way of an introduction, ‘things cannot go on any longer in this way. Maybe if you don’t understand that, well, I do. I won’t pronounce the name of my brother in front of this monster, and so all I say is: we have to try to get rid of it. We’ve done everything humanly possible to take care of it and to put up with it” (3.17)

Gregor’s family did not take the shock very well when they found out he transformed into a bug. His father got physical with him and started throwing apples at him. The video I chose depicts how the family reacted to his transformation. It is very dramatic as we can see from the acting and music in the background. The acting is over dramatic and the expressions are exaggerated. We see and sense the emotions the characters are feeling. The overemphasis of the characters emotions in the trailer make the story seem like a comedy. The actors do a great job in expressing how the family felt towards Gregor. They felt pain and anger which we see through the yelling and tears. His sister would not even say his name in front of him, who she calls a “monster”. She also refers to him as a “it” and not a human being. Gregor is seen as a bug or a home pest that they have to exterminate.

Gregor has provided for his family his whole life. He worked to help provide for his parents and sister who wanted to attend music school. However, his sister states, “We’ve done everything humanly possible to take care of it and to put up with it.” It is ironic that they can not do the same for him. If they get rid of Gregor, who would be able to pay the bills and support them?

The family no longer sees them as a son or a brother but a pest in their home that needs to be exterminated. The video trailer shows some scenes through the eyes of Gregor. We are able to see the looks that his father, mother, sister, and other visitors give him. The expressions and emotions toward the whole situation is very well depicted in the video.

Video: 0:40-5:00

I thought it was interesting how the video producer made Bartleby look. It matches his personality.

He is tall, skinny, and has bags under his eyes. He is given a sad expression on his face which does not change throughout the entire video. “At first Bartleby did an extraordinary quantity of writing. As if long famish- ing for something to copy, he seemed to gorge himself on my documents. There was no pause for digestion. He ran a day and night line, copying by sun-light and by candle-light. I should have been quite delighted with his application, had he been cheerfully industrious. But he wrote on silently, palely, mechanically.” Bartleby never leaves the office– he sleeps and works there 24/7. It is his home. He barely eats, hence why he is portrayed as a skinny character is the video. His boss should be happy that he is such a diligent and hard worker. The narrator also called Bartleby a “perpetual sentry in the corner”– he never left his spot like a soldier stationed to keep guard. We see the stacks of paper that fills up on his desk. He is like a robot that does a mundane task over and over again without stopping. He did his job from sunrise to sunset with no break. In the end, his exhaustion eventually caught up to him. Everyone strives for a job on Wall Street. They would do whatever it takes to land a job there, but Bartleby however is the opposite. He “prefers not to” do the task that is given to him by his boss. There are three other scriveners in the story that are the typical office workers, that listen to their boss and follows all the orders. They eat coffee and donuts.

The video also has no spoken dialogue which I thought was interesting. It correlates to the fact that  Bartleby doesn’t say that many lines throughout the story. The music in the background also makes it sound haunting and scary towards the end when Bartleby commits suicide.  The scenes where he is electrocuted and put through a paper shredder symbolizes his depression and emptiness. The wall that is outside his window symbolizes the prison that he feels like he is in. He is like a prisoner in the office, like many Wall Street workers feel like also. He often stares out the window which symbolizes his isolation and deteriorating health.