Author Archives: JANET ALVAREZ

How is Gregor’s family transformed in the wake of his metamorphosis ?

Gregor before he became an insect worked as a salesman, and he was stuck with that job because his family was in debt. As a salesman he wouldn’t make enough money due to him getting a commission from anything he sold. However, he was the head of household before he became a giant insect. After Gregor’s metamorphosis, his family became worried because they knew that they were not financially stable and the only person with a sufficient income was Gregor. The story states “ They had been good times, and they had never returned, at least not in that magnificence, even though Gregor went on to earn so much money that he was able to bear, and indeed bore, the expenses of the whole family.” (224) The family relied on Gregor so for them this change was not something they had sympathy over as much for Gregor than the sympathy they had for themselves. Before the transformation the family had a maid and because they did not have much money to afford to pay her they replaced her with a cleaning lady. His family started to not care about him, and started to focus on themselves which was a selfish move on their part because after Gregor worked a very challenging job in order to pay their debt, it’s hard for Gregor to see that his family slowly started to give their backs to him. Gregor needed comprehension and acceptance from his family even though it was a bit creepy but if he took care of them as long as he could, they were not willing to do the same for him when he needed it. 

Gregor emerges from his room one last time when he hears his sister playing her violin for the lodgers. What is the significance of this scene? What meaning does music hold for Gregor here?

 When Gregor steps out to listen to his sister play violin, he starts to feel pain. He feels the sadness of the moments he had with her while he had his human body. He knew that after his transformation those moments were not going to be possible anymore. Even though Gregor was mostly working to pay off the family’s debt, he had a goal which was to send his sister to school, because she loved to play violin and she loved music. The story states, “ Only his sister had remained close to Gregor, and it was his secret project to send her, who unlike himself loved music and played the violin with great feeling, to the conservatory next year, without regard to the great expense that was surely involved, and that needed to be earned, most probably in some other fashion.” (224) As a sibling, you want the best for your sibling, and you would do whatever it takes to make them happy, especially if he or she is your only sibling. Gregor knew that now since he was no longer in a human body his secret project would not be a success. The violin represents feelings, when you listen to it you reminisce moments, you get touched by the beautiful sound. Violin also has a sound of sadness, and in this case Gregor was injured due to his father hurting him, as an insect once it’s hurt it’s chances of still living are low, so this represented his farewell, he felt that he wouldn’t live long because of his injury.

The short story “And of Clay are We Created” by Isabel Allende, is a true-life experience which a young girl loses her life due to a volcano eruption. Her life changed suddenly like a blink of an eye, putting her in a position where all she could do was reminisce the happiest and unhappiest moments she lived on earth. I believe we can all connect to the sufferings that people went and are going through during this pandemic, because we can all just take a minute and put ourselves in their shoes and think about how difficult it can get. People are losing family members, loved ones, and friends due to this pandemic it is very challenging to not be able to connect to their sufferings. This connection is what brings us humans together not physically but spiritually because wherever in the world, I think people are doing prayers not only for themselves but for others as well, in hopes that all of this comes to an end. I think that screen plays a very important role in present day because for many people it’s their source for news informing them not only about what is happening wherever they are but also informing them of other parts of the world. Nevertheless, I believe that screens can be overwhelming, as well and cause a lot of anxiety and panic. Sometimes, people do not want to know about the terrible things that are occurring because it makes them to overthink things and that can mentally affect them. Even though this is something very serious and petrifying it takes away the good vibes from people because they are just thinking and living in fear due to everything they see or listen from screens. I think that the government plays a major role in managing disasters like this because there are thousands of people who rely on their behavior towards this. People rely on their information and the plans they have set, in order for people to be able to manage. This disaster has been overwhelming because my mom got sick and she had the symptoms and that resulted of her getting isolated. It was worrying for my family and I during those days because as we have heard through the screens, people would get very ill and have to be taken to a hospital where they would be isolated and as families we wouldn’t be able to know about them. Therefore, that worried us a lot, however, thankfully my mom recuperated. I believe that as human beings we learn to pretend like we are okay but in reality we aren’t. Situations like this, makes you feel like Rolf in his position, you are near a person who isn’t doing well and you start to reflect on things that you never got through, things from the past that you tried to escape but you find yourself acknowledging it again. This pandemic is a very chaotic situation, but I think that it made people reflect on many things from their lives and also brought people together, and reflect that life is something that we cannot take for granted and think that ourselves and loved ones will always be around because life can change in a blink of an eye.

A moment in the short story “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, that exposed the issue of race into Twyla and Roberta’s story was the moment that Twyla describes her mom telling her, “she would stop dancing long enough to tell me something important and one of the things she said was that they never washed their hair and they smelled funny.” (1174) In this moment of the story, Twyla’s mom is setting up an idea in which distinguishes them from the others. She uses “they” to refer the other people and with her statements she is implying that the people who are different from them usually do not have good hygiene. As a kid, anything your parents says or tells you will influence your mindset to think the same, therefore, Twyla will be influenced to divide her and the kids who she meets at St. Bony’s. Defining someone by their skin pigmentation is not the only root of racism, but as well as the way people describe others whether if it’s how they look or how they speak. Though, during that moment we are not aware of who is the dark or light complexion character, but this moment can define a racial issue.

In this country being an immigrant or coming from a Hispanic or African American background will make you come across many racial, cultural and socioeconomic challenges. In my personal life, I don’t recall coming across a moment where I faced something like that, nevertheless, as Mexican-American my culture always faces those types of challenges. We are always receiving negative cultural comments, due to us being from a different country. I take pride into my culture and where my family comes from because not every immigrant comes to this country to do defective things, they come here to work and seek a better future and life for themselves and their family. These kinds of issues arose many conflicts to the people who are innocent of things. People start to do hatred acts that affects people who have no fault in this. This is all due to the creation of racism and the way people think and act towards others due to the place they come from, their skin pigmentation and the way they look.

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The short story Punishment written by Rabindranath Tagore has exposed many issues that can relate to real life situations. While reading the short story I saw a connection to the real-world issues which are mental health and domestic violence. The story is based on two brothers, Dukhiram Rui and Chidam Rui, whom were each married to their wives one named Radha and the other named Chandara. Radha and Chandara are sisters-in-laws who are known in their town for always arguing among each other. One day Dukhiram comes home from work in an opposite state of mind which leads him to murdering his wife Radha. Chidam as a loyal brother decides that his wife will be taking the blame for the murder of her sister-in-law. Chandara decides she will take the blame however, her reason for doing this was not only because her husband Chidam peruses her but also because she is tired of the life she has been living with him.

I say that this connects to domestic violence because the wife Radha was murdered by her husband Dukhiram Rui. She was murdered by having a knife struck her head for the reason being that when her husband had arrived home from a very long day at work. At the time, he had not had lunch due to the amount of work that had to get done so he was upset and also, he would get insulted and got paid minimum for what his job was really worth. He gets home and finds his child naked in the corner crying and he also does not find food. Radha states “Where is there food? Did you give me anything to cook? Must I earn money myself to buy it?” (894) Him being all aggravated and desperate he “plunged his knife into her head”. (894) Any physical harm that is done among partners is considered domestic violence, in this case he did more than just hurt her. I also add mental health because once he had done his crime, he was in shock and most of the time when someone stays in shock due to a traumatic moment in their lives they tend to go through mental breakdowns. I believe that him being in poverty, having a wife and a kid to take care and on top of that his job did not pay him well would be really stressful for him and that is something that relates to mental health. I also believe that this short story relates to mental health because Chandara was given to her husband at a young age because when all of this occurred she was only seventeen to eighteen years old. She had also gone through domestic violence, the short story sates “If I ever hear that you’ve been to the ghãt on your own, I’ll break every bone in your body.” (896) This is Chidam threatening her which portrays his violent behavior towards her. Chandara being married at a very young age and also go through this must have been traumatic and that brings me back to mental health.

The written play version and the film version of Hedda Gabler , are two pieces of literature that gives you a different feeling. One of them gives you this opportunity to feel the emotion behind every line you read and on the other hand the feeling you get is natural, as if it’s something you were expecting. The text depicts this wealthy woman whom has been spoiled all her life and because she was raised with everything she becomes an arrogant woman and selfish in some way. She is absolute not happy with her marriage with Tesman and dislikes his side of the family, even though to him his aunts are the most important people to him. The interpretation of the original text versus the film are quite different because for instance during the written play Ibsen lays out every single detail from the beginning to the end. He also adds more details to the conversation that each actor has among each other. During the scene where Mrs. Elvsted is conversing with Hedda, she confesses of leaving her home and her husband behind Hedda seems to be intrigued by it and questions her with what she will do now, and Mrs. Elvsted continues on to telling her “ I don’t know yet. All I know is that I’ve got to live here where Eilert Løvborg lives if I’m going to live at all.” (795) When watching the film is something they did not include and it’s relevant because as the reader we are in disbelieve that she would leave her husband and with that what would happen to her. Instead in the film, Hedda starts asking Mrs.Elvsted since when did they start building a friendship. In the film, you can also notice that Hedda is actually more arrogant and somewhat rude than what she is depicted in the play. For example, during Hedda’s first appearance on the film she is coming down from upstairs buy you can see spot that she was going to try and avoid Mrs.Telsman by walking past by them, but during the play it does not describe that part. Therefore, when reading the play you can built the attitude of each character and the way they are depicted but during the film you can see those characteristics comes to life and they seem more of what they have been described as.

“A thrill of horror flashed through every soul upon the plantation, excepting Mr. Gore. He alone seemed cool and collected. He was asked by Colonel Lloyd and my old master, why he resorted to this extraordinary expedient. His reply was (as well as I can remember,) that Demby had become unmanageable. He was setting a dangerous example to the other slaves, — one which, if suffered to pass without some such demonstration on his part, would finally lead to the one slave refused to be corrected, and escaped with his life, the other slaves would soon copy the example; the result of which would be, the freedom of the slaves and the enslavement of the whites. Mr. Gore’s defense was satisfactory. He was continued in his station as overseer upon the home plantation. His fame as an overseer went abroad. His horrid crime was not even submitted to judicial investigation. It was committed in the presence of slaves, and they of course could neither institute a suit, nor testify against him; and thus the guilty perpetrator of one of the bloodiest and most foul murders goes unwhipped of justice, and uncensored by the community in which he lives. Mr. Gore lived in St. Micheals’s, Talbot county, Maryland, when I left there; and if he is still alive, he very probably lives there now; and if so, he is now, as he was then, as highly esteemed and as much respected as though his guilty soul had not been stained with brother’s blood.”

As we already know in the period of time of slavery many things happened and they were never justified. For instance, in this passage we witness the cruelty behavior of the overseer Mr. Gore, who like him were ordered by the actual owners to supervise the people they owned. Mr. Gore murdered Demby because in his eyes Demby was starting to be a rebel and stand up for his human rights. As the overseer, the owner believed in their word and wouldn’t doubt them. This also proves to what we know, as slaves they did not have any right or any kind of privileges. Slaves were treated as non-humans not only in the way that they did not have human rights but also they were not treated correctly. Slaves couldn’t make mistakes without being punished which in majority of cases they were whipped until they bled. For the owners, slaves had no meaning of life but to serve them and satisfy their needs. I believe Frederick Douglass reveals his strength because as a slave you witnessed many horrific scenes. It would affect them physically but also mentally because getting whipped various times and to the point of your flesh just tearing apart bleeding all over is just too harsh and traumatizing for an individual. Experiencing it and also witnessing the pain can cause you to have mix emotions and thoughts. People would probably also commit suicide because they couldn’t handle the torture they would go through for any mistake of fault their owner thought they had. The questions that were raised for me while reading this passage was why did owners permit this. Why did the owners did not just take control themselves when it came to punishing the people. Also, most importantly why whip the people and make them bleed as if they did not have feelings, whom didn’t feel the pain. I also think about the justice that people needed, for having different pigmentation you were served no justice for whether you were murdered or raped.