In reading “Metamorphosis,” by Franz Kafka both the chief clerk and Gregor’s father both had the same reaction when seeing Gregor’s metamorphosis. That reaction was fear but they both were afraid in different ways. The chief clerk was afraid, but he tried to escape the situation by fleeing from it. “…He wasn’t still for a moment, but, without taking his eyes off Gregor, moved towards the door, but terribly gradually, as though in breach of some secret injunction not to leave the room.” It’s as if he walked in on something awkward and had to flee by backing away slowly.
Gregor’s father on the other hand was afraid as well but he reacted more harshly. He was more aggressive than the chief clerk was. “His father was moving forward implacably, emitting hissing sounds like a savage.” The father’s response was more like Gregor was a threat so he needed Gregor to flee as oppose to the chief who did the fleeing himself.
1 response so far ↓
JMERLE // Nov 7th 2015 at 4:18 pm
Alyshia,
Yes, you’ve not only hit at a central difference between the two reactions, but a central similarity as well, the fact that both characters could well be reacting out of fear. You use good quotations, as well, to support your observations.
Work to go a bit more deeply into the text. Do this by looking more closely at the quotations you’ve chosen, and see how much more you can understand the characters/themes from these quotations.
9/10